North Carolina Elects an Independent to the State House

April Montgomery, an independent candidate for North Carolina’s 51st State House district, has won. Originally this was a three-way contest, but then the Democratic nominee withdrew, so Montgomery’s only opponent was a Republican. See this story.

She is the first independent to be elected to the North Carolina legislature since 2010, when Bert Jones won a house seat.

The 51st district is in the center of the state.

Ohio Democratic Supreme Court Member is Re-Elected Despite Losing Her Lawsuit to Remove Party Labels from Ballot for Supreme Court Elections

Jennifer Brunner, the only Democrat on the Ohio Supreme Court, was reelected last week. Ironically, she had lost her lawsuit last month to remove the word “Democrat” from the ballot next to her name. She had filed the lawsuit in federal court in 2023.

Also last week, the Democratic nominee for another of the seats on the State Supreme Court won her election, defeating an incumbent Republican justice.

Constitution Party Legislative Candidate Tara McCoy Polls 43.0% in West Virginia

Tara McCoy, the Constitution Party nominee for West Virginia House, 93rd district, polled 43.0% in a two-person race against a Republican. This is the highest percentage for a Constitution Party nominee for a partisan state office since 2006, when Rick Jore was elected to the Montana House.

It is also the highest percentage for a minor party nominee for federal or state partisan office in West Virginia since 1906, when a Prohibition Party nominee was elected to the State House.