At the November 7 election, there was one U.S. House race in which an independent candidate outpolled a major party nominee. Tennessee’s 9th district voted: Democrat Steve Cohen 59.9%; independent Jake Ford 22.2%; Republican Mark White 18.0%. Jake Ford was the younger brother of the Democratic U.S. Senate candidate this year, Harold Ford Jr. Jake Ford ran as an independent because he felt he had a better chance. The district is majority African-American, and Cohen is white.
As a result of the November 7 election, Democrats control both houses of the legislature in 23 states, whereas Republicans control both houses in 15 states (the remainder are split between the two major parties, or are non-partisan).
The National Popular Vote Plan, the proposal for a compact of states to appoint only presidential electors who are pledged to the national popular vote winner, will probably get a boost from Democratic gains in state legislatures. Although proponents of the National Popular Vote Plan have worked very hard to present a non-partisan appeal, during 2006 it became very clear that Democratic state legislators virtually unanimously support the idea, whereas few Republican state legislators support it.
On November 3, the three judges in the 3rd circuit who had upheld Pennsylvania ballot access law on August 23 admitted that their opinion contained a factual error. The three judges therefore granted a rehearing, but then re-issued their original unfavorable decision with the error deleted.
If the plaintiff political parties want a rehearing en banc, they must file a new petition for rehearing en banc by Friday, November 17. The 3rd circuit has 10 full-time judges, and only they will vote on whether to grant a further rehearing. The original panel of 3 judges in this case includes two part-time judges and only one full-time judge, so any vote among the 10 full-time judges would start out with zero favorable votes, but only one unfavorable vote.
The basic holding of the 3rd circuit is that ballot access can be denied to a party, even if it polled enough votes in the last election to meet the definition of “party”. Astonishingly, the 3rd circuit said that votes almost two years ago are not necessarily relevant to whether a party currently has support. Although there is logic in that point, the foundation of ballot access laws concerning qualified parties is dependent on the assumption that past vote returns do matter. The entire reason the Democratic and Republican Parties are automatically on the ballot in 39 of the 50 states is solely that they polled a large vote in the previous election. The 3rd circuit’s main holding is completely outside the mainstream of U.S. election law jurisprudence concerning political parties.
New Hampshire is one of the 14 states with straight-ticket voting devices on ballots. The chair of the New Hampshire Democratic Party, Kathy Sullivan, said on November 14 that Democrats should use their new power in state government to eliminate it. Democrats have been complaining about it for years, and Sullivan said it would be wrong for the party to abandon its stance, even if the temptation is there for the Democrats to leave it in place and hope it benefits them in the future.
In what was probably the most surprising result anywhere in the nation, the Democrats now have both houses of the New Hampshire legislature, even though the Republican majority in the state house had been approximately 100 seats before that election. Democrats also hold the Governor’s chair, although that had been expected.
Only three minor parties are now ballot-qualified for president in 2008 in more than 5 states. The Libertarian Party has 23 states, the Green Party has 18 states (plus D.C.), and the Constitution Party has 13 states.
Libertarian: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, Vermont, Wisconsin. The party will almost certainly have North Dakota in a few weeks, as soon as the state verifies its petition.
Green: California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, South Carolina, Vermont, Wisconsin. Also District of Columbia. The party will almost certainly have Maryland in a few weeks, as soon as that state verifies the Green petition that will be submitted in a few weeks.
Constitution: California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Idaho, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, Oregon, South Carolina, Utah. The party will almost certainly have North Dakota in a few weeks, since it has finished its petition and the state is likely to approve it. It is possible New Mexico also recognizes the party; the law is very unclear.
Four years ago (just after the November 2002 election), the totals for each party were Libertarian 26, Green 18 (plus D.C.), and Constitution 12. Comparing ballot status as of mid-November 2006 to the past is somewhat misleading, unless one compares it to the same point exactly 4 years ago. By this measure, which is the most objective measure, the Libertarian Party is a little bit worse off than it was four years ago; the Green Party and the Constitution Party are a little bit better off than they were.
Technically, the Constitution Party is not on the ballot in California just now, but it will become re-qualified in February 2007 when the state does its next registration tally.
