On May 9, West Virginia held primaries for the two major parties. Richie Robb lost his bid to become the Democratic nominee for U.S. House, 2nd district. He polled 30%, placing third in a 3-way race to oppose the Republican incumbent. Robb had been a Republican presidential elector candidate in 2004 (he had since switched parties). He had said, before the November 2004 election, that if elected to the Electoral College, that he would not vote for President Bush in the Electoral College. However, after he was elected to the Electoral College, he changed his mind and did vote for him.

On May 9, gubernatorial candidate Carole Strayhorn turned in 223,000 signatures to meet the Texas independent petition requirement. She needed 45,253 valid signatures. She appears to have collected more signatures than any previous independent gubernatorial candidate in history.

The previous record (for independent gubernatorial candidates) was the 202,000 signatures in California collected for Mel Mason, Socialist Workers Party candidate for Governor in 1982, who was using the independent petition method. He needed 113,617 valid, but after California elections officials checked the petition, he was told he didn’t have enough valid.

The two Texas independent candidates for Governor are about to turn in their petitions. It is believed that Carole Strayhorn will turn hers in on May 9, and that Kinky Friedman will turn his in on May 11. The deadline is May 11 for independents, but minor parties have until May 30. The very fact that the minor party petition deadline is 19 days later than the independent candidate deadline shows how irrational the Texas ballot access laws are.