Buddy Roemer Drops Out of Presidential Race

On May 31, Buddy Roemer said he is no longer a candidate for President. Even though Americans Elect had said on May 17 that it would not nominate anyone for President, Roemer had still been a candidate for the Reform Party nomination. The Reform Party is ballot-qualified in Florida, Kansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi.

Courtesy of Politico, here is Roemer’s withdrawal statement. He did not mention the Reform Party in his statement.

It is ironic that Roemer dropped out on May 31 and cited lack of ballot access. In 1924, Robert La Follette did not even declare as an independent presidential candidate until July 4, 1924, and he still got on the ballot in 47 of the 48 states. The lone state in which he did not qualify was Louisiana, where he would have needed 1,000 signatures by September of voters who were not registered as members of the Democratic or Republican Parties. That hurdle was too difficult for La Follette, because another Louisiana law made it too late for voters to switch parties, and there just weren’t enough registered independents in Louisiana to sign the petition. President Coolidge, known to be reluctant to speak out on almost any issues, did condemn the Louisiana ballot access law that year for excluding La Follette. But the fact in 1924 someone could still wait until July 4 to decide to run, and get on the ballot in all but one state, shows how much less free the United States is, compared to 1924.


Comments

Buddy Roemer Drops Out of Presidential Race — No Comments

  1. The statist caused/worsened Great Depression I in 1929-1941 caused the statists to increase ballot access problems for all third parties and independents.

    The robot party hack SCOTUS folks continue to ignore the *equal* in 14th Amdt, Sec. 1.

    P.R. and nonpartisan App.V.

  2. If a similar candidate decided to run this year on July 4, what would be the maximum number of state ballots he or she could possibly get on?

  3. Pingback: Buddy Roemer ends longshot presidential campaign – ABC News » .

  4. #2, it is not easy to answer your question, because obviously it takes time to collect signatures. Assuming someone had so much star power, he or she was able to complete a petition drive in every state in just two weeks, the states with a deadline on or later than July 18 (for some method or other) are Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. That’s 38 states. If it hadn’t been for the US Supreme Court decision Anderson v Celebrezze, things would be far, far worse. New Hampshire is not on the list because such candidates must file a declaration of candidacy in June, even though the petition isn’t due until August.

  5. Pingback: Buddy Roemer Drops Out of Presidential Race | ThirdPartyPolitics.us

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