On August 11, a New York State Supreme Court in Brooklyn rejected attempts by the state organization of the Independence Party to expel supporters of Lenora Fulani. The court cited procedural problems with the Independence Party’s methods. The case involves members living in Brooklyn and Staten Island. A similar case involving members in Manhatten is still pending.
On August 11, the 4 ballot-listed candidates for Colorado Governor debated on TV. The four candidates were the Democrat, Republican, Libertarian and Constitution Party nominees. The debate was sponsored by two TV stations and the Rocky Mountain News.
All the briefs are now before the U.S. District Court in Arkansas, in Green Party of Arkansas v Daniels, 4:06-cv-758. The hearing is August 17. The issue is the number of signatures needed for a new party.
The Natural Law Party was organized in the United States in 1992, and it ceased to exist as a national organization in 2004. All of its state units will be dropping off the ballot in November 2006, except for the Michigan unit. The Michigan branch of the party is the only one in the nation running any candidates. Because the Michigan procedures for parties to remain on the ballot are quite lenient, it is overwhelmingly likely that the Michigan Natural Law Party will still be ballot-qualified in 2008.
Oregon State Senator Ben Westlund, an independent candidate for Governor, withdrew on August 10. He said polls have never shown him with more than 14%. Since he had been running to win, and since victory seemed impossible to him, he is withdrawing so as not to injure the Democratic nominee. Westlund is a registered independent, but he was elected to the State Senate as a Republican. However, he is in closer agreement with the Democratic incumbent on the issue of state spending levels.
