Alaska State Court Will Soon Adjudicate Challenge to Legislator Based on Loyalty Provision of State Constitution and Membership in Oath Keepers

Posted on by December 2, 2022
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Alaska Representative David Eastman (R-Wasilla) was re-elected this month. Consequently, a lawsuit challenging his eligibility to serve as a legislator, based on his membership in the Oath Keepers, will move ahead this month. The lawsuit was filed on July 29, 2022, but it was delayed because no one could know if he was going to be re-elected. He was re-elected with 51.3% of the vote.

The case is Kowalke v Eastman, Superior Court, 3rd district, 3AN-22-07404. The Alaska Constitution, Article XII, sec. 4, says, “No person who advocates, or who aids or belongs to any party or organization or association which advocates the overthrow by force or violence of the United States or of the state shall be qualified to hold any public office of trust or profit under the Constitution.”

Eastman is a life-member of Oath Keepers, and he was at the national capitol on January 6, 2021. Here is a link to documents in the case.

D.C. Circuit Sets Hearing Date for Jill Stein’s Appeal on 2016 Primary Matching Funds Repayment

Posted on by December 1, 2022
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The U.S. Court of Appeals, D.C., will hear Stein v Federal Election Commission, 21-1213, on Wednesday, January 18. The issue is whether Jill Stein, the 2016 Green Party nominee, must repay $175,000 in primary season matching funds. The FEC shifted the rules in 2016. Previously, the primary period ended when the presidential candidate had finished campaigning for the last party nomination in the calendar, which for Stein was her campaign for the Peace & Freedom nomination, which nominated on August 13, 2016. But the FEC changed that rule, and said the primary season ended when she won the Green Party nomination on August 5. Therefore, the money Stein received between August 5 and August 13 could not be matched, and the matching money she received for that period must be repaid, according to the FEC as it applies its newer rule.

Seven Independent Legislators Elected in New England States

Posted on by December 2, 2022
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On November 8, 2022, one independent was elected to the Massachusetts House; one was elected to the Rhode Island House; two independents were elected to the Maine House; and three independents were elected to the Vermont Hoouse.

Massachusetts: Susannah Whipps.
Maine: William D. Pluecker and Walter D. Riseman.
Rhode Island: Jon D. Brien.
Vermont: Jed Lipsky, Laura Sibilia, and Kelly Maclaury Pajala.

Six Alaska Independent Candidates Elected to State House

Posted on by November 30, 2022
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At the November 8, 2022 election, six independents were elected to the Alaska State House. Ironically, however, none of them were helped by Ranked Choice Voting. In all six races, either the independent had no opponent, or had just one opponent. So RCV didn’t have any effect on the race.

The six are Daniel Ortiz, Rebecca Himschoot, Calvin Schrage, Alyse Galvin, Bryce Edgmon, and Josiah Patkotak. The latter two were unopposed. The first four each had a Republican opponent.

National Republican Senatorial Committee Files Lawsuit to Overturn Limit on How Much Coordinated Money Parties Can Give Nominees

Posted on by November 30, 2022
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On November 4, the National Republican Senatorial Committee filed a federal lawsuit to overturn the federal campaign law that limits how much money parties can contribute to their nominees. Parties can already contribute an unlimited amount if the money is not coordinated with the candidate’s campaign, but there are limits if the party coordinates with the candidate.

The case is filed in Ohio. National Republican Senatorial Committee v FEC, 1:22cv-639. In order for this lawsuit to win, it will be necessary to persuade the courts that the U.S. Supreme Court was wrong when it upheld limits in 2001 in FEC v Colorado Republican Federal Campaign Committee. That was a 5-4 decision. It is likely that the Republican Party will lose this lawsuit in the lower federal courts, and that the U.S. Supreme Court will then hear the case. Scholars generally deplore the status quo, in which political parties have fewer rights to contribute money than virtually any other non-corporate groups. Thanks to the Institute for Free Speech for this news.

The case is assigned to U.S. District Court Judge Douglas R. Cole, a Trump appointee. J.D. Vance is a co-plaintiff, along with Steven Chabot.