On December 7, Smart Politics, the blog of the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance at the University of Minnesota, posted a list of the minor party and independent candidates for U.S. House in 2010 who got the highest percentages.  The study differentiates between races in which both major parties ran someone, and races in which one of the major parties did not have a nominee.  See the blog post here.

The work was done by Dr. Eric Ostermeier, Research Associate for the Center.

In 2010, no minor party or independent candidates were elected to the U.S. House.  The study finds that in U.S. House races in which both major parties ran candidates, the best showing for candidates running outside the two major parties was that of Jim Traficant, running as an independent in Ohio.

In 2010, candidates who were running outside the two major parties did win one Governorship, one U.S. Senate seat, and state legislative races in ten states.