Reform Party of Florida

The Reform Party of Florida is the state party organization for Florida of the Reform Party of the United States of America.

Reform Party of Florida
ChairpersonJoe Wendt
Senate leadernone
Assembly leadernone
Founded1997
HeadquartersTampa, FL
IdeologyFiscal conservatism, Civic nationalism, Populism, Centrism
National affiliationReform Party of the United States of America
ColorsRed, White, Blue (unofficial)
Website
Reform Party

Registration

Reform Party membership in Florida has decreased since the year 2000.[1]

Year Registered Members
1996 1,557
1998 2,695
2000 4,672
2002 4,616
2004 3,872
2006 3,790
2008 3,093
2010 2,473
2012 1,961[2]
2014 1,717[3]
2016 1,400 [4]

2000 campaign controversy

After a great deal of infighting conservative presidential candidate Pat Buchanan was granted the party's ballot line.[5] Due to confusion over the design of some ballots, it is thought that many residents miscast their vote for Buchanan, believing they were casting their vote for Al Gore. Buchanan received an unexpectedly strong 3,407 votes in Palm Beach County.[6] Many accused Buchanan of being a "spoiler."

2004 election controversy

In 2004, the party gained national attention when efforts were made by local Democrats to keep Ralph Nader, the Reform Party presidential candidate, off Florida's ballot.[7] The affair garnered a great deal of media attention, with moderate Senator John McCain publicly condemning the attempts to keep Nader off the ballot.[8]

The courts eventually sided with Nader, and his name appeared on the ballot. Nader's spokesperson, Kevin Zeese, criticized the ordeal, saying: "We hope Democrats engage on issues and stop anti-democratic efforts to prevent voters from having a choice." [9]

Nader received 32,971 votes in Florida.[10]

2006 gubernatorial campaign

Max Linn, a financial planner and President of the "Eight is Enough" term limit campaign[11] ran as the Reform Party nominee in the 2006 Florida Gubernatorial election. His running mate was Tom Macklin[12] former mayor of Avon Park and founder of the American Party.[13] Despite his unorthodox media blitz, Linn gained most of his notoriety among the Florida electorate for an emergency landing he made on an Orlando, Florida highway in October 2006 when a plane he rented had engine difficulties. Linn was not hurt, although he spent a day in the hospital under observation. Linn got 92,595 votes and in total 1.92% of the popular vote.[14]

Florida gubernatorial election, 2006[15]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Republican Charlie Crist 2,519,845 52.18% -3.81%
Democratic Jim Davis 2,178,289 45.11% +1.94%
Reform Max Linn 92,595 1.92% +1.92%
Independent John Wayne Smith 15,987 0.33%
Independent Richard Paul Dembinsky 11,921 0.25%
Independent Karl C.C. Behm 10,487 0.22%
Write-ins 147 0.00% 0
Majority 341,556 7.10% -5.75%
Turnout 4,829,271
Republican hold Swing

Recent events (2007-present)

In 2008, Jim Brown ran for Polk County, Florida commissioner; his campaign received some press as he was the first Reform candidate ever to run for local office in the state.[16] Brown lost to incumbent Sam Johnson in the general election, garnering 13,453 votes, 6 percent of the total.[17]

Former Democratic presidential candidate Darcy G. Richardson and former state legislator Nancy Argenziano ran as the nominees of the Reform Party for Governor and Lt. Governor of Florida in 2018. It was the first time in more than a decade the Reform Party had fielded a statewide candidate in any state. The ticket finished in third place, capturing 47,140 votes.

Notable statewide and congressional election results
Year Office Candidate Popular votes Percentage
19985th Congressional DistrictJack Gargan 67,14733.7%[18]
2000United States Senate Class 1H. Joel Deckard 17,3380.30%[19]
20009th Congressional DistrictJohn Duffey 46,47418.1%[20]
200015th Congressional DistrictJohn McGuire 7,5562.6%[21]
2006Governor / Lieutenant GovernorMax Linn / Tom Macklin 92,5951.92%[21]
2018Governor / Lieutenant GovernorDarcy G. Richardson / Nancy Argenziano 47,1400.57%

Presidential nominee results

Since 1996, the Reform Party of Florida has placed a candidate for President of the United States on the ballot in every election except 2008.

The party's best performance in a presidential race came from Ross Perot in 1996.

Year Nominee Votes
1996 Ross Perot 483,870 (9.12%)
2000 Patrick Buchanan 17,484 (0.29%)
2004 Ralph Nader 32,971 (0.43%)
2008 No Candidate 0 (0%)
2012 Andre Barnett 820 (0.01%)
2016 Rocky De La Fuente 9,108 (0.10%)
gollark: The ratio's something like 1 EU:4 RF.
gollark: We can convert EU to RF transparently.
gollark: - IC2 quarry whatever
gollark: - Turtles- RFTools Builder- Probably weird Thaumcraft thing- Botania Orechid
gollark: I wrote one, but don't know if I have it.

References
  1. "Bookclosing Reports - Division of Elections - Florida Department of State". dos.myflorida.com.
  2. http://dos.myflorida.com/media/693854/gen2012_countyparty.pdf
  3. http://dos.myflorida.com/media/693898/gen2014_countyparty.pdf
  4. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-09-13. Retrieved 2016-09-21.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. http://jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/100300/met_4240237.html
  6. http://projecteuclid.org/DPubS?service=UI&version=1.0&verb=Display&handle=euclid.ss/1049993203
  7. https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=980DE4DC1530F933A2575AC0A9629C8B63
  8. https://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/17/politics/campaign/17nader.html?_r=1
  9. http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/09/18/presidential.polls.nader/index.html
  10. http://www.uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/state.php?f=0&year=2004&fips=12
  11. "Our Campaigns - Candidate - Max Linn". www.ourcampaigns.com.
  12. "Our Campaigns - Candidate - Tom Macklin". www.ourcampaigns.com.
  13. "Welcome to the American Party of Florida!". americanpartyofflorida.com.
  14. "November 7, 2006 General Election". Florida Department of State.
  15. "November 7, 2006 General Election, Governor and Lieutenant Governor". Florida Department of State Division of Elections. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
  16. http://county.blogs.theledger.com/10742/reform-party-goes-local/
  17. "Johnson Wins Re-Election to County Commission". The Ledger. November 4, 2008.
  18. "1998election.pdg" (PDF).
  19. "Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 7, 2000" (PDF).
  20. "MICOCOMP output file" (PDF).
  21. "MICROCOMP output file" (PDF).
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