Although the term “centrist” is somewhat vague, it appears there were eleven states in 2018 that had nominees of centrist parties on the ballot:
Colorado Unity; Florida Reform; Louisiana Independent Party; Minnesota Independence; Mississippi Reform; New York Independence and also Reform; Oregon Independent Party; Rhode Island Moderate; South Carolina Independence and also American; Utah United Utah; and Vermont Green Mountain.
The best showings for these parties, for either Governor or U.S. Senator (for candidates who were not also the nominees of a major party), were for the Oregon Independent Party and the Rhode Island Moderate Party. The Oregon Independent Party gubernatorial nominee, Patrick Starnes, got 2.86% of the vote even though he announced shortly before the election that voters should not vote for him, but for the Democratic nominee. The Moderate Party gubernatorial nominee, William H. Gilbert, received 2.71%.
For U.S. House, the best showing was United Utah Party’s nominee in the First District. Eric Eliason received 11.62% in a race with both a Democrat and a Republican.
For state legislature, the best showing was also a United Utah nominee. Michelle Weeks, nominee for State Representative, 51st district, received 39.05% of the vote in a two-person race.
Have to say, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth when a third=party candidate chickens out and says “Don’t vote for me, vote for one of the two candidates from the parties you don’t trust,” as Starnes. If you’re going to run a third=party campaign, actually do it, and don’t chicken out to help out either the Democratic or Republican parties.
Not being a moderate, I’m not entirely unhappy to see these results, but at the same time, depending on the quality of each campaign in question, it may lead some to question whether or not this is really the time for “moderate unity” as some people suggest.
MORE or LESS statist control freak laws —
zero new in 6,000 plus years.
—
PR and AppV
We’ve got a looong way to go.