Jay Nixon, who was elected Governor of Missouri as a Democrat in 2008, and re-elected in 2012, has joined No Labels. See this story. Thanks to Ken Bush for the link.
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Daniel Dale of CNN has written this article, giving precedents on which presidential candidates receive Secret Service protection, and when in the election cycle they receive such protection.
On July 18, Illinois settled the lawsuit Illinois Conservative Union v State, n.d., 1:20cv-05542. The case had been filed in 2020 by a civic group, which wanted the list of registered voters to study whether the list is accurate. The state refused, citing a law that said the list could only be released to political committees or governmental bodies. The lawsuit depended on the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, which guarantees greater access to lists of registered voters.
The state finally decided that it could not defend its policy, and will release the list to the Illinois Conservative Union.
A three-judge U.S. District Court will hold a hearing in Singleton v Allen, n.d., 2:21cv-1291, on Monday, July 31. This is the case over Alabama U.S. House district boundaries. The Alabama legislature recently enacted a new plan, but only one of the seven U.S. House districts has a Black majority. The legislature appears to have flouted the U.S. Supreme Court’s opinion in Singleton v Allen, issued last month.
Here is the plaintiffs’ brief, explaining why the state’s new plan still violates the Voting Rights Act.
On July 28, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette published this editorial, asking the legislature to pass the bill that moves the 2024 primary (for all office) from April to March.