Posted on 11/14/2004 10:34:21 AM PST by Ahban
CONSTITUTION PARTY GAINS STRENGTH WITH PEROUTKA/BALDWIN TICKET - The Constitution Party was the only alternative party that increased it's vote totals this year compared to the 2000 election!
Constitution Party members have cause to celebrate! Their 2004 presidential ticket – Michael A. Peroutka for President and Dr. Chuck Baldwin for Vice President – received 30% more votes this year than in the previous election!
Nationally, the Peroutka-Baldwin ticket received 132,067 votes compared to 101,278 for the Constitution Party’s 2000 candidate, Howard Phillips. The increase in Peroutka's tally is particularly significant when compared to the decline in voter support for other minor parties and candidates. Ralph Nader and the presidential tickets of the Green and Libertarian parties all received FEWER votes in 2004 than in 2000. The Constitution Party’s vote was up 30 percent, while the combined Nader-Green Party vote declined 83 percent, and the Libertarian vote dropped 2 percent.
The Constitution Party’s Peroutka-Baldwin ticket was on the ballot in 36 states and was qualified as a write-in for 8 more states. The Libertarian presidential ticket qualified for the ballot in 48 states, and the Green Party ticket or Ralph Nader as an Independent were on the ballot in 39 states. Thus the Peroutka-Baldwin voter gains are particularly impressive since the Constitution Party was on few state ballots.
Peroutka’s largest vote total came from California, where he received 21,057 votes. The largest percentages of total vote recorded for the Peroutka/Baldwin ticket came from Utah, Alaska, and Idaho.
CONSTITUTION PARTY CANDIDATE RICK JORE WINS SEAT IN MONTANA LEGISLATURE !!!
Rick Jore, of the Montana Constitution Party won a seat in the State House of Representatives in the November 2, 2004 election, becoming the first State legislator in the nation to be elected on the Constitution Party ticket.
Jore is not a newcomer to the Montana Legislature. He was elected to the Montana House as a Republican in 1994, 1996, and 1998.
A leading conservative in the Montana House, Jore left the Republican Party in 2000 and joined the Constitution Party because he did not see the Republicans changing direction to restore Constitutional principles. “My concern is that the Republican Party simply takes conservatives for granted,” he said. “The inclination is generally to compromise toward the Democrats. The conservatives are simply left out in the cold.”
In the 2000 and 2002 elections, Jore sought to be re-elected to the legislature under the Constitution Party banner, but was defeated by fewer than 200 votes each time.
This year, Jore ran again in a highly competitive three way race. Rick Jore was elected by two votes: 1,559 for Rick, 1,557 for the Democrat, and 1,108 for the Republican.
Jore of the Constitution Party returns to the Montana House of Representatives in a powerful position to determine the partisan organization of the House which has 50 Republicans, 49 Democrats, and 1 Constitution Party member, Rick Jore. The newly elected Governor of Montana is a Democrat.
An experienced legislator, Jore will use his leverage for the benefit of conservatives and taxpayers. Meanwhile, both establishment parties are courting him, for it is he who will decide their destinies when the Legislature organizes.
CONSTITUTION PARTY STATE ELECTION HIGHLIGHTS
The Constitution Party and its State affiliates ran candidates for the U.S. Senate in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Maryland, Missouri, Nevada, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Utah.
Richard Winger, publisher of Ballot Access News says: “I am impressed. This year, for the first time the Constitution Party has more candidates for U.S. Senator than the Green party, more candidates for Governor than the Green party, and more candidates for state legislature than the Green Party.”
Candidates of the Constitution Party, and its State affiliates, chalked up some impressive vote totals in the 2004 election. Here are a few of the highlights:
PENNSYLVANIA (State Affiliate is the Constitution Party of PA)
Jim Clymer, Constitution Party national chairman, received 213,986 votes for U.S. Senator, in his 3 way race for the seat of liberal Republican incumbent Arlen Specter. Specter spent much of his campaign time denouncing Clymer, and President George Bush was so concerned about Clymer that he sent letters to many Pennsylvania Republicans that mentioned Clymer by name urging them to vote for “my friend” Arlen Specter.
NEVADA (State Affiliate is the Independent American Party of NV)
In Nevada, Las Vegas attorney Joel Hansen of the Independent American Party received 196,799 votes for Justice of the Nevada Supreme Court. Running against an incumbent, Hansen secured almost 26 percent of the vote. The establishment politicians and media were so afraid of a Hansen victory that they deluged the State with negative attacks on him during the final days of the campaign.
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Voter registration in the Independent American Party has doubled since the fall months of 2000. IAP registration was then 15,754. Today that registration has grown to 31,517, almost 3 percent of the total statewide voter registration. The IAP is the third largest political party in Nevada, and remains ballot qualified for the 2006 election.
............
MICHIGAN (State Affiliate is the U.S. Taxpayers Party of Michigan)
In Michigan, to maintain ballot qualified status, a statewide candidate of the U.S. Taxpayers Party was required to receive at least 17,003 votes in the 2004 election. All of the party’s statewide candidates far exceeded this total.
Crystal Van Sickle, running for the Michigan State Board of Trustees, received 129,845 votes. Gail Graeser and Stephanie Poortenga received 92,854 and 79,463 votes respectively for the State Board of Education. Karen Adams and Joe Sanger received 144,968 and 73,618 votes respectively for the University of Michigan Board of Regents; and Philip Adams received 97,627 votes for the Wayne State Board of Governors.
Joe Sanger, Constitution Party treasurer, is elated with the results, saying: “Our leading statewide candidate doubled the number of votes received by our leading statewide candidate of two years ago. In most races we did better than the Greens and Libertarians.”
UTAH (State Affiliate is the Constitution Party of Utah)
Gary Van Horn, the Utah Constitution Party’s nominee for U.S. Senator received 16,348 votes, just 286 short of the number needed to keep the party on the ballot without petitioning. In at least two legislative districts, the Constitution Party candidates received more votes than the difference between the winning Democrats and the losing Republicans “Those two losses to the GOP, will not go unnoticed by the liberal GOP leaders,” says Frank Fluckiger, Utah Constitution Party State Chairman.
Utah gave presidential nominee Michael Peroutka the highest percentage of the vote that he received in any State. Says Fluckiger: “Nationally the Constitution Party was the only alternative party whose presidential candidate got more votes in 2004 than in 2000. This is very significant, especially when one realizes that the Constitution Party was on the ballot in five less states this year than in 2000.”
I hope that in 10 years the two major parties are the Republican and the Constitution parties.
Hi lady!
maybe after the latest amnesty fiasco you are in the mood to ping-list this one?
Wow!!!!!
They went from a zero, zilch, nada, zip party to a zero, zilch, nada party!
Way to go!!!
Actually, at the present rate of increase, it will take approximately 8,000 years, not 10.
Gee, you are really negative. A 30% gain is better than a decline, especially in an environment where the others are declining. So what do you want as an alternative? Right now the GOP swings leftward to get democrats. The demos are collapsing. As soon as their hand-out constituencies realize that it is the GOP who is picking our pockets for them rather than the powerless Democrats they will shift to the GOP.
If we don't have another serious party to the right of the GOP then the competition will be to go left, not right. The conservatives need a crediable "other place to go" to keep the GOP from "beating" the Democrats by BECOMING the Democrats.
Seriously though, the freedom loving parties had better get together and put up one candidate next round. Everyone will be disgusted with the Republicans by then and they are already disgusted by the Democrats so a single true freedom candidate has a chance but 2 or more splitting the vote hasn't got a shot. That scenario will make Hillary president.
Just find some compromise on the abortion issue that we all can live with and put up ONE candidate that advocates a return to a constitutional republic.
If you know Catholics (and I do) who think the GOP is weak on abortion, this is a good alternative. It keeps them active and often, when the crunch is on, they vote with the GOP. It also reminds the GOP that the SPECTRE of SPECTER is very real.
Better check your math- I got about 5 million votes in just five election cycles. That's 20 years, not 8,000.
And once the CP is seen as serious contenders the rate of growth could well top that. A lot of people are reluctant to suppor the CP "because they can't win". Once they see that it can happen, they will jump in.
That gain is so low the numbers are buried in the noise. You could rise 30% just by a change in the weather at those levels.
Now to be fair the Montana legislature win is progress, and that is exactly where third parties have to start---at the state and local levels where grassroots campaigning can still have an impact.
At the national level, the Constitution party will continue for the indefinite future to wield zero political clout---and possibly serve as an occasional spoiler causing the national race to move farther left than it would otherwise. In other words, fielding candidates at the national level is counterproductive to the cause.
Now if we could only get approval voting, THEN I would be all for unbridled third-party activity at the national level, because it would eliminate the spoiler effect and allow third-party candidates to get true and accurate gauge of their support level.
Bush 286 31 51% 60,480,957
Kerry 252 20 48% 57,123,038
Constitution Party 132,067
WOW a real power house
I agree with you that we need to get together. There are pro-life libertarians, so I don't think that will be as big an obstacle as the LP's open borders and open trade policies.
The stats can't say WHATEVER we want them to, I mean, the CP did gain while the LP lost votes, even if on a smaller base. Still, your point about getting together is well taken.
Now that's callin the kettle black ...
With such 'catholic' politicians as Kerry and Kennedy, I will take the GOP anyday on it's abortion blank over anything the Catholics say. When the church makes its beliefs and enforcement a bit less like the waffling of John Kerry, this might be a fair vote to go after.
Balwin's nuttier than a fruitcake.
They're as impressive as Dr. Keyes was in IL. :)
make that 'plank' not blank! ;-)
*chuckle*
As long as this is TRULY the case I am all for it. But there are a few wackos on this forum who vote Constitution (for President) regardless of whether the "crunch is on" or not. They justify their choice by saying that it is a "vote for principle." And yet, all they end up doing is risking a spoiler vote that that national race moves further to the left. What good is principle if it is coupled with a strategy that at best is ineffective, and at worst is counterproductive?
Any vote for Peroutka in states such as Ohio, Iowa, and New Mexico in this election were flat out negligent. At least the votes in California were "safe".
I'd like to see it. I live in PA and didn't get anything like that.
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