Republican Congressman Refuses to Debate His Democratic Opponent Unless Libertarian is Also Invited

On September 14, Congressman Andy Harris of Maryland’s First District said he would not participate in a general election debate with his Democratic opponent, Heather Mizeur, unless the third candidate in the race, Libertarian Daniel Thibeault, is also included.

Harris is Maryland’s only Republican member of Congress.

Connecticut State Court Settles Dispute Over Identity of Independent Party Gubernatorial Nominee

On September 15, a state trial court in Connecticut ruled that Rob Hotaling, not Bob Stefanowski, is the Independent Party’s nominee for Governor. See this story. The ruling says the Independent Party nominating convention did not follow its own party rules, but also says that state law doesn’t require parties that nominate by convention to follow their own rules.

There will be five nominees on the Connecticut ballot for Governor: Democratic, Republican, Independent Party, Libertarian, and Green.

Libertarian Nominee for Hillsborough County Attorney Wins Democratic Nomination by Write-ins

New Hampshire permits fusion, but it is very difficult for anyone to obtain the nominations of two parties. A candidate can only win the nomination of the party he or she is not a member of, via write-ins in that party’s primary.

At the September 13, 2022 New Hampshire primary, Nicholas Sarwark, who had already qualified by petition as the Libertarian Party’s nominee for Hillsborough County Attorney, also won the Democratic nomination via write-in votes. No candidate was listed for that office on the Democratic primary ballot. Sarwark received 1,023 write-ins in the Democratic primary. His only opponent, Republican incumbent John Coughlin, received 98 votes in that primary. So on the November ballot, Sarwark will be listed as the nominee of the Libertarian and Democratic Parties.

Hillsborough is the most populous county in New Hampshire. Thanks to Andy Craig for this news. Sarwark is a former national chair of the Libertarian Party. He also ran for Hillsborough County Attorney as a Libertarian in 2020. That time, he received 11,982 votes; the Republican received 105,491 votes; the Democrat received 95,948 votes.