In 2010, two very old political parties that had never appeared on the ballot in a partisan election finally decided to enter a partisan race.  The Labor Party placed Brett Bursey on the South Carolina ballot for state representative, 69th district.  He ran against a Democrat and a Republican and polled 442 votes, 3.1%.  The Labor Party was formed by Tony Mazzocchi in 1990.  He was president of the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers International Union.  It has been organized continuously since then but had never before run in a partisan race.

Also in 2010, Socialist Action placed Christopher Hutchinson on the ballot for U.S. House in Connecticut’s First District.  He polled 619 votes, or .4%.  His opponents included a Republican, a Green, and the joint nominee of the Democratic and Working Families Parties.  Socialist Action is somewhat more than twenty years old and was formed by people who had previously been members of the Socialist Workers Party.