Maharishi Mahesh Yogi died at his home in The Netherlands on February 6, 2008. He was age 91. In 1992 he told his followers all over the world to found Natural Law Parties in their own nation.
The U.S. Natural Law Party was founded in April 1992, and managed to place its presidential candidate, John Hagelin, on the ballot in 28 states that year, an outstanding achievement for a party organized that late. The party disbanded in 2004, although its Michigan unit is still ballot-qualified. During the party’s lifetime, it won two constitutional ballot access cases. It won a case against the Kansas law that said a party could have only one word in its name. It also won against the South Carolina law that said a new party had to hold conventions in the spring of the election year.
In California in late spring 2004 three independent sources strongly suggested that the just bounced off Reform Party of California could quickly and directly regain balance access by cooperating with National Law Party officers and take over the operations of the state NL organizations. The final result[s] RfP of California is still struggling with ballot access, philosophy, religion [remember Pat and [sister] Bay Buchanan in 2000?], organization, mouth piece[s]/ house organs…..
Reference[s]: Richard Winger, Philip Sawyer, and Citizens For A Better Veterans Home…..
I believe the Natural Law Party is still ballot-qualified in Mississippi, although it hasn’t run any candidates here in years.
Thank you, Don, for mentioning that again (that some of us made that suggestion to the Reform Party and there was no response). That certainly was unfortunate.
What the Reform Party of California should do now is to disband and set up a Reform Council Caucus that would enter either the American Independent Party, the Green Party, or the Peace and Freedom Party.
There really isnt any Ca Reform Party They have a guy name John Blare who is busy destroying what is left of the National Reform Party, interestingly he is the Ca State Reform Party Chairman and cliams to hold about a half dozen other titles in the Reform Party, all the while the Ca State Party has been progressively declining as he runs off reformers. The Reform Party needs to cut this cancer out, or it will kill what is left of the Reform Party in Ca and Nationally.
Dear Richard,
Thanks for the overview of NLP. You may want to add that in 2006 NLP had candidates on the ballot in 48 states and Hagelin on the ballot in 46 states. This showing placed Hagelin, presidential candidate, on the third party Presidential Candidate debates and gave, of course, national media coverage. NLP had almost 500 candidates on the ballot in 1996 across the US.