Unity ticket

Last updated
Republican Abraham Lincoln and Democrat Andrew Johnson campaigning on the same ticket in the 1864 United States presidential election. Republican presidential ticket 1864b.jpg
Republican Abraham Lincoln and Democrat Andrew Johnson campaigning on the same ticket in the 1864 United States presidential election.

In a presidential system, a unity ticket is a form of ticket balance in which a candidate and a running mate of separate political parties run on a single ticket. Candidates may retain their separate political parties for the duration of the election, or they may adopt a new party name to represent their unified platform. In a system where the running mate is next in line for the presidency, a unity ticket can cause a mid-term shift in policy if the president dies or is removed from office. Unity tickets are common during periods of political realignment.[ citation needed ]

Contents

The term unity ticket may sometimes be used more broadly for any political ticket that is meant to appeal to two different political factions. A unity ticket is distinct from a fusion ticket where multiple parties endorse a single candidate.

Brazil

Presidential tickets in Brazil commonly have two candidates of competing political parties, and as a result the President of Brazil and the Vice President of Brazil are often of different political parties. In 2010 and 2014, Dilma Rousseff of the Workers' Party and Michel Temer of the Brazilian Democratic Movement were elected under the With the Strength of the People coalition. Following Rousseff's impeachment and removal from office, Temer became president.

Taiwan

In the 2016 presidential election, James Soong of the People First Party ran with Hsu Hsin-ying of the Minkuotang.

Tanzania

Opposition candidate Augustino Mrema of NCCR–Mageuzi was to run on a unity ticket with a candidate from the Civic United Front in the 1995 general election, but the parties were unable to agree on a running mate and the Civic United Front ran its own ticket. [1]

United States

Presidential elections

Prior to the ratification of the Twelfth Amendment, the presidential runner-up would be elected vice president. This resulted in John Adams of the Federalist Party winning the presidency while opponent Thomas Jefferson of the Democratic-Republican Party became his vice president. The only unity ticket to win the presidency was the National Union Party in the 1864 presidential election, which ran a unity ticket between Abraham Lincoln of the Republican Party and Andrew Johnson of the Democratic Party. Lincoln's assassination resulted in Johnson taking office and drastically changing reconstruction era policy.[ citation needed ]

Democrat John Kerry considered choosing Republican John McCain as his running mate in the 2004 presidential election. [2] [3] [4] In turn, John McCain gave serious consideration to a unity ticket with former Democrat Joe Lieberman in the 2008 presidential election. [5] [6] Several commentators suggested that the Democratic Party field a unity ticket with a moderate Republican to challenge Donald Trump in 2020 and win the votes of Never Trump Republicans. [7] [8] [9] Presidential unity tickets in the 21st century are often criticized as being unrealistic. [10] [11]

Some notable third party runs have incorporated unity tickets:

Statewide elections

In 2014, Bill Walker of the Republican Party and Byron Mallott of the Democratic Party were elected governor and lieutenant governor of Alaska. [12] Democrat Patrick Murphy floated a gubernatorial campaign with Republican David Jolly in the 2018 Florida gubernatorial election, but they ultimately did not run. [13] When Republican Bob Krist launched an independent campaign in the 2018 Nebraska gubernatorial election, it was speculated that he would run a unity ticket, but he eventually ran as the Democratic nominee with a Democratic running mate. [14]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1996 United States presidential election</span> 53rd quadrennial U.S. presidential election

The 1996 United States presidential election was the 53rd quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 5, 1996. Incumbent Democratic President Bill Clinton defeated former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, the Republican nominee, and Ross Perot, the Reform Party nominee and 1992 independent presidential candidate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1900 United States presidential election</span> 29th quadrennial U.S. presidential election

The 1900 United States presidential election was the 29th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 6, 1900. In a re-match of the 1896 race, incumbent Republican President William McKinley defeated his Democratic challenger, William Jennings Bryan. McKinley's victory made him the eighth president to win consecutive re-election and first since Ulysses S. Grant accomplished the same feat in 1872. Until 1956, this would be the last time in which an incumbent Republican president would win re-election after serving a full term in office. This election saw the fifth rematch in presidential history but the first to produce the same winner both times; neither would occur again until 1956.

A running mate is a person running together with another person on a joint ticket during an election. The term is most often used in reference to the person in the subordinate position but can also properly be used when referring to both candidates, such as by saying Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, and Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto, were running mates in relation to the presidential elections held in the United States in 2020 and Kenya in 2013 respectively.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1998 Minnesota gubernatorial election</span>

The 1998 Minnesota gubernatorial election took place on November 3, 1998. Reform Party candidate Jesse Ventura defeated Republican Party challenger Norm Coleman and Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party challenger Hubert H. "Skip" Humphrey III. Ventura governed with a DFL-controlled state Senate and a Republican-controlled state House. As of 2024, this is the only time that a Reform Party candidate has been elected to statewide office.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2006 New York gubernatorial election</span>

The 2006 New York gubernatorial election took place on November 7, 2006, to elect the governor and lieutenant governor of New York, concurrently with elections to the United States Senate in other states and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections, then incumbent Republican governor George Pataki chose not to run for re-election in a fourth term. Democrat Eliot Spitzer, the New York Attorney General, won the election over former Republican state Assembly minority leader John Faso. As of 2024, this is the last time the Governor’s office in New York changed partisan control. This was the first open-seat election since 1982. Primary elections were held on September 12. This is the last gubernatorial election where any of the following counties voted Democratic: Genesee, Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, Niagara, Fulton, Steuben, Tioga & Schoharie.

In United States politics, balancing the ticket is a practice where a political candidate chooses a running mate, usually from the same party, with the goal of bringing more widespread appeal to the campaign. The term is most prominently used to describe the selection of the U.S. vice presidential nominee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2008 Republican Party vice presidential candidate selection</span>

On March 4, 2008, Senator John McCain of Arizona won the 2008 nomination by the Republican Party for President of the United States, and became the presumptive nominee of the party. McCain held an event with Alaska governor Sarah Palin, revealing her as his vice presidential running mate on August 29, 2008, a date which coincided both with McCain's 72nd birthday and the Palins' 20th wedding anniversary), at the Ervin J. Nutter Center in Dayton, Ohio, the day after Barack Obama's acceptance speech. The McCain–Palin ticket ultimately lost to the Obama–Biden ticket in the 2008 presidential election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2008 United States presidential election in Missouri</span>

The 2008 United States presidential election in Missouri was held on November 4, 2008, and was part of the 2008 United States presidential election, which took place throughout all 50 states and D.C. Voters chose 11 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2008 United States presidential election in Wisconsin</span>

The 2008 United States presidential election in Wisconsin took place on November 4, 2008, as part of the 2008 United States presidential election in which all 50 states plus the District of Columbia participated. State voters chose 10 electors to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote pitting Democratic U.S. Senator from Illinois Barack Obama, and his running mate U.S. Senator from Delaware Joe Biden, against Republican challenger and U.S. Senator from Arizona John McCain and his running mate, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2008 United States presidential election in North Dakota</span>

The 2008 United States presidential election in North Dakota took place on November 4, 2008, and was part of the 2008 United States presidential election. Voters chose three representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2008 United States presidential election in Montana</span>

The 2008 United States presidential election in Montana took place on November 4, 2008, and was part of the 2008 United States presidential election. Voters chose three representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2008 United States presidential election in Illinois</span>

The 2008 United States presidential election in Illinois took place on November 4, 2008, and was part of the 2008 United States presidential election. Voters chose 21 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2008 United States presidential election in Virginia</span>

The 2008 United States presidential election in Virginia took place on November 4, 2008, which was part of the 2008 United States presidential election. Voters chose 13 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2008 United States presidential election in Alaska</span>

The 2008 United States presidential election in Alaska took place on November 4, 2008, as part of the nationwide presidential election held throughout all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Voters chose 3 electors, or representatives to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2008 United States presidential election in Mississippi</span>

The 2008 United States presidential election in Mississippi took place on November 4, 2008, and was part of the 2008 United States presidential election. Voters chose 6 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2010 Guamanian gubernatorial election</span>

The 2010 Guam gubernatorial election was held on November 2, 2010. Incumbent Republican Governor Felix P. Camacho was term-limited and has ineligible for running for a third-consecutive term. In January 2009, the website D.C.'s Political Report predicted that the Republican Party would retain the governorship. Republican Eddie Calvo won the election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1986 Illinois gubernatorial election</span>

The 1986 Illinois gubernatorial election was held on November 4, 1986. Republican candidate James R. Thompson won a fourth term in office, defeating the Illinois Solidarity Party nominee, former United States Senator Adlai Stevenson III, by around 400,000 votes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Social Democratic Party (Brazil, 2011)</span> Political party in Brazil

The Social Democratic Party is a political party in Brazil led by Gilberto Kassab and uniting dissidents from various political parties, especially the Democrats, Brazilian Social Democracy Party and Party of National Mobilization.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2020 United States gubernatorial elections</span>

United States gubernatorial elections were held on November 3, 2020, in 11 states and two territories. The previous gubernatorial elections for this group of states took place in 2016, except in New Hampshire and Vermont where governors only serve two-year terms. These two states elected their current governors in 2018. Nine state governors ran for reelection and all nine won, while Democrat Steve Bullock of Montana could not run again due to term limits and Republican Gary Herbert of Utah decided to retire at the end of his term.

References

  1. Hoffman, Barak; Robinson, Lindsay (October 2009). "Tanzania's Missing Opposition". Journal of Democracy . 20 (4): 123–136. doi:10.1353/jod.0.0117. S2CID   154040165.
  2. Balz, Dan (June 13, 2004). "McCain Resists Dream Ticket". The Washington Post . Retrieved 2022-03-18.
  3. "Undeterred by McCain Denials, Some See Him as Kerry's No. 2". The New York Times . 2004-05-15. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2022-03-18.
  4. Stuckey, Mike (March 16, 2004). "Biden endorses a fusion ticket:Kerry-McCain". NBC News . Archived from the original on February 3, 2021. Retrieved 2022-03-18.
  5. Burns, Alexander; Martin, Jonathan; Allen, Mike (August 19, 2008). "McCain weighs a Lieberman surprise". Politico . Retrieved 2022-03-18.
  6. Martin, Jonathan (2018-05-05). "At His Ranch, John McCain Shares Memories and Regrets With Friends". The New York Times . ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2022-03-18.
  7. Glover, Juleanna. "Biden Should Run on a Unity Ticket With Romney". Politico . Retrieved 2022-03-18.
  8. "Romney-Bloomberg: The Unity Ticket America Deserves". The Bulwark. 2020-02-17. Retrieved 2022-03-18.
  9. Kulat, Cathi (2019-12-23). "A unity slate to save the Democrats — and the republic". The Hill . Retrieved 2022-03-18.
  10. Allott, Daniel (2020-01-06). "The perils of a bipartisan presidential ticket". The Hill . Retrieved 2022-03-18.
  11. Shephard, Alex (2017-09-02). "Will the Fantasy of a Unity Ticket Just Die Already?". The New Republic. ISSN   0028-6583 . Retrieved 2022-03-18.
  12. "A bipartisan 'unity ticket' actually won this year. That's rare". The Washington Post . ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved 2022-03-18.
  13. Leary, Alex (April 23, 2018). "Patrick Murphy and David Jolly making an unprecedented bipartisan run for Florida governor?". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved 2022-03-18.
  14. Moring, Roseann (October 1, 2017). "Dems mull best shot at defeating Ricketts". Omaha World-Herald. Retrieved 2022-03-18.