1. Independent candidate Jeffrey McCormick will join Evan Falchuk on the 2014 Massachusetts gubernatorial ballot.

"McCormick submitted nearly 12,300 signatures to qualify for the Nov. 4 gubernatorial ballot on Wednesday, arriving at Secretary of State William Galvin's election division office in Boston with running-mate Tracy Post to hand deliver the locally certified signatures. Candidates for governor must collect at least 10,000 certified signatures to have their name appear on the ballot."

Ahead of the September 9 primary, Falchuk and McCormick are the first two candidates to officially qualify for the November ballot.

2. Independent U.S. Senate candidate Greg Orman is in a good position ahead of November.

"A new poll from Democratic-aligned firm Public Policy Polling gives Roberts only 32 percent — but still in first place — followed by Democratic nominee Chad Taylor, the district attorney of Shawnee County (the Topeka area) with 25 percent; and independent candidate Greg Orman, a businessman and political centrist, with 23 percent. The survey of likely voters was conducted from August 14 to 17, and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.3 percentage points."

As reported on IVN, this race could quickly turn into a two-man race between Roberts and Orman. Taylor doesn't have the funding and national Democrats have all but given up on gaining the seat.

3. A New York appeals court ruled that Zephyr Teachout can remain on the Democratic primary ballot in New York's governor's race.

"In its two-page decision upholding the ruling, a four-judge panel of the Appellate Division’s Second Department found that although Ms. Teachout had lived in multiple residences in New York City and had maintained “close connections” to Vermont in the past five years, “that is nothing more than an ambiguity in the residency calculus.”

In a state as solidly blue as New York, the winner of the democratic primary will be the next governor.

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