List of presidential nominating conventions in the United States
These lists are a companion to the Wikipedia article entitled United States presidential nominating convention.
See also:
- List of Democratic National Conventions
- List of Whig National Conventions
- List of Republican National Conventions
- Prohibition Party#Presidential campaigns
- Socialist Party of America#National Conventions
- National conventions of the Communist Party USA
- Libertarian National Convention
- Constitution Party National Convention
- Green National Convention
Significant third-party conventions before 1860
Elec- tion |
Party | City | Year | Presidential nominee |
Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1832 | Anti-Masonic | Baltimore | 1831 | William Wirt | usually considered the first U.S. political party nominating convention |
1836 | Anti-Masonic | Philadelphia | 1836 | no candidate nominated | |
1840 | Anti-Masonic | Philadelphia | 1838 | William Henry Harrison (Whig) | By 1840, Anti-Masons had been largely absorbed into the Whig Party |
1840 | Liberty | Albany | 1840 | James G. Birney | first U.S. anti-slavery political party |
1844 | Liberty | Buffalo | 1843 | James G. Birney | |
1848 | Free Soil | Utica & Buffalo | 1848 | Martin Van Buren | united Liberty Party supporters with anti-slavery Democrats and Whigs |
1852 | Free Soil | Pittsburgh | 1852 | John P. Hale | Most Free-Soilers joined the Republican Party after its foundation in 1854. |
1856 | American | Philadelphia | 1856 | Millard Fillmore | The anti-immigrant American (or Know Nothing) Party endorsed Fillmore in February 1856, followed by the Whigs in September. |
Major-party conventions
The two right-hand columns show nominations by notable conventions not shown elsewhere. Some of the nominees (e.g. the Whigs before 1860 and Theodore Roosevelt in 1912) received very large votes, while others who received less than 1% of the total national popular vote are listed to show historical continuity or transition. Many important candidates are not shown here because they were never endorsed by a national party convention (e.g. William Henry Harrison in 1836, George C. Wallace in 1968, John B. Anderson in 1980 and Ross Perot in 1992).
Note that there is no organizational continuity between the American Parties of 1856 and 1972, the Union Parties of 1860, 1864, 1888 and 1936, or the Progressive Parties of 1912–16, 1924 and 1948–52.
- Presidential winner in bold.
M "Middle of the Road" faction of the People's Party, who opposed fusing with the Democrats after 1896.
Third-party conventions since 1872
Prohibition and socialist parties
The Prohibition Party was organized in 1869. The Socialist Party of America (1901–1972) resulted from a merger of the Social Democratic Party (founded 1898) with dissenting members of the Socialist Labor Party (founded 1876). The Socialist Party of America stopped running its own candidates for president after 1956, but a minority of SPA members who disagreed with this policy broke away in 1973 to form the Socialist Party USA (SPUSA).
¶ Note that the years refer to the relevant presidential election and not necessarily to the date of a convention making a nomination for that election. Some nominating conventions meet in the year before an election.
Elec- tion |
Prohibition Party convention | Prohibition Party nominee | Socialist Labor Party convention | Socialist Labor Party nominee | Social Democratic or Socialist Party convention | Social Democratic or Socialist Party nominee |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1872 | Columbus, Ohio | James Black | ||||
1876 | Cleveland | Green Clay Smith | ||||
1880 | Cleveland | Neal Dow | ||||
1884 | Pittsburgh | John St. John | ||||
1888 | Indianapolis | Clinton B. Fisk | ||||
1892 | Cincinnati | John Bidwell | New York City | Simon Wing | ||
1896 | Pittsburgh | Joshua Levering | New York City | Charles Matchett | ||
1900 | Chicago | John G. Woolley | New York City | Joseph F. Malloney | Indianapolis (SDP) | Eugene V. Debs |
1904 | Indianapolis | Silas C. Swallow | New York City | Charles H. Corregan | Chicago (SPA) | Eugene V. Debs |
1908 | Columbus | Eugene W. Chafin | New York City | August Gillhaus | Chicago (SPA) | Eugene V. Debs |
1912 | Atlantic City | Eugene W. Chafin | New York City | Arthur E. Reimer | Indianapolis (SPA) | Eugene V. Debs |
1916 | St. Paul | J. Frank Hanly | New York City | Arthur E. Reimer | (mail ballot) | (Allan L. Benson) |
1920 | Lincoln, Nebraska | Aaron Watkins | New York City | William Wesley Cox | New York City (SPA) | Eugene V. Debs |
1924 | Columbus | Herman P. Faris | New York City | Frank T. Johns | Cleveland (SPA) | Robert La Follette, Sr. (Progressive) |
1928 | Chicago | William F. Varney | New York City | Verne L. Reynolds | New York City (SPA) | Norman Thomas |
1932 | Indianapolis | William D. Upshaw | New York City | Verne L. Reynolds | Milwaukee (SPA) | Norman Thomas |
1936 | Niagara Falls, New York | D. Leigh Colvin | New York City | John W. Aiken | Cleveland (SPA) | Norman Thomas |
1940 | Chicago | Roger W. Babson | New York City | John W. Aiken | Washington, D.C. (SPA) | Norman Thomas |
1944 | Indianapolis | Claude A. Watson | New York City | Edward A. Teichert | Reading (SPA) | Norman Thomas |
1948 | Winona Lake, Indiana | Claude A. Watson | New York City | Edward A. Teichert | Reading (SPA) | Norman Thomas |
1952 | Indianapolis | Stuart Hamblen | New York City | Eric Hass | Cleveland (SPA) | Darlington Hoopes |
1956 | Milford, Indiana | Enoch A. Holtwick | New York City | Eric Hass | Chicago (SPA) | Darlington Hoopes |
1960 | Winona Lake | Rutherford Decker | New York City | Eric Hass | ||
1964 | Chicago | E. Harold Munn | New York City | Eric Hass | ||
1968 | Detroit | E. Harold Munn | Brooklyn | Henning A. Blomen | ||
1972 | Wichita, Kansas | E. Harold Munn | Detroit | Louis Fisher | ||
1976 | Wheat Ridge, Colorado | Benjamin C. Bubar | Southfield, Michigan | Jules Levin | Milwaukee (SPUSA) | Frank P. Zeidler |
1980 | Birmingham | Benjamin C. Bubar | Milwaukee (SPUSA) | David McReynolds | ||
1984 | Mandan, North Dakota | Earl Dodge | Milwaukee (SPUSA) | Sonia Johnson (Citizens') | ||
1988 | Springfield, Illinois | Earl Dodge | Milwaukee (SPUSA) | Willa Kenoyer | ||
1992 | Minneapolis | Earl Dodge | Chicago (SPUSA) | J. Quinn Brisben | ||
1996 | Denver | Earl Dodge | Cambridge (SPUSA) | Mary Cal Hollis | ||
2000 | Bird-in-Hand, Pennsylvania | Earl Dodge | Milwaukee (SPUSA) | David McReynolds | ||
2004 | Fairfield Glade, Tennessee | Gene Amondson | Chicago (SPUSA) | Walt Brown | ||
2008 | Indianapolis | Gene Amondson | St. Louis (SPUSA) | Brian Moore | ||
2012 | Cullman, Alabama | Jack Fellure | Los Angeles (SPUSA) | Stewart Alexander | ||
2016 | (conference call) | (James Hedges) | Milwaukee (SPUSA) | Mimi Soltysik | ||
2020 | (conference call) | (Phil Collins) | Newark (SPUSA 2019) | Howie Hawkins (Green) |
Workers', Communist and Socialist Workers parties
The Communist Party was formed by Leninists who had left the Socialist Party of America in 1919. The Socialist Workers Party was formed by Communists who followed Leon Trotsky rather than Joseph Stalin and briefly joined the Socialist Party before forming their own party in 1937.
Election | Communist Party convention | Communist nominee | SWP convention | Socialist Workers Party nominee |
1924 | Chicago [Workers Party] | William Z. Foster | ||
1928 | New York City [Workers (Communist) Party] | William Z. Foster | ||
1932 | Chicago | William Z. Foster | ||
1936 | New York City | Earl Browder | ||
1940 | New York City | Earl Browder | ||
1944 | ||||
1948 | New York City | Henry A. Wallace (Progressive) | New York City | Farrell Dobbs |
1952 | Vincent Hallinan (Prog.) | New York City | Farrell Dobbs | |
1956 | New York City | Farrell Dobbs | ||
1960 | Farrell Dobbs | |||
1964 | New York City | Clifton DeBerry | ||
1968 | New York City | Charlene Mitchell | New York City | Fred Halstead |
1972 | New York City | Gus Hall | Detroit, Michigan | Linda Jenness |
1976 | Chicago | Gus Hall | Peter Camejo | |
1980 | Detroit | Gus Hall | Oberlin, Ohio | Andrew Pulley |
1984 | Cleveland, Ohio | Gus Hall | New York | Melvin T. Mason |
1988 | New York | James Warren | ||
1992 | Chicago | James Warren | ||
Libertarian, Green, and Constitution Parties
In 1999, the United States Taxpayers' Party changed its name to the Constitution Party.
The individual article about a Libertarian convention after 1980 or a Green Party convention after 1996 is linked to its respective city in the table below. Cities linked for Constitution and U.S. Taxpayers' Party conventions lead to individual sections of Constitution Party National Convention.
Location of the Party Convention in Relation to Election Winner
The list below shows the location of the party convention, along with the winner of the election. Bold font indicates that party won the presidential election. If the party won the state where the convention was held the box is shaded. Other parties are only listed if they garnered electoral college votes.[1]
Election | Democratic Convention | Republican Convention | Other Party Convention |
---|---|---|---|
1832 | Baltimore | Baltimore (National Republican, 1831) | |
1836 | Baltimore (1835) | ||
1840 | Baltimore | Harrisburg, Penna. (Whig, 1839) | |
1844 | Baltimore | Baltimore (Whig) | |
1848 | Baltimore | Baltimore (Whig) | |
1852 | Baltimore | Baltimore (Whig) | |
1856 | Cincinnati | Philadelphia | Baltimore (American) |
1860 | Charleston & Baltimore | Chicago | Baltimore (Constitutional Union) |
1864 | Chicago | Baltimore (National Union) | |
1868 | New York City | Chicago | |
1872 | Baltimore | Philadelphia | |
1876 | St. Louis | Cincinnati | |
1880 | Cincinnati | Chicago | |
1884 | Chicago | Chicago | |
1888 | St. Louis | Chicago | |
1892 | Chicago | Minneapolis | Omaha (People's) |
1896 | Chicago | St. Louis | |
1900 | Kansas City | Philadelphia | |
1904 | St. Louis | Chicago | |
1908 | Denver | Chicago | |
1912 | Baltimore | Chicago | Chicago (Progressive) |
1916 | St. Louis | Chicago | |
1920 | San Francisco | Chicago | |
1924 | New York City | Cleveland | Cincinnati (Progressive) |
1928 | Houston | Kansas City | |
1932 | Chicago | Chicago | |
1936 | Philadelphia | Cleveland | |
1940 | Chicago | Philadelphia | |
1944 | Chicago | Chicago | |
1948 | Philadelphia | Philadelphia | Birmingham (States' Rights Democratic) |
1952 | Chicago | Chicago | |
1956 | Chicago | San Francisco | |
1960 | Los Angeles | Chicago | |
1964 | Atlantic City | San Francisco | |
1968 | Chicago | Miami Beach | |
1972 | Miami Beach | Miami Beach | |
1976 | New York City | Kansas City | |
1980 | New York City | Detroit | |
1984 | San Francisco | Dallas | |
1988 | Atlanta | New Orleans | |
1992 | New York City | Houston | |
1996 | Chicago | San Diego | |
2000 | Los Angeles | Philadelphia | |
2004 | Boston | New York City | |
2008 | Denver | Saint Paul | |
2012 | Charlotte | Tampa | |
2016 | Philadelphia | Cleveland | |
2020 | Milwaukee (TBD) | Charlotte (TBD) |
References
- "Historical Presidential Election Map Timeline". 270toWin.com. Retrieved 2020-03-11.