Politico Story on Cornel West Presidential Candidacy

Posted on by June 11, 2023
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Politico has this story by Holly Otterbein about the Cornel West presidential candidacy.

The story suggests that Jill Stein injured Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election. Otterbein and other reporters would do a better job if they checked the exit polls from 2016. Those exit polls show that only 25% of the Stein voters said they would have voted for Hillary Clinton if Stein had not been running, and 11% of them said they would have voted for Donald Trump if Stein had not been running.

Assuming the accuracy of those results, Stein’s presence in the 2016 race did not change the outcome in any state, not even Michigan, which was the closest state carried by Trump. Trum’s margin in Michigan was 10,704 votes. Stein received 51,463 votes in Michigan. Because the exit polls show a net gain of 14% (25% minus 11%) if Stein had not been running, one can calculate 14% of Stein’s vote to be 7,205 votes, so Trump still would have carried Michigan, because 7,205 is less than 10,704.

U.S. District Court in Michigan Libertarian Trademark Case Finds Procedural Problems with Libertarian National Committee’s Request for Injunction

Posted on by June 10, 2023
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On June 9, U.S. District Court Judge Judith E. Levy determined that the Libertarian National Committee’s request for a Michigan injunction has procedural problems. She struck the document from the record and ordered the LNC to re-file by June 16. Here is the three-page ruling in Libertarian National Committee v Saliba, e.d., 5:23cv-11074.

The case had been filed because the Libertarian National Committee believes that trademark law can be used to adjudicate an internal dispute over who the officers of the Michigan Libertarian Party are.

In the meantime, no attorney for the Defendants has entered the case. The Defendants include four Libertarian Party nominees from the 2022 election, including the party’s gubernatorial nominee.

Thanks to Independent Political Wire for this news.

Plaintiffs in Louisiana Legislative Redistricting Lawsuit Ask Court to Revive the Lawsuit

Posted on by June 9, 2023
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On June 9, the plaintiffs in Nairne v Ardoin, m.d. 3:22cv-178, asked the U.S. District Court to let the case proceed. The lawsuit concerns the legislative district boundaries created after the 2020 census. Plaintiffs charge that the districts violate the federal Voting Rights Act, and that the district boundaries illegally make it difficult for many African-Americans to elect legislators of their choice.

The case had been filed in 2022, but was suspended while the nation waited for the U.S. Supreme Court to decide a similar Alabama case, concerning U.S. House districts. That U.S. Supreme Court decision in Allen v Milligan came down yesterday, so it seems likely the Louisiana case will now move swiftly. Louisiana elects all its legislators this autumn. They all have four-year terms so if the case isn’t settled quickly, there may need to be special elections when the case is decided, assuming the plaintiffs win the case.