Third Party Watch

As we wrap-up our election coverage this week, we had the chance to ask Matt Thieke a few questions about his run for Governor of New Jersey. As the Green Party nominee, Thieke finished 5th with about 12,200 votes or 0.54% of the total.

TPW: What first inspired you to become a member of [...]

Had Elaine Brown not been kicked off the ballot in the race for mayor of Brunswick, GA… she probably would have had a very good shot at winning.

Ballot Access News reports that Brown received 13% of the vote as a write-in, even though her campaign had been completely sidetracked with court battles and many voters [...]

The Hammonton First Party swept the Hammonton, NJ mayoral and city council races on Tuesday.

Each of the 4 races contained a Democrat, a Republican, and a Hammonton First candidate… and in each race the HFP candidate received more votes than the Republican and Democrat combined.

Click here for the results.

In our latest interview we ask Shane Corey, the Chief of Staff of the Libertarian Party, about his views on this year’s election results and where he thinks the party is headed in the future.

TPW: What first inspired you to become a Libertarian?

Shane Cory: I have always considered myself a political independent. I [...]

This is an interesting article from The News & Advance of Lynchburg, Virginia. It profiles local Libertarian officeholder Jeff Bowles and his largely realistic view of the challenges that face third parties.

More and more, Jeff Bowles can smell discontent in the air. This fall, though, it’s been mixed with the more pleasant odors [...]

A Libertarian was elected to a seat on the city council in the small town of Irwinton, Georgia. (pop. 500-ish)

Jeff Edgens received 100 votes, the other candidate got 86.

Two Greens running for re-election to the Minneapolis City Council lost… but another Green seeking a seat on the council won.

A Green was elected to the Portland School Board.

Two members of the One New London Party were elected to the New London City Council. The promising Greens in this race fell just short of [...]

Here are a few links to help you keep tabs on tonight’s election results.

This thread will remain at the top of the page for tonight, so please feel free to post results as you see them and also discuss how things are turning out.

>> Virginia Governor and Delegate Races – Governor, District 36, District 37, [...]

Cam Gordon (Green Party)
elected to a seat on the Minneapolis City Council

Susan Hopkins (Green Party)
wins a seat on the Portland, Maine school board

Annie Young (Green Party)
re-elected to the Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board

Jeff Edgens (Libertarian)
elected to a seat on the city council of Irwinton, GA

William M. Cornish (One New London Party)
wins a seat on the [...]

Ok, this is my third and final round of election predictions.

In the first, I focused on the three big races today. In the second, I looked only at the major Green Party candidates. Now… the best of the rest.

>> Bill Lynn looks like a virtual lock in his re-election bid to the Davenport, [...]

Well, it’s finally here. In many parts of the country, off-year local elections will be dominating the headlines… and we’re going to be watching them all night to see if any of the victory parties star third party or independent candidates.

If you see any yard signs, campaign workers, or anything else interesting today, please [...]

>> The Green Party candidate for mayor of Syracuse is polling at 8%.

>> The Roanoke Times published this very nice piece on Russ Potts, suggesting that his campaign raised some important issues. I’m glad to see that considering the beating he’s taken in some other papers.

>> A high school debate and student election resulted [...]

Wes Bell, a guy who was recalled from office as mayor of Stafford in the 1980’s for corruption, is now running an anti-corruption campaign for governor of New Jersey. Yeah, that makes sense…

From the Press of Atlantic City:

It’s hard to take Wes Bell seriously, but he demands it. He demands you take not [...]

From a story on newspaper endorsements in Virginia’s gubernatorial race…

The Daily News Leader of Staunton endorsed Tim Kaine Sunday, as The Southwest Times of Pulaski supported Republican Jerry Kilgore in the race for governor and chided independent Russ Potts for “muddying the race.”

The Southwest Times said Potts, a Republican state senator running as an independent, [...]

The Green Party seems to have the most to gain and the most to lose on Tuesday. Here are some highlights…

>> Minneapolis: There are two Greens running for re-election to the city council, and several others running strong campaigns to join them. Councilmember Natalie Johnson Lee seems like a good bet for [...]

The following article was written by Kim Kweder, a journalism student at Point Park University in Pittsburgh. She has generously agreed to allow Third Party Watch to be the first to publish it.

Campaign Website: Titus North for Mayor

As a young boy growing up in Arlington, Virginia, Titus North learned politics by protest. At one [...]

New York Newsday tosses a little pre-election publicity over onto the Conservative Party candidate for mayor, Tom Ognibene.

Six months ago, Thomas Ognibene of Middle Village was the outer-borough Republican positioned to bruise billionaire Mayor Bloomberg’s re-election hopes by engaging him in a tough primary.

Instead, Bloomberg knocked him off the GOP ballot. Ognibene had a falling-out [...]

Tuesday’s elections will feature two of the most amusing fringe candidates that I’ve seen in quite a while. Both have wild ideas on how to reform government and catchy little theme songs featured on their websites.

New York City’s mayoral race features the antics of the Rent is Too Damn High Party… and [...]

In next Tuesday’s NYC mayoral race, Mayor Bloomberg holds a lead of 59-31% over his Democratic challenger. Conservative Party candidate and former city councilman Tom Ognibene is registering at only 2%. To date, Ognibene has raised and spent less than $100,000 on his campaign.

A new poll just out shows Democrat Tim Kaine taking [...]

Here’s my take on three of Tuesday’s biggest races.

What are your feelings? Sound off on our comments page!
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VA Governor—Republican State Senator Russ Potts is an independent candidate for Governor, but his campaign has stalled at around 5% in the polls. Despite running an excellent race, I would be surprised to see him with [...]

The mayoral race in Edison, New Jersey has turned very ugly as a Democrat and an Independent candidate take swings at each other in advance of next week’s vote.

From The Home News Tribune:

The hottest political race in Middlesex County pits an upstart on a meteoric rise against a seasoned veteran making a final run for [...]

Third party candidates in a Virginia State Delegate race are refused participation in debates, partly because one of the organizers didn’t know they even existed.

From the TimesCommunity:

For some, the most prominent aspect of two candidate forums held last week was the absence of the third-party candidate.

Both nominees from the two major parties running for state [...]

The next seven days will be busy ones for Third Party Watch. It’s my goal for this website to provide the very best coverage of Election 2005 as it relates to minor party and independent candidates.

If you see a good news story, learn of minor party candidate’s victory, or have any photographs of campaign [...]

Stephen Gordon of LibertyForSale.com has posted a very interesting and in-depth analysis of three local campaigns… one candidate a Democrat, one a Republican, and one a Libertarian.

With election day fast approaching, this makes for very good reading.

Click here to view the full article.

Looks like Kinky Friedman’s campaign might be reaching a wider audience pretty soon.

Country Music Television will air a preview of a proposed reality show based on Kinky Friedman’s independent run for Texas governor.

The music network will show two half-hour pilot episodes of “Go Kinky” on Wednesday. The episodes are set to premiere in early 2006 [...]