Last month, the Arizona Libertarian Party told the Secretary of State that it doesn’t wish to have a government presidential primary for itself in 2008. Under a 1996 court opinion won by the Arizona Democratic and Libertarian Parties, parties are free to decide for themselves whether to have a presidential primary or not.
The California Republican initiative to let each U.S. House district choose its own presidential elector seems unlikely to appear on the June 2008 primary ballot, according to this Sacramento Bee news story. Although it is likely to qualify, it is likely to appear on the November 2008 ballot instead. In that case, it wouldn’t take effect until 2012, since it requires the parties to choose one elector candidate who lives in each U.S. House district, something that must be done before the election.
On November 27, Angoon, Alaska, held a city council election. Three at-large seats were up, and only three candidates appeared on the ballot. However, a write-in slate defeated the ballot-listed candidates, for all three seats.
On December 1, Ray Metcalfe announced that, next year, he will seek the Alaska U.S. Senate seat now held by Alaska Senator Ted Stevens. Metcalfe was the founder of the Republican Moderate Party of Alaska, which enjoyed recognition as a qualified party between 1998 and 2002. That party also elected a State Senator in 2002, the very year it was disqualified for failing to poll enough votes for Governor.
Senator Stevens, a Republican, was overwhelmingly re-elected in 2002, with 78.2% of the vote. However, since then, he has received a great deal of bad publicity. Metcalfe has been one of Stevens’ most dogged and persistent critics. Thanks to Eric Dondero for this news.
Virginia holds a special U.S. House election in the 1st district on December 11, 2007. Three candidates are on the ballot: Republican Robert Wittman, Democrat Phil Forgit, and independent Lucky Narain. Narain’s web page is www.votelucky.com.
