Independent Political Report has posted the video of the Libertarian presidential debate held late last month in South Carolina. See it here. It lasts for one hour and 28 minutes. If you don’t want to take the time to watch it, I recommend watching the closing statements, which can be seen in the last eight minutes. The six candidates were Jacob Hornberger, Lars Mapstead, Chase Oliver, Michael Rectenwald, Joshua Smith, and Mike Ter Maat.

The debate was a model of what debates should be, a polite and stimulating discussion about policy, with no rude behaviors. The moderators did an excellent job.

On December 5, U.S. District Court Judge Doug Reyes, an Obama appointee, issued an opinion in Castro v Fontes, 2:23cv-1865. The opinion rejects keeping former President Donald Trump off the Arizona Republican presidential primary. The opinion says that John Anthony Castro, the Republican presidential candidate who filed this lawsuit and many similar lawsuits in other states, does not have standing. He acknowledges that Castro appears to have qualified for the Arizona Republican presidential primary ballot, but cites the small amount of campaign spending in the Castro campaign and says Castro has not shown that he is really in competition with Trump for votes.

The opinion is twelve pages and has more precedents listed than some of the other decisions in Trump ballot access cases.

On December 5, Michael Steinberg filed a federal lawsuit in Florida against the law that permits a party to dictate which names appear on its presidential primary ballot. Steinberg says he wants to vote for Congressman Dean Phillips, who is running for president in Democratic presidential primaries. In Florida the Democratic Party said it doesn’t want any names on its ballot except President Joe Biden, so the state won’t hold that primary.

Phillips is not a co-plaintiff. The case is Steinberg v Democratic Party of Florida and Byrd, n.d., 4:23cv-518. It is assigned to U.S. District Court Judge Allen C. Winsor, a Trump appointee.