Longtime Reform Party National Committee Secretary Nicholas Hensley officially became chairman of the party on December 3 after outgoing chairman Bill Merrell took an early exit from the post.
Hensley was elected chairman at the virtual 2020 Reform National Convention last summer but his term was not expected to begin until next year.
“It’s Wikipedia official!” wrote Hensley on Facebook with the following image:
Hensley is the eleventh chairman since Ross Perot founded the party in 1995. In addition to Merrell, Russ Verney, Jack Gargan, Pat Choate, Gerald Moan, Lou Ann Jones, Shawn O’Hara, Rodney Martin, Charles Foster, and David Collison all have held the position.
After Perot’s strong performance in the 1996 presidential election and Jesse Ventura’s 1998 election as Governor of Minnesota, the party has decreased in prominence since 2000, when it nominated Pat Buchanan for president. In the 2020 election, its ticket of Rocky De La Fuente for president and Darcy Richardson for vice president appeared on the ballot representing the Reform Party only in Florida.
Hensley hopes to revive the party and is already looking to recruit candidates for the state elections in Virginia and New Jersey in 2021.
Mr Hensley will serve well
To me, it is not easy to justify keeping the Reform Party going, given that there are now so many competing centrist national parties. They include the Alliance Party, the American Solidarity Party, and the Unity Party. And given that the Reform Party has no ballot-qualified parties in any states, as far as I know, it seems a very heavy burden to revive the Reform Party. I have read, and believe that it is true, that the Florida Reform Party is now the Alliance Party affiliate for Florida. The Reform Party went off the ballot in Louisiana by not running any candidates in a 4-year period. Conceivably it is still on in Mississippi, but Shawn O’Hara died a few years ago and I don’t think anyone else in Mississippi cares about the party.
Several have posted that the Reform Party in Florida has affiliated with the Alliance Party. I question the accuracy of this statement. Chairman Hensley needs to be asked.
The two parties came together to support Rocque DeLaFuente, but I do not believe the Reform Party has folded into the Alliance Party
The Facebook page for the Reform Party of Florida now claims it is an affiliate of the Alliance Party.
https://facebook.com/ReformPartyFlorida/
How does the national Reform Party react to Florida’s disaffiliation? Will they set up a new party in that state, and if so what would it be called?
The chairman is not responding to inquiries.
LOL, he is Chairman of an historical footnote .
“How does the national Reform Party react to Florida’s disaffiliation? Will they set up a new party in that state, and if so what would it be called?”
I am not familiar with the innerworkings of the Reform Party but it seems that there isn’t much national party members to react to the disaffiliation and there is not a lot of people through which they could form a new party. If that is true then the Reform Party should merge.
“J.R. Myers wrote:
LOL, he is Chairman of an historical footnote .”
Reform Party presidential vote in 2020 election – 5966
J.R. Myers presidential vote in 2020 election – 1372
Honestly, I’d join the Reform Party if it still existed in my state because my politics are heavily influenced by reform with a small r. They don’t exist, and neither does to cite Richard Winger Alliance, American Solidarity, or Unity parties in my state. I have inquired with the Alliance Party Political Director for where no state affiliate exists and never received a response.
Ryan,
What state are you in? I’ll personally get back to you. Thanks.
Ryan,
Please send me your contact info @ darcy.richardson@theallianceparty.com and I’ll respond promptly. Thanks again..
Go back to school Ryan. You have much to learn. The Reform Party was successfully dismantled.