The Resource Party appears to have placed its nominees on the Minnesota ballot for the joint ticket of Governor-Lieutenant Governor, and also Attorney General. The gubernatorial nominee is Linda S. Eno. See here for the party’s platform. Thanks to Oliver Steinberg for this news.
An older party, the Grassroots Party, also appears to have made a comeback in Minnesota this year, placing its nominees on for the Governor-Lieutenant Governor as well as Auditor. The Grassroots Party emphasizes legalizing marijuana. It had placed nominees on the ballot in Minnesota in 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998, and 2000. It never polled the 5% for any statewide office needed to make it a qualified party.
The Independence Party, Minnesota’s only ballot-qualified party other than the Democratic-Farmer-Labor and Republican Parties, has five candidates for governor in its August 10 primary. The Green Party, which is not ballot-qualified, also qualified a few nominees for statewide office in Minnesota this year. Finally, Ken Pentel, a former member of the Green Party, has also filed a gubernatorial petition under the label “Ecology Democracy.” See this article about him.
Go Grassroots!
The big issue needs to be strategic election reform that directs more third party activism to local, rather than state-wide, elections.
http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/blogs/a/n/ankotp/2010/06/the-three-mores-of-strategic-e.php
The so-called “Resource Party” appears to be animated by the spirit of General George Armstrong Custer and might well be tagged as the “Forked-Tongue Party” or “Broken Treaties Party.” The fact that I notified B.A.N. of that party’s entrance into electoral activity in Minnesota should not be interpreted to mean I support or endorse it in any way, shape, or form, because I don’t. The Grassroots Party, by the way, first ran a partisan candidate in Minnesota in 1986, then followed with several in 1988; and branched out briefly to Iowa, Wisconsin, and Vermont in the early 1990’s. In response to dlw’s comment–your suggestion is moot in states like Minnesota where candidates for local offices are not identified by party label on the ballot. Furthermore, a lot depends on what the party’s objective is. The Grassroots Party merely seeks to attract enough support so that professional politicians will steal our planks (the traditional role of third parties in US politics.) That’s a time-tested strategy. Substance on issues is more important than tinkering with structure.