NYT reports. … Continue reading
Category Archives: political parties
Cert. denials in Wersal, Washington State Grange II. Mild surprise on first, not on second. … Continue reading
The Fix reports. … Continue reading
NYT on the politics of the top two primary. … Continue reading
NYT reports. … Continue reading
NYT reports. … Continue reading
PPIC has issued this report by Eric McGee and Daniel Krimm. Here is the summary: In the June 2012 primary, California tested two important electoral changes: new legislative and congressional districts drawn by an independent citizens commission and a “top … Continue reading
Bloomberg reports. … Continue reading
See this order. … Continue reading
I have just posted a revised and updated version of this article (forthcoming Southern California Law Review) on SSRN. (The article was recently the subject of this Adam Liptak “Sidebar” column in the NY Times.) Here is the revised abstract: … Continue reading
FOX News Tampa Bay: “It takes millions of dollars to put on a convention. While taxpayers foot some of the bill, corporations and high rollers contribute tens of millions of dollars, and those who give a lot usually expect something … Continue reading
WaPo reports. An important snippet: A new Post poll put the difference between the two parties’ perception of minority voters on stark display. Respondents were asked an open-ended question: Why do most black voters so consistently support Democrats? Though “don’t … Continue reading
The Tablet reports. … Continue reading
NYT’s “The Caucus” blog: ” Mitt Romney’s supporters passed new rules governing future primaries over the loud boos of Ron Paul supporters and other conservative activists who had objected to what they said was a power grab by the party’s … Continue reading
ABC News: “A compromise on Republican Party rules will likely prevent a convention floor fight on Tuesday. Republican National Committeeman James Bopp, who had led a movement to oppose a new delegate rule on the convention floor, confirms to ABC … Continue reading
BLT: “Patton Boggs partner Benjamin Ginsberg is facing a growing storm of criticism from Republican delegates who say he pushed through a rules change that would help Mitt Romney if the presumptive GOP nominee ousts President Barack Obama and seeks … Continue reading
Fascinating Buzzfeed report,which begins: “Frustration over changes to the Republican Party’s rules pushed through by the Romney Campaign on Friday may lead to a fight on the floor of the Republican National Convention on Monday. The Convention Committee on Rules … Continue reading
Fascinating BuzzFeed report. And I’ve long agreed that military disenfranchisement and other issues are a reason to kill the caucuses. … Continue reading
Arizona judge tosses measure on single subject grounds. … Continue reading
Roll Call reports. … Continue reading
Front-page NYT article. … Continue reading
In the Sunday NYT Book Review, Michael Crowley reviews Do Not Ask What Good We Do: Inside the U.S. House of Representatives By Robert Draper and It’s Even Worse Than It Looks: How the American Constitutional System Collided With the … Continue reading
Neil Reiff: “Way back in May of 2004, I co-authored an article in this magazine that warned state and local parties about the new minefield of campaign finance created by the then-recently enacted Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA). Today, these … Continue reading
David Schleicher has written this piece for The Atlantic. A taste: “Elmendorf and I have come up with a few ideas. Ballots could designate which party is in control of the state legislature, allowing voters to more easily decide based … Continue reading
The latest from Arizona. … Continue reading
I live in a reliably Democratic assembly district (AD 46), and I don’t think I ever witnesses as tough and fierce a battle in round one between two Democrats, Adrin Nazarian and Brian Johnson. Nazarian was heavily backed by the … Continue reading
Richard Winger has links to the briefs and commentary here. … Continue reading
David Law has this post on Slate, arguing that the Constitution should be amended to mandate open primaries as a way of dealing with increased partisan polarization. I’m not holding my breath. The polarization problem is real. But would an … Continue reading
Politico: “A bipartisan push to eliminate millions of federal dollars earmarked to each party’s conventions was overwhelmingly approved by the Senate on Thursday, handing a win to critics who say taxpayer money shouldn’t be spent on orchestrated presidential nominating coronations … Continue reading
FairVote has issued this press release. … Continue reading
Roll Call: “James Bopp Jr., a prominent conservative lawyer and high-ranking Republican national committeeman, is helping tea partyers influence the official GOP 2012 platform.” The article also reports that Bopp “lost his RNC seat Friday, the result of apparent backlash … Continue reading
Joe Mathews wants California to be more like Wisconsin in its politics. Really. And anyone who thought top two and citizen redistricting would fundamentally transform California had expectations which were way too high. … Continue reading
The LA Times offers this report, with the subhead: “In most of the undecided candidate contests, it’s not yet clear who finished second — a crucial position in the state’s new ‘top-two’ elections system.” … Continue reading
Must-read San Diego Union-Tribune article on gaming the top-two primary: “Democratic state Sen. Juan Vargas used some of the $630,000 he spent running for Congress in the primary election on an unusual but ultimately fruitful cause — direct mailers promoting … Continue reading
PPIC considers. … Continue reading
The LA Times reports. … Continue reading
Interesting NYT analysis. … Continue reading
See How California’s Top-Two Open Primary Shrinks Voter Choice in Congressional Races in November and Independent and Minor Party Candidates Fare Poorly in California Top-Two Open Primary. … Continue reading
WaPo: “House Republicans got a big break under California’s new primary system Tuesday, after Democrats failed to get a candidate into the general election for Rep. Gary Miller’s (R-Calif.) swing district.” See also New Map, New Rules Shake Up California … Continue reading
The LA Times reports. Off to vote in a few minutes. … Continue reading
NYT: “This year will be the first test of a new kind of election aimed at breaking the partisan gridlock that has seized Congress and state legislatures all over the country. When the change was presented to California voters by … Continue reading
WaPo reports. … Continue reading
From the new PPIC poll: Independents More Likely To Support Top-two Primary Californians will experience a big change this primary election with the advent of the top-two system, approved by voters in 2010. All voters now get a single ballot … Continue reading
You can watch the video address to the American Law Institute via CSPAN. Here is a brief synopsis. He began by describing the facts of Bush v. Gore, focusing heavily on “dimpled chad” and “hanging chads.” He then criticizes some … Continue reading
The presidential nominating process and the national party conventions, 2012: Frequently asked questions (May 14) … Continue reading
WSJ: “Democrats have trumpeted their ban on corporate donations to their national convention this summer, saying that it shows they are free from the influence of special interests. But through a special fund, convention planners are accepting millions of dollars … Continue reading
Sean Trende on Mann, Ornstein and the Poole-Rosenthal DW-NOMINATE scores of Congrss. … Continue reading
The Recall Elections Blog roundup. … Continue reading
538 reports. I’ll have more to say on this subject soon. … Continue reading
NYT reports. … Continue reading