Category Archives: political parties

“Michigan Republicans vote to remove chair Kristina Karamo as she promises not to accept result”

January 7, 2024, 12:13 pmchicanery, political partiesRick Hasen

Politico: Michigan Republicans have voted to remove state GOP Chair Kristina Karamo during a meeting Saturday after many of the party’s leaders called for her resignation following a year of leadership plagued by debt and infighting. A large majority of… Continue reading

German Constitutional Court decision on state subsidies to political parties

December 17, 2023, 5:16 pmcampaign finance, comparative election law, political partiesDerek Muller

Sam Issacharoff passes along this interesting January ruling from the German Constitutional Court. It found unconstitutional an increase in state subsidies to political parties on the grounds that the parties had an obligation to prove commitment from their constituents. The… Continue reading

Mainwaring and Drutman on multiparty presidentialism

December 17, 2023, 9:25 ampolitical partiesDerek Muller

Scott Mainwaring (Notre Dame) and Lee Drutman (senior fellow at New America) have this new whitepaper at Protect Democracy, “The Case for Multiparty Presidentialism in the U.S.“: For many Americans, anything besides our two-party electoral system is hard… Continue reading

Indiana court finds law keeping Republican Senate candidate off primary ballot violates Anderson-Burdick, 17th Amendment

December 8, 2023, 6:45 ampolitical parties, primariesDerek Muller

You can see the Marion County Superior Court’s decision in Rust v. Morales and commentary here. More commentary from the Indianapolis Star. The law requires primary candidates either (1) voted in that party’s past two primary elections or… Continue reading

RNC backs Donald Trump in ballot access dispute–when it didn’t back John McCain, Rick Perry, or Ted Cruz in years past

December 1, 2023, 7:30 amballot access, political partiesDerek Muller

The Republican National Committee (joined by the National Republican Congressional Committee and the National Republican Senatorial Committee) filed an amicus brief in support of Donald Trump in the Minnesota ballot access dispute. In one sense, I suppose, that’s not so… Continue reading

“The Way Nevada Will Pick the GOP Presidential Nominee Is a Mess; Dueling caucus and primary confuse voters”

November 21, 2023, 7:42 ampolitical parties, primariesRick Hasen

WSJ: In January, roughly half a million Republican voters in Nevada will receive presidential primary ballots in the mail. Former President Donald Trump’s name won’t be on them. The omission is part of a tussle that has ripped open… Continue reading

State power and the Term Limits v. Thornton problem in Anderson v. Griswold

November 19, 2023, 7:17 pmlegislation and legislatures, political partiesDerek Muller

The bulk of the analysis in Anderson v. Griswold, which held that Donald Trump can appear on the primary ballot in Colorado, has been a matter I’ve been puzzling this weekend. Most of the opinion is not essential to… Continue reading

“The New Hampshire Primary Will Be Jan. 23”

November 16, 2023, 7:43 ampolitical parties, primariesRick Hasen

NYT: New Hampshire’s presidential primary will be held Jan. 23, state officials announced on Wednesday. The date had been in contention since the Democratic National Committee decided earlier this year to change its nominating calendar, which had long given New… Continue reading

“MAGA-dominated state Republican parties plagued by infighting, money woes”

November 13, 2023, 7:06 ampolitical parties, political polarizationRick Hasen

WaPo: In Arizona, the state GOP chairman has been begging the Republican National Committee for a financial bailout. Michigan party officials have gotten into physical fights as their finances have dipped into the red. And in Georgia, the state party… Continue reading

“The No Labels Party’s Radical New Plan to Force a Contingent Election”

October 24, 2023, 7:25 amballot access, political partiesRick Hasen

Third Way memo (via Playbook): Since they launched their third-party presidential effort last year, the No Labels Party has repeated a central refrain: “our bipartisan ticket, led either by a Democrat or a Republican, will not be a spoiler—we are… Continue reading

Resurfacing–Mississippi and LA organizing stories

October 21, 2023, 2:12 pmcampaigns, political parties, Uncategorizedgovernance, Political OrganizingTabatha Abu El-Haj

The 24-hour news cycle is brutal even on the Election Law Blog, so I want to use the relative quiet of the weekend to re-surface those articles that I “highly recommend”–to borrow Larry Solum’s phrase. “Black Voters Have New Power … Continue reading

House hobbled. Can we call it a crisis of governance yet? And is the Republican Party really a party anymore?

October 20, 2023, 12:27 pmpolitical parties, political polarizationHouse SpeakershipTabatha Abu El-Haj

“House Republicans vote to drop Jim Jordan as speaker nominee.” And to be frank, we should be glad of that. As Representative Pete Aguilar said on Tuesday, elevating Jim Jordan, “a vocal election denier and an insurrection insider… Continue reading

“Third Party Candidates Shouldn’t Get Their Hopes Up”

October 18, 2023, 4:10 amballot access, political parties, third partiesTabatha Abu El-Haj

Andy Craig offers a thorough explanation of why a random third party run is unlikely to be successful, even if the candidate has name recognition and some popularity. Think Joe Manchin or Larry Hogan. Craig could have gone further: It… Continue reading

“Jordan falls short of speakership on first vote”

October 17, 2023, 12:20 pmpolitical parties, political polarizationgovernance, House RepublicansTabatha Abu El-Haj

Washington Post and pretty much everyone else is reporting that Representative Jordan received 200 votes in the first round, well short of the 217 he needs. (Democrat Jeffries received 212). The drama will continue.