Article Six of the United States Constitution establishes the laws and treaties of the United States made in accordance with it as the supreme law of the land, forbids a religious test as a requirement for holding a governmental position, and holds the United States under the Constitution responsible for debts incurred by the United States under the Articles of Confederation.
The Libertarian Party (LP) is a political party in the United States that promotes civil liberties, non-interventionism, laissez-faire capitalism and shrinking the size and scope of government. The party was conceived at meetings in the home of David F. Nolan in Westminster, Colorado in 1971 and was officially formed on December 11, 1971 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The founding of the party was prompted in part due to concerns about the Nixon administration, the Vietnam War, conscription and the end of the gold standard.
The Constitution Party, previously known as the U.S. Taxpayers' Party, is a national political party in the United States. The idea that the principles and intents of the U.S. Constitution remain relevant in human relations was the origin of the 1991 founding. Founding members included 2016 presidential candidate Darrell Castle and former acting Office of Economic Opportunity Director Howard Phillips. The party platform is based on originalist interpretations of the Constitution and shaped by principles it finds set forth in the Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights, Constitution and the Bible.
Michael J. Badnarik is an American software engineer, political figure, and former radio talk show host. He was the Libertarian Party nominee for President of the United States in the 2004 elections, and placed fourth in the race, behind independent candidate Ralph Nader and the two major party candidates, George W. Bush and John Kerry. Two years later Badnarik ran as a Libertarian Party candidate in the 2006 congressional elections for Texas's 10th congressional district seat near Austin. In a three candidate field, Badnarik came in third, receiving 7,603 votes for 4.3% of the vote.
The Personal Choice Party (PCP) was a United States political party whose presidential candidate for 2004 qualified for the ballot in the state of Utah.
James Gordon "Bo" Gritz is a former United States Army Special Forces officer who served for 22 years, including in the Vietnam War. His activities in retirement, notably attempted POW rescues in conjunction with the Vietnam War POW/MIA issue, have been controversial.
Elections in the United States are held for government officials at the federal, state, and local levels. At the federal level, the nation's head of state, the President, is elected indirectly by the people of each state, through an Electoral College. Today, these electors almost always vote with the popular vote of their state. All members of the federal legislature, the Congress, are directly elected by the people of each state. There are many elected offices at state level, each state having at least an elective Governor and legislature. There are also elected offices at the local level, in counties, cities, towns, townships, boroughs, and villages. According to a study by political scientist Jennifer Lawless, there were 519,682 elected officials in the United States as of 2012.
The Populist Party of Maryland (PPMD) is a populist political party active in Maryland since 2003.
The Oregon Republican Party is the state affiliate of the United States Republican Party in Oregon, headquartered in Wilsonville. The party was established in the Oregon Territory in February 1857 as the "Free State Republican Party of Oregon" and held its first state convention after Oregon's admission to the union on April 1, 1859.
Americans for Prosperity (AFP), founded in 2004, is a libertarian/conservative political advocacy group in the United States funded by David H. Koch and Charles Koch. As the Koch brothers' primary political advocacy group, it is one of the most influential American conservative organizations.
Darrell Lane Castle is an American politician and attorney from Memphis, Tennessee. He was the Constitution Party's nominee for Vice President of the United States in the 2008 presidential election and for President in the 2016 presidential election. As the presidential nominee, Castle received 202,348 votes, and placed sixth nationwide.
The Libertarian Party of Louisiana(LPL) is the Louisiana affiliate of the Libertarian Party. The state chairman is Rufus Holt Craig, Jr. It is the third largest party in Louisiana and one of five officially recognized parties in the state. The LPL has two legislative accomplishments to its credit, one a friendlier ballot access law passed in 2004, and the other, a defeat of a bill which would have redefined any party under 40,000 registered voters as a "minor" party and not deserving of federal primary elections. The party is currently organizing individual parishes with their own party committees and is fielding candidates in state and local elections.
America's Party, founded as America's Independent Party, is a conservative American political party formed in August 2008 in an offshoot of the Constitution Party by supporters of Alan Keyes, with the goal of an alternative to the Republican and Democratic party system. It selected party leader Tom Hoefling in the 2012 presidential election, and Hoefling sought the party nomination again in the 2016 Presidential election.
The Boston Tea Party (BTP) was a United States political party named after the event known as the Boston Tea Party of 1773.
The Populist Party was a political party in the United States between 1984 and 1996. It was conservative and often white nationalist in its ideology. The party was unrelated to the original American Populist Party or other American parties that have used the same name. Willis Carto helped found the Populist Party, which eventually served as an electoral vehicle for Ku Klux Klan member David Duke.
Gary Johnson was the governor of New Mexico from 1995 to 2003 and ran for president in 2012 and 2016. In December 2011 he announced he would pursue the presidential nomination of the Libertarian Party for the 2012 general election. The Libertarian National Convention in May, 2012 chose Johnson as the party's candidate. In November 2014, Johnson announced he would pursue the presidential nomination of the Libertarian Party for the 2016 general election. Johnson has taken positions on many political issues as revealed through his public comments, his gubernatorial record, his Our America Initiative and his campaigns to win the Republican and Libertarian nominations.
The Justice Party USA is a political party in the United States. It was organized in November 2011 by a group of political activists including former mayor of Salt Lake City Rocky Anderson as an alternative to what he saw as a duopoly of the two major political parties. One of the major goals of the Justice Party is removing corporate influence and other concentrated wealth from politics.
The Virgil Goode presidential campaign of 2012 began when former U.S. Congressman Virgil Goode of Virginia announced his decision to seek the 2012 presidential nomination of the Constitution Party in February 2012. During the nomination campaign, he put forth a four-point plank that included his plans to restrict immigration, balance the federal budget, decrease the size of government, and institute congressional term limits.
Deez Nuts was a satirical candidate, portrayed by Brady C. Olson, who ran in the 2016 United States presidential election. His form to run for office was filed with the Federal Election Commission in late July 2015. In polls conducted by Public Policy Polling in Iowa, Minnesota and North Carolina in mid-August 2015, he polled at 8, 8 and 9 percent respectively, garnering the attention of the media. On October 11, 2015, Deez Nuts announced on his Facebook page his intention to run for Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, citing his eligibility despite not being a member of the House itself and the scarcity of candidates. A poll performed in mid-August 2016 showed Deez Nuts slightly edging out Harambe and Jill Stein in Texas, with 3% of the vote.
The 2016 presidential campaign of Darrell Castle, lawyer and 2008 Vice Presidential nominee of the Constitution Party began on the eve of the Constitution Party National Convention in April 2016. On April 16, the Constitution Party nominated Castle on the first ballot after he won 184 votes out of the 339.5 cast to win the nomination with 54.19%. His running mate, Scott Bradley, was nominated by voice vote. In his acceptance speech, Castle stated that he wanted to speak the American public,
in defense of liberty and against tyranny. I speak for the republic and against the fascism that seems to be enveloping us. The general government was created by the sovereign states for a specific purpose; that purpose was to protect our God-given rights. Anything that runs afoul of that purpose is therefore illegal and unconstitutional. And since virtually everything this government does runs afoul of that purpose, virtually everything it does is illegal and unconstitutional.
