On June 22, a New Mexico state trial court refused to enjoin the independent petition requirement of 2% of the last gubernatorial vote. Miyagishima v Toulouse Oliver. See this story. The case had been filed by Ken Miyagishima, an independent candidate for Governor.

He presented evidence that no statewide independent petition has ever succeeded in New Mexico, except for three independent presidential petitions. He also pointed out that in 2019, the legislature had lowered the presidential independent petition to one-half of 1%, and even then, no independent presidential candidate qualified in 2020, and only one did in 2024. He will seek declaratory relief, so the case is not over.

New Mexico has the nation’s fourth highest non-presidential statewide independent petition requirement. The only states that are more severe, on a percentage basis, are Alabama, Montana and Wyoming.

On June 24, John Morgan, a wealthy attorney in Orlando, Florida, announced the winning entry in his contest for a new party name. The choice is “Common Ground Party”. See this story.

Lynchburg, Virginia has partisan elections for city council. This year the Republican Party used a “firehouse primary” (meaning a party meeting) to choose its nominees for city council, but the state Republican Party ruled that the city party’s process was legally flawed. So the Republicans who wanted to continue to run were forced to file as independent candidates. See this story.