A Research America poll released on October 7 shows these Illinois results for three statewide races:
For Governor, Democratic 49.7%, Republican 27.7%, Libertarian 6.3%, the remainder undecided or won’t vote.
For U.S. Senate, Democratic 48.2%, Republican 28.5%, Libertarian 5.5%, the remainder undecided or won’t vote.
For Attorney General, Democratic 42.6%, Republican 25.2%, Libertarian 5.7%. See this news story. Thanks to Bill Redpath for the link.
On October 19, the Second Circuit issued an order upholding the New York state petition requirement that was passed in 2020, the increase from 15,000 signatures to 45,000 signatures. The decision is only a few sentences long and merely says the U.S. District Court did not commit any error when it upheld the law earlier this year. Libertarian Party of New York v New York State Board of Elections, 22-44. See it here. It won’t be reported. It is signed by Judges Jon O. Newman (a Carter appointee), John M. Walker (a Bush Sr. appointee), and Eunice C. Lee (a Biden appointee). Thanks to Candace Carpenter for the news.
North Carolina law says the State Board of Elections is composed of five members, all of whom must be a registered member of one of the two largest parties. The major party that holds the governorship gets three members, and the other large party gets two members. UPDATE: see this story.
For some time, independent voters and their allies have been trying to win a lawsuit that says it violates the U.S. Constitution that an independent can never be on the board. The first such lawsuit was voluntarily dismissed, and a new lawsuit was filed by Common Cause earlier this year. The State officials who are being sued filed a brief on October 14, arguing that the plaintiffs don’t have standing. Here is the state’s brief. Common Cause v Moore, m.d., 1:22cv-611.
A debate was held for the three Connecticut gubernatorial candidates on October 18, although only the Democratic Party and Independent Party nominees attended. The Republican nominee did not attend. See this story.
A West Virginia state trial court will hear a case on October 21, on whether to remove an independent State Senate candidate from the November 8 ballot. The challenge says that independent candidate Harry “Lee” Forbes is not eligible because he lives in Summers County. He is running in the Tenth District, which has two state senators. One of these seats is up this year, and the other is not. West Virginia has a unique election law relating to two-member legislative districts. It says both the office-holders must not live in the same county.
Because the incumbent whose term is not up this year already lives in Summers County, the lawsuit says Forbes should not have been put on the ballot, and that he should be removed. It is quite unusual for anyone to expect a court to remove someone from a general election ballot as late as October 21. The ballots would need to be reprinted. See this story.
