Constitution Party

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The Constitution Party is a political party. As of September 2019, it was a ballot-qualified party in 14 states. The Constitution Party is the fifth-largest political party in the United States. According to its website, the party supports "the principles of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States, and the Bill of Rights. It is our goal to limit the federal government to its delegated, enumerated, Constitutional functions."[1][2]

The Constitution Party was established as the U.S. Taxpayers' Party in 1992. The founders organized the party in response to a perceived shift away from "limited and empowered local government, and very broad and significant individual freedoms." The Federal Election Commission officially recognized the party in 1996. Delegates to the party's 1999 national convention changed the name of the party to the Constitution Party.[3]

Background

Ballot access for political parties

See also: List of political parties in the United States


As of November 2023, there were at least 53 distinct ballot-qualified political parties in the United States. There were 235 state-level parties.[4] Some parties are recognized in multiple states. For example, both the Democratic Party and the Republican Party are recognized in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. These two parties account for more than half of the 235 total state-level parties.[5][6][7] Three minor parties were recognized in more than 10 states as of November 2023:

  1. Libertarian Party: 38 states
  2. Green Party: 22 states[8]
  3. Constitution Party: 21 states[9]

Although there are dozens of political parties in the United States, only certain parties qualify to have the names of their candidates for office printed on election ballots. In order to qualify for ballot placement, a party must meet certain requirements that vary from state to state. For example, in some states, a party may have to file a petition in order to qualify for ballot placement. In other states, a party must organize around a candidate for a specific office; that candidate must, in turn, win a percentage of the vote in order for the party to be granted ballot status. In still other states, an aspiring political party must register a certain number of voters.

The number of ballot-qualified political parties fluctuates as parties gain or lose qualified status. In addition, some states distinguish between major parties and minor parties. Specific differences between major and minor parties differ from state to state. For example, in all states, major parties are granted access to primary elections. Some states, however, do not permit minor parties to participate in primary elections. Consequently, minor party candidates in these states can run only in general elections.[5]

The table below lists all ballot-qualified political parties in each state as of November 2023. Click "[show]" to expand the table.[5]


Constitution Party
Constitution Party logo.PNG
Basic facts
Location:Lancaster, Pa.
Type:Political Party
Affiliation:Constitutionist
Top official:James N. Clymer, Chairman
Year founded:1992
Website:Official website


Platform

The Constitution Party platform is a written document that outlines the party's policy priorities and positions on domestic and foreign affairs. The platform also describes the party's core concepts and beliefs.[10]

Click here to view the full text of the 2020 Constitution Party platform.

Leadership

The following individuals served on the Constitution Party's executive committee as of June 22, 2022:[11]

Title Officer
Chairman James N. Clymer
Vice chairman Doug Aden
Treasurer Gerald Kilpatrick
Secretary Paula Hospelhorn
Immediate past chairman Frank Fluckiger
Eastern states regional chairman Dave Kopacz
Eastern states regional co-chairman Nicholas Sumbles
Midwestern states regional chairman John Blazek
Southern states regional chairman Thom Holmes
Southern states regional co-chairman Kevin Hayes
Western states regional chairman Janine Hansen
Western states regional co-chairman Kirk Pearson
Parliamentarian Wayne Zimmerschied
Member at large Cindy Redburn
Member at large Justin Magill
Member at large Glen Miller

Media

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'Constitution Party. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Constitution Party - Google News

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Constitution Party, "Mission statement," accessed January 14, 2016
  2. ↑ Constitution Party, "Frequently Asked Questions," accessed January 16, 2016
  3. ↑ Constitution Party, "History of the Constitution Party," accessed January 14, 2016
  4. ↑ This total does not include parties that have attained ballot status at the municipal level. Only those parties with state-level ballot status are included here.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Jaime Healy-Plotkin, "Research of state election agency websites and email correspondence with state election agencies," November 2023
  6. ↑ As of November 2023, there were nine state-level parties that called themselves Independent or Independence parties. For the purposes of this article, these were not tallied when counting the number of distinct ballot-qualified parties in the United States because it is difficult to determine to what extent these various parties are affiliated with one another.
  7. ↑ Because Washington utilizes a top-two, nonpartisan primary system, the state does not officially recognize parties. Consequently, only the state's two largest parties, the Democratic and Republican parties, were included in this tally.
  8. ↑ This figure includes the D.C. Statehood Green Party, Maine's Green Independent Party, Oregon's Pacific Green Party, and West Virginia's Mountain Party.
  9. ↑ This figure includes Nevada's Independent American Party and Michigan's U.S. Taxpayers Party.
  10. ↑ Constitution Party, "Platform," accessed June 22, 2022
  11. ↑ Constitution Party, "Executive committee," accessed June 22, 2022
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Minor Parties
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