Last month, the Democratic Party tentatively approved a rules change, to let one or two states hold a presidential caucus before the New Hampshire primary. Under current Democratic Party rules, only Iowa is permitted to hold a nominating event before New Hampshire. Eight states have applied for permission to hold an early caucus: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Michigan, Mississippi, Nevada and South Carolina.

Michigan Democrats say that if the national party doesn’t choose them for one of the early caucus slots, that they (in combination with the Michigan Republican Party) will pass a bill in the Michigan legislature, providing for a February 5 presidential primary in that state, whether it is approved by the national party or not.

Knox County, Tennessee, holds a primary for partisan county offices on May 2, and a general election in August. 42 people have filed declarations of write-in candidacy in the May primary. This is because last week, the State Supreme Court upheld the county’s term limits law. Many incumbents whose names are already printed on the primary ballot will be disqualified after the primary, even if they win, because they have served enough terms already.

Therefore, lots of newcomers hope to win the primaries for these soon-to-be vacant seats. Because the term limits decision came after the ballots had been printed, it was too late to remove the disqualified incumbents, and too late for new candidates to get their names on the primary ballots. Hence, the newcomers are depending on write-ins. Thanks to Michael Morrison for this story.

Both houses of the Alabama legislature have passed bills to move the state’s presidential primary from June to February. The House passed HB 51, and the Senate passed SB 527. On Monday, April 17, the last day of the session, one or the other houses is likely to pass the bill that the other house already passed.

If so, this will continue to trend toward earlier presidential primaries, combined with later national conventions. The major parties are responsible for this trend, even though it damages the major parties. When presidential primaries in February determine the identity of each party’s presidential nominee, yet these candidates are not officially nominated until August or September, that leave a huge amount of time in which groups who don’t like either party’s choice may begin to settle on a presidential candidate from outside the major parties.