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Nick Troiano of Pike County, PA announced today that he is running for the U.S. House of Representatives as an independent, citizen-funded candidate from Pennsylvania’s 10th Congressional district in this year’s election.
At a campaign kickoff at the Milford Diner, Troiano told supporters, “I am running for Congress because I refuse to accept the status quo of continued partisan gridlock and special interest corruption in Washington: a country in decline.” Troiano said his platform focuses on reforming the political process and identifying the best ideas from across the political spectrum to advance fiscal responsibility, economic mobility and environmental sustainability.
Troiano earned his Master’s degree in American government from Georgetown University last year and has spent the last decade advancing non-partisan fiscal and political reforms at a local and national level. Most recently, he co-founded “The Can Kicks Back” campaign to educate the public about the national debt and advocate for the bipartisan deficit reduction recommendations of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, which was co-chaired by Alan Simpson, a former Republican U.S. Senator from Wyoming, and Erskine Bowles, a former Chief of Staff to President Bill Clinton.
“For several years now, Nick has been standing up to those frightened, pandering politicians who have been ‘kicking the can down the road’ for the sole sake of their own reelection,” said Senator Simpson. “I strongly support him and am very encouraged by Nick’s candidacy because I believe he can play a vitally important role in Congress in finally getting our fiscal house in some sense of order, with the wise use of his rare courage and honesty. He’s a good one!”
Troiano announced that he exceeded the goals set by his Exploratory Committee, which he launched on February 20, including recruiting more than 1,000 supporters and raising more than $30,000. The campaign also announced the opening of its headquarters at 845 Diamond Street in Williamsport, PA.
A benchmark poll commissioned by the campaign and conducted by JMC Analytics on March 8-9, 2014 of 559 likely voters (+/- 4.1%) found substantial support for Troiano’s campaign. If the election were held tomorrow, only 30% of voters would support incumbent Congressman Tom Marino. On the other hand, 76% of voters indicated that they were open to supporting an independent candidate this November.
“Nick’s campaign has a wide opportunity for an electoral victory this year because voters are fed up with politicians who are more responsive to their parties and special interests than their constituents,” said Russell Verney, Troiano’s political advisor who previously advised the independent presidential campaign of Ross Perot.
Troiano must collect at least 3,500 signatures to get on the November general election ballot, so he urged those interested in volunteering for the campaign to sign up on his website, www.nicktroiano.com.
I see no evidence that The Watcher is the same person as the other “functional” bozo you name.
Troiano’s statement is correct. He said how many signatures he has to collect as a practical matter, not how many valid.
“Is that true? If so, that’s incredibly f***ed up.”
I’ve never heard of such a thing. There may be a law that says if you don’t win with a certain number of votes there’s an automatic recount, but I can’t see anything else of the sorts being constitutional.
Saw Nick on The Independents tonight. I’ll try to find a video when it’s made available. The show re-airs tonight at midnight on Fox Business. His interview will be about 12:45-ish.
I like that he’s emphasizing the importance of the national debt. He did mention his involvement in the group “The Can Kicks Back” that Irregular Times has been bitching about. It will be interesting to see how much traction he can make. It’s great that The Independents is actually giving a voice to real independent candidates. I hope to see Marianne Williamson, Robert Sarvis, Evan Falchuk, and others on the show.
The watchman is a functional IPR commentator who goes by the names “Electoral Watch”, “Reality Watch” and “Ventura Watch” among others.
🙂 I am a Watcher—–what do you know of the Watchman….. not many know of this…
What is your name? Are you the original watchman?
YUP it’s true—I found out the hard way when i tried to run as an Indepedent here in PA for Sate Reprensentative ….they make it hard, very hard for Independents and it can be very discouraging, along with the filing fees….Independents need to support each other and form some sort of central hub in which we can all connect
^Is that true? If so, that’s incredibly f***ed up.
As well Andy, Independents have to gather the required 1700 or so signatures and in order to win, must beat the D or R by that same amount of votes—–this in an of itself makes it difficut for 3rd party candidates….Therefore even if an Independent wins—if the nuber does not meet that of the required amount of signatures: They Lose 🙁
“where their”
Should read, “where there…”
Bill Greenlaw April 8, 2014 at 8:25 am said: “It is more than the requirement for nominating petitions for Rs or Ds.”
It is true that the signature requirement is higher in Pennsylvania for minor party and independent candidates, however, Democrats and Republicans in Pennsylvania have to gather petition signatures to get on the ballot as well there. The D’s and R’s have 3 weeks to gather petition signatures, and the signature gathering period is in February and March. Only registered Democrats can sign to put a Democrat on the ballot and only registered Republicans can sign to put Republicans on the ballot. Minor party and independent candidates in PA have from mid February until August 1st to gather petition signatures during a Presidential year, and from mid March until August 1st in a non-Presidential year, and any registered voter regardless of party affiliation may sign their petitions.
So it is not that easy to get on the ballot in PA if you are a Democrat or a Republican, although the D’s and R’s who are in the best with their party’s “machine” or establishment have an easier time making the signature requirement or ballot access than those who are not the most favored by their party’s “machine” on establishment, as in if they are a favored candidate, their party apparatus will help them get the signatures, but if they are not a favored candidate they basically have to either go door-to-door to gather the signatures, or hope that they can find a public venue where their will be enough registered D’s or registered R’s who are willing to sign their petitions, and going to public venues to gather the signatures when only registered D’s or registered R’s can sign is especially difficult if one is running for a district office, because not everyone you run into will be from the district, so the best way to do it is to go door-to-door with a walking list of registered D’s or R’s. Door-to-door is slow, but effective.
PA is also the only state in the country where a candidate gets fined by the state if their signatures get challenged and they lose the challenge.
Numbers to get on the ballot in PA:
Independents need at least 2% of the number of votes from the highest vote-getter in their district in the last election for their “nominating papers”. Any candidate should have more than the minimum, to anticipate challenges, but that is not a factor in the number given above.
It is more than the requirement for nominating petitions for Rs or Ds.
Here is Nick commenting on this “On the Record”:
http://foxnewsinsider.com/2014/04/07/24-year-old-nick-troiano-running-independent-citizen-funded-candidate-congress
He has ties to former Americans Elect, but no ties to the Libertarians or Greens.
Does he have support of LPPA, LP Green Party or any other “established” third party?
If i offended you: I apologize.
I don’t have a problem with you, in fact I thought we were having a friendly exchange. You’re the one who got nasty.
WTF is your problem dude. You only need approx 1780 ‘valid” signatures to run as an independent in the race. Furthermore where does a judge get off telling someone that a certain amount above the required signatures is deemed a valid drive? While it is wise to always go beyond the required numbers needed, numbers above the required ARE a cushion amount in case of a challenge to the nominating papers which would knock down the number needed to get on the ballot. Apparently your level of comprehension is lacking….. Stop misrepresenting the info needed to run as an Independent
If he is really running as a centrist Republican, it would’ve been smarter for him to run for US Senate. Being an independent in this House is a waste of time.
“Like I said: He only needs a certain amount. Anything above that is considered a cushion in case he is challenged on the signatures….”
He only needs a certain number of VALID signatures. In my opinion there is no such thing as a “cushion”, you need more than 1900 signatures. This is Pennsylvania, your signatures will be challenged. To Andy’s point you can get by with less than double, but as a judge recently said during a challenge here in PA that double the required number is probably a valid drive, that should be the standard, not the stated requirement. You don’t need 1900, you need 3800.
I see nothing particularly inaccurate about Mr. Troiano’s statement, other than it’s a little low.
Like I said: He only needs a certain amount. Anything above that is considered a cushion in case he is challenged on the signatures….
“Jed Ziggler Post authorApril 6, 2014 at 5:05 pm
Judges have recommended that candidates collect double the required number of signatures. His count is actually a bit low.”
You can get by with less than doubling the required number if you are careful about validity.
Judges have recommended that candidates collect double the required number of signatures. His count is actually a bit low.
HUH??? He needs approx 1900 signatures not 3000…..3000 would be a cushion amount in case he is challenged