Posted in Ballot Access News
The Constitution Party has run a presidential candidate in each of the last five presidential elections. In 2008, its presidential nominee, Chuck Baldwin, polled a higher percentage of the vote than any previous Constitution Party presidential candidate had ever polled in 27 states.
Those 27 states are: Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
Ironically, however, 2008 wasn’t the Constitution Party’s best presidential showing. Baldwin in 2008 polled .15% of the total vote, whereas in 1996 Howard Phillips had polled .19%. Phillips was on the ballot in 1996 in three populous states in which Baldwin wasn’t on (California, Texas and Pennsylvania).
The Libertarian Party also hit new presidential percentage records in 2008, in two states, Indiana and North Carolina.
The only other minor parties that had a presidential candidate in 2008 as well as in previous years which hit new percentage records are the Working Families Party in New York, the Peace & Freedom Party of California, and the Natural Law Party of Michigan. The latter two parties nominated Ralph Nader in 2008.
Good.