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Nearly three dozen independent candidates have filed to run for Congress in New Jersey, the most since 67 independents ran in 1992.

The total 34 could go up by one if Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-Ringoes) wins an upcoming legal battle to overturn the states ban on fusion voting as the candidate of both the Democratic and Moderate parties.

The Libertarian Party has fielded a full slate of twelve candidates for Congress in New Jersey, the first time any minor party has done so since the Libertarians ran candidates for all 13 House seats in 1992.

While candidates typically need 200 signatures to get on the ballot as a congressional candidate in a primary or general election, an obscure 1948 statute allows independents running only in a congressional redistricting year to file with just 50 signatures.

The law came at a time when there was a mad rush to get on the ballot in redistricting years between the approval of the congressional map and the filing deadline. In those days, the deadline for independent candidates was the same as for those running in the primary. That was changed about 25 years ago,after minor parties filed a lawsuit.

The 2022 independent candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives, with the slogans:

1st District: Allen Cannon (Cannon Fire); Patricia Kline (For the People), Isaiah Fletcher (Libertarian). Kline was the Republican candidate for State Assembly in 2021.

2nd District: Michael Gall (Libertarian); Anthony Parisi Sanchez (Not for Sale). Sanchez ran against Jeff Van Drew for State Senate in 2017 and Congress in 2018.

3rd District: Gregory Sobocinski (God Save America); Christopher Russomanno (Libertarian); Lawrence Hatez (Returning Your Rights).

4th District: Jason Cullen (Libertarian); Hank Schroeder (No Slogan); Pam Daniels (Progress with Pam); and David Schmidt (We The People). Cullen was the Libertarian candidate for governor in 2009 and finished sixth in a field of 12 candidates with 2,869 votes statewide. Schroeder has lost seven races in nine years: governor in 2013, U.S. Senate in 2014 and 2018; State Assembly in the 30th district in 2015 and 2019; and Congress in 2016 and 2020.

5th District: Louis Vellucci (American Values); Jeremy Marcus (Libertarian); David Abrams (Stop Israel Boycotts); Trevor James Ferrigno (Together We Stand).

6th District: Tara Fisher (Libertarian); Eric Antisell (Move Everyone Forward); Inder Jit Soni (New Jersey First).

7th District: Clayton Pajunas (Libertarian); Veronica Fernandez (Of, By, For). Fernandez ran for U.S. Senate in 2020 and won 32,290 votes, less than one percent.

8th District: Pablo Olivera (Labors Party); Dan Delaney (Libertarian); David Cook (The Mediator/People Over Parties/Vote Real Change); Joanne Kuniansky (Socialist Workers Party); and John Salierno (Truth and Merit). Kuniansky was her partys candidate for governor in 2021. Olivera has lost his twelve previous campaigns: State Senate in the 29th district in 2003, 2013 and 2017; Newark City Council in the North Ward in 2010, 2014 and 2018; Essex County Freeholder in 2011; U.S. Senate in 2013; and State Assembly in 2015; and Congress in 2012, 2014 and 2016.

9th District: Sean Armstrong (Libertarian); Lea Sherman (Socialist Workers Party).

10th District: Cynthia Johnson (Jobs and Justice); Kendal Ludden (Libertarian); Rev. Clenard J. Childress, Jr. (The Mahali Party); and Dorothy Jane Humphries (Together We Can). Childress has lost nine races for State Assembly in the 34th district.

11th District: Joseph Biasco (Libertarian).

12th District: Lynn Genrich (Libertarian).

Of the 34 independent congressional candidates, 20 of them filed with under 100 signatures something that makes them susceptible to a petition challenge and only one, Genrich in NJ-12, filed with 200 signatures or more. Two candidates, Hatez (NJ-3) and Humphries (NJ-10), filed with exactly 50 signatures.

The deadline to repair technical deficiencies on petitions is 4 PM today; candidates may not add additional signatures past the June 7 filing deadline

The deadline to challenge the petitions of independent candidates is 4 PM on June 13. Administrative Law judges move quickly; the deadline to decide challenges to the petitions is June 16.

In 2012, 29 independent candidates filed, the same as in 2016. There were 24 independent House candidates in 2014 and 2018, and 15 in 2020.

No independent candidate has been viewed as a spoiler in a New Jersey congressional race since 2000, when Rep. Rush Holt (D-Hopewell) won re-election to a second term by just 651 votes against former Rep. Richard Zimmer (R-Delaware). In that race, 8,269 votes went to three independent candidates: Carl Mayer, a former Princeton Township Committeeman running on the Green Party ticket, received 5,811 votes, while NJ Conservative Party nominee John Desmond took 1,233 votes and 1,225 went to Worth Winslow, the Libertarian candidate.

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34 independent candidates file to run for Congress in New Jersey, most in 30 years - New Jersey Globe | New Jersey Politics

Natalie James, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, expressed a wide variety of opinions in her first Talk Business & Politics interview since winning on primary election night.

She defeated Dan Whitfield and Jack Foster in the Democratic primary with 54% of the vote, avoiding a runoff. This fall, she will face incumbent GOP U.S. Sen. John Boozman and Libertarian Kenneth Cates.

James, of Little Rock, has been active at the state capitol in recent years on issues. She said she would work across the aisle to achieve bipartisan results on gun control and curtailing corporate greed, which she blamed for aspects of inflation.

Its important that we realize as a gun owner and as a mother, that, yes, I do believe that you have your right to carry thats fine, but it should not abridge my right to be able to go and live my life, my children to go to school, my mother to go to church, my sisters to drive down the street, that shouldnt be taken away from somebody who quite frankly is underage and not of the cognitive ability to understand the ramifications of their actions and have the mental acuity, James said.

Im a gun owner, so Im not against you having your constitutional right. But what I am against is not being able to have the choice of whether I can go to my grocery store and stay on alert. Thats not my job. Thats not what Im choosing to do. My job is to be a realtor. My job is to be a voice for the people of the State of Arkansas, not to worry about, do I need to look over my shoulder? Is this car thats pulling up next to me going to end my life because theyre having a bad day or theyre having a bad feeling or things arent being addressed properly at home, she added.

James said reproductive rights for women, which is expected to be overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court later this month in a landmark decision to reverse Roe v. Wade, will add to the institutional mistrust that permeates federal authority already.

I think its going to add to the distrust that were already seeing and feeling from our state, from our nation and from our trust and our actual government. I feel its going to mess with the integrity because, quite frankly, the Supreme Courts job is to abide by the Constitution. And I feel if we do that [reverse Roe v. Wade], its going to send us on a, not the trajectory that were wanting, she said. I do think we should trust women. I do think we should codify Roe. I do think that we have been trusting women for the longest of our times, our mothers, our sisters, our community leaders, our teachers, our church goers and our volunteers. I think we should continue to do that.

James also said that some of the inflationary pressures that have dominated the economy the past year can be squarely placed on corporate greed. If elected, she wants to actively support a $15 per hour minimum wage.

A living wage is a sustainable wage is going to be something where we just need to start. Right now in Arkansas, the cost of living, the average person making $14 an hour can barely pay rent, barely pay for groceries. God forbid they have a car loan or student loans or anything else, or they have childcare. It puts them in a bigger predicament. So I think we should start out having it at $15 an hour, she said. I think that will help tremendously on where were seeing in other areas with healthcare, education, and this rise in gun violence. When you are in a stressful situation, you make really bad decisions.

You can watch James full interview in the video below.

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Democratic US Senate candidate Natalie James on guns, reproductive rights, and living wage - talkbusiness.net

After waking up at 6:30 a.m. and confirming that she was still leading in the Democratic primary for House District 100, Zooey Zephyr got a bacon breakfast burrito and a cafe au lait from her local coffee shop.

While the cafe au lait is her standard for days that are not sweltering, the breakfast burrito was a treat, as following Tuesdays primary election, Zephyr, 33, became one step closer to becoming one of the first two openly transgender candidates elected to the Montana Legislature.

Zephyr and SJ Howell, a transgender non-binary candidate for Missoulas House District 95, will both be on the ballot in November.

Their run for office comes at a pivotal time for the transgender community as more and more bills that advocates say are detrimental for LGBTQ folks are being introduced at state legislatures across the country, including Montana. The Human Rights Campaign, a LGBTQ advocacy group and LGBTQ political lobbying organization, went as far as to label 2021 the worst year for anti-LGBTQ legislation in recent history.

With Zephyrs district located in a decidedly blue slice of central Missoula, her path to victory seems clear in 2020, Rep. Andrea Olsen, D-Missoula, won the seat with 82% of the vote. And the district has voted Democrat in the last four elections, although before the lines were redrawn in 2014, Republicans dominated between 2003 and 2013.

I am feeling good, I am obviously excited, primarily I feel awash in gratitude for the people who helped me, for the people who voted for me, for Missoula theres a lot to do, theres a lot to plan for, but right now I am just overwhelmed with gratitude, Zephyr told the Daily Montanan in a phone interview.

On Tuesday, Zephyr, who has spent much of her career working for the University of Montana, beat her primary opponent David Severson 1,188 to 832, according to preliminary numbers from the Montana Secretary of States Office. She will face Republican Sean Patrick McCoy and Libertarian Michael Vanecekin in November.

Howell, 41, did not have a primary opponent and will be up against Republican Lauren Subith and Libertarian J.C. Windmueller in the general.

Howell is the executive director of Montana Women Vote, a nonprofit advocacy group, and is also in a secure Democratic district. Between 2003 and 2021, voters in the district only elected a Republican to the office once, but Howell said they are ready to dig in going into the general.

I certainly dont take the general election for granted. I am excited to get to work; Ive been knocking on doors already,Howell said.

If Zephyr and Howell win in November, Montana will be the second state to have elected multiple transgender people to a state legislature New Hampshire currently has three transgender women in its House of Representatives.

There is a difference between legislators having a conversation about you compared to having a conversation with you.

S.J. Howell, candidate, Montana Legislature

In total, 11 openly LGBTQ candidates ran for office in this years Montana primary, with six advancing to the general election. For Montana and across the country, LGBTQ candidates make up a minuscule amount of elected officials. There are 1,040 out LGBTQ elected officials nationwide only eight of whom are transgender which amounts to .2% of all elected officials, according to the LGBTQ Victory Institute. And in Montana, there are just six out LGBTQ elected officials, according to the institutes Out for America Map, which tracks out LGBTQ elected officials nationally.

Both Montana candidates advocated for LGBTQ rights at the Capitol during the last session. On Wednesday, they spoke about the importance of having transgender voices in the Legislature after multiple bills were passed last session that affected the trans community.

Its big for Montana. What feels really exciting to me is that we are sort of going from zero to two, which in a lot of ways feels like a big exponential step forward, Howell said. I feel that there is a difference between legislators having a conversation about you compared to having a conversation with you, and I think it changes the tone of the debate; I think we both have the intention of getting in and fighting hard for the rights of queer and trans Montanans.

The Legislature took up bills limiting how transgender youth can participate in sports, putting more restrictions in place for updating a gender marker on birth certificates and restricting gender-affirming care for trans youth. While the last of the three failed to pass out of the state house, the other two passed and are currently being challenged in court.

Republicans at the time defended the bills as necessary safeguards for protecting children.

For Zephyr, its all about representation. Zephyr decided to run after watching Senate Bill 280, which changed transgender Montanans ability to update their birth certificates, pass the Senate 26-24.

I remember it passed by one vote, and I thought, I know I could change that heart, I know I could be the difference between a yes and a no there. It would have only taken one person to protect my community from discrimination, Zephyr said. We will be the best defense there is against this particular brand of hate.

One of the reasons SB280 was so impactful for Zephyr is prior to the passage of the bill, she was able to update her own birth certificate.

The office of vital records told me as far as the state of Montana is concerned we are updating a 30-year clerical error. It was one of those moments that felt like a full recognition of who I am it meant an extra layer of safety and acknowledgment of who I am, Zephyr said.

Bills that affect people who are transgender and the rest of the LGBTQ community have proliferated beyond Montana. A spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign said in an email that it is tracking 341 bills across the country it views as harmful toward LGTBQ people; of those bills, more than 143 are anti-trans, including more than 40 healthcare bans, 76 sports bans, and 15 bathroom bills.

An analysis by NBC News found that the annual number of anti-LGBTQ bills filed in state legislatures across the U.S. increased from 41 bills in 2018 to 238 in the first three months of 2022.

However, during the same period, more LGBTQ candidates have filed to run for office.

We coined it the rainbow wave. Weve seen a number of candidates run and win. And this year, in particular, we have about 50 candidates from the trans community running for office up and down the ballot across the country, said Ceasar Toledo, deputy political director at the LGBTQ Victory Fund a political action committee that focuses on increasing the number of openly LGBTQ public official. The fund endorsed both Howell and Zephyr in their races this year.

Surveys by the Trevor Project, an LGBTQ youth suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization, outlined how these types of bills and the debates surrounding them negatively impact transgender youth. One survey found that of the 35,000 LGBTQ youth questioned, 42% had considered suicide within the prior year. And another found that two-thirds of LGBTQ youth surveyed said debates about anti-trans legislation had negatively impacted their mental health.

Shawn Reagor, director of equality at the Montana Human Rights Network, said the organization has seen a recent uptick in reports of vandalism and harassment toward the LGBTQ community, which he attributed to increased activity by white supremacist and militia groups in the state.

But Reagor said more LGBTQ representation in the Legislature will help combat those attacks.

We know that when people are able to build relationships with transgender and nonbinary community members, they are significantly less likely to vote against the needs of the community and make statements that further misunderstanding of who trans and nonbinary people are, he said. Not only do Howell and Zooey represent role models for the community, but they also provide an important opportunity for other legislators and the state as a whole to further get to know some of the wonderful trans and nonbinary people that live in Montana.

Toledo said having LGBTQ voices present during debates on bills impacting their communities humanizes the policy. He added, Its those voices at the table that can be the difference.

And in general, Reagor said he is excited about the likely wins by Zephyr and Howell.

As a trans person, I am incredibly proud and excited at the possibility that our community could be represented in the state Capitol by great leaders like Zooey and Howell. After the attacks during the last legislative session, I am thrilled to see trans candidates run for office and receive this level of support, he said. They are smart, hard-working, and have a deep understanding of the needs of our state.

Bryce Bennett, a former Democratic lawmaker and first openly gay man elected to the Legislature,echoed Reagors message.

For the first time in Montana history, young people coming to terms with their gender identity will look to their Legislature and see people like Zooey Zephyr and SJ Howell who know their story, their struggles, and the bright possibilities ahead. When they get to the Legislature, the day of people talking about trans people will be over; they will finally have to talk with them. That is why representation is so incredibly powerful, Bennett said in a text message to the Daily Montanan.

More here:
Montana on track to make history with election of two transgender candidates Daily Montanan - Daily Montanan

Muses Matt Bellamy has told NME that society wants a new type of revolution.

Following the coronavirus pandemic, the war in Ukraine and the current cost of living crisis, the frontman said he believes change is coming.

I think everyone knows we want a revolution, but we definitely dont want a bunch of authoritarian lunatics from the right. Thats the last thing we want, he told NME in this weeks Big Read cover story, ahead of the Devon rockers new album,Will Of The People, being released in August.

And also we dont want a total communist situation on the hard left either. I think what we want is something completely new. I dont think it exists out there at the moment, but I think theres a new type of politics that could emerge.

I would call it Meta-Centrism. Its an oscillation between liberal, libertarian values for individuals your social life, the ability to be whatever gender you are, all that kind of stuff but then more socialist on things like land ownership, nature and energy distribution. Its oscillation between the two poles.

Matt Bellamy of Museon the cover of NME

He continued: I think theres a way of doing that but theres no language that enables people to think that way. Youre either hard left or youre hard right Im not with any of these; I feel like theres a third way. Theres no existing side that describes what Im looking for yetIm fundamentally anti-authoritarian thats just my nature; I was born that way. So if I see certain things, on either side, that [make you think], Dont start telling me to do that or live like that, it doesnt matter where its coming from: I will probably resist it.

Bellamy also said he believes society is on the brink of a disruptive transition.

He added: Everyones doing everything they can to pretend thats not going to happen or to try and maintain the status quo [but] the longer they hold on to this, the worse its going to be when it happens. If we can just make the transition a little bit more gradual, it might happen a bit less violently.

But its gonna be a big, big shift. Youre talking about an economic collapse, shift and reinvention, total energy transition.

In the same interview, the frontman also claimed thatDonald Trumps reign of division in the US allowed Vladimir Putin to cause chaos in the West.

Meanwhile, Muse kicked off their summer tour earlier this monthat Rock Am Ring 2022, dusting off rarities and performing the unreleased track Kill Or Be Killed and recent single Will Of The People for the first time. The set also included a live debut for Bellamys solo track Behold, The Glove.

The bands summer dates will see them perform at festivals across Europe, including Firenze Rocks, Isle Of Wight Festival, Mallorca Live and more.

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Muse's Matt Bellamy says "everyone wants a new type of revolution - NME

The ballot for the North Carolina General Election in November may become a little more crowded if a U.S. Senate third-party candidates approval to appear on the ballot is granted.

Green Party candidate Matthew Hoh said on his Twitter account on June 8 that his campaign has turned in over 22,000 signatures of which 16,000 were verified. The states requirement is 13,865.

According to Patrick Gannon, public information director for the N.C. State Board of Elections, the board wont know for sure how many valid signatures they received until a review by the State Board and county boards of elections is completed by the end of June. Once the review is complete, a meeting of the State Board of Elections will be scheduled to consider the recognition of the party.

A political party can be recognized in the state if it meets one of three criteria. The Green Party chose the option of filing petitions with signatures from 0.25% of all voters in the most recent election for governor, with at least 200 registered voters from each of 3 N.C. congressional districts. Alternatively, a partys candidate for governor in the most recent state election qualifies by winning at least 2% of the total vote. Lastly, a party can qualify if it was recognized in 70% of all states in the preceding presidential election.

If Hoh is certified by the NCSBE, a state party convention announcing the nomination would also have to take place before July 1 for Hoh to appear on the ballot in November, along with Republican U.S. Congressman Ted Budd, Democrat Cheri Beasley, and Libertarian Shannon Bray, who are vying for the seat of the retiring Republican U.S. Sen. Richard Burr.

The North Carolina Green Party bills itself as an anti-racist, feminist political party that supports gender equality and gender diversity and rejects capitalism in favor of a democratically run economy that responds to the needs of the community and planet.

According to his campaign website, Hoh, of Wake Forest, served in the U.S. Marines and worked at the State Department until resigning in 2009 in protest over what he calls the American escalation of war. He supports abortion rights, universal health care, legalizing all forms of narcotics, housing as a human right, abolishing the Electoral College, term limits for members of Congress, and giving control of police forces to the communities they serve, including hiring, firing, and disciplinary action, not only for the officers themselves, but would also include councils, mayors, county commissioners, district attorneys, and other officials for the policies they create and implement, among other progressive ideas.

The Green Party was officially recognized in the state in 2018 after the General Assembly voted to lower the qualification requirements for a party to appear on the ballot. The party lost its recognition in 2021 after failing to turn out 2% of the vote for gubernatorial or presidential candidates in the 2020 general election. It has never won a major election in North Carolina.

What impact will Hoh have on the other candidates if he is certified to be on the ballot?

The Green Partys impact on the 2022 election will be minimal, said Andy Jackson, director of the John Locke Foundations Civitas Center for Public Integrity. Their presidential candidate got less than one-half of one percent of the vote in North Carolina in 2020 (0.22%) and they did not even nominate a candidate for governor or any other office in the Council of State. The weak performance of their candidates is why they lost their official party status in North Carolina after the 2020 election.

Jackson said the party will be the strongest in progressive areas such as Durham and Asheville and will mainly pull votes from Democrats in those areas. But Democrats have such a strong advantage in those areas that Green Party candidates will not win enough votes to act as spoilers and help Republicans win there.

He added that the Green Party will almost certainly cost Democrats fewer votes than the Libertarian Party costs Republicans, and that research has found that Libertarians pull about twice as many votes from Republicans as they do from Democrats.

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Green Party Senate candidate may appear on N.C.s ballot in November - The Richmond Observer