Five unusual state parties

By Kaitlin Kovach

When voters talk about third parties, they tend to think of the major ones: the Libertarians, the Greens, even Ross Perot's Reform Party.

But those aren't the only ones.

Across the United States, dozens of smaller political parties have been formed to advance causes ranging from the parochial to the bizarre.

Sarah Binder, professor of politicial science at George Washington University, said that’s because Americans seem to love organizing into political parties, despite the preference of the Founding Fathers for a party-less system of government.

"What we can tell from early Congresses is that members began to coalesce into parties fairly quickly," Binder said. "They were going to win a lot more if they were organized."

Binder says third parties rarely gain national attention, though they can gain large regional influence, such as the southern Dixiecrats did briefly in the 1940s.

Those built around charismatic individuals, such as Teddy Roosevelt's Bull Moose Progressive Party, can gain national attention for a while, but they often fizzle in the long run.

"Places and times that third parties do well are really exceptions," Binder said, noting that, in theory, they can't do much unless the two major parties are very evenly matched. "They can be spoilers. It's hard to see them wielding any direct power."

Here are five states with the most interesting local parties:

Alaskan Independence Party
The Alaskan Independence Party was founded in 1978, but it wasn’t officially recognized by the state until 1984. The party's website describes it as an ideological hybrid of "republicanism, populism and libertarianism."

As the name implies, AIP members are in favor of Alaska being independent of the United States.

However, their main concern is that the 1958 vote that made Alaska a state was corrupt because residents were not given a choice between statehood, commonwealth status or complete separation.

The Peace and Freedom Party (California)
California's Peace and Freedom Party’s website describes the party as "committed to socialism, democracy, ecology, feminism and racial equality." The party was founded in 1967 and first placed on a California ballot in 1968. At one time, the party had national reach.

Its website claims the party has produced hundreds of candidates for public office since its founding on the state and national level, including several presidential candidates.

Florida's 70 minor parties
Florida's Department of State recognizes only the Republicans and Democrats as major parties, but also has about 70 minor parties. More than half of those parties were single-handedly created by 2010 gubernatorial write-in candidate Josue Larouse over the span of a few months last year, according to the Sun Sentinel.

Larouse's parties include the American Aristocrats Political Party and the American Celebrities Party, among many others. And some political movements aren’t long-gone; they just went to Florida for retirement. Reincarnations of both the Whig Party and the Prohibition Party are alive and well in the Sunshine State.

Tequila Party (Nevada)
Nevada may soon act as the launching pad of a new party inspired by the Tea Party movement. The Tequila Party was officially registered with the state in December and is modeled after the Tea Party’s grassroots activism style. But this time it’s Latino leaders leading the charge for faster action on immigration reform, which they say Democratic leaders are dragging their heels on.

Vermont Republic Party
Alaska isn’t the only state with residents that want to leave the Union. Members of Vermont's Second Vermont Republic party do as well. The party describes itself as "a nonviolent citizens' network and think tank opposed to the Corporate America and the U.S. government." The party wants to return Vermont to its status as an independent republic, as it was between 1777 and 1791. It was mostly organized in 2003.

Kaitlin Kovach writes for CQ.

http://www.congress.org/news/2011/03/21 ... te_parties