Florida will have twelve presidential candidates this year. By comparision, in 2000 there were ten; in 2004 there were eight; and in 2008 there were thirteen.

The twelve in 2008 are the nominees of the Democratic, Republican, Libertarian, Green, Constitution, Justice, Party for Socialism and Liberation, Peace & Freedom, America’s Independent, Socialist, Objectivist, and Reform Parties. These parties are listed in the order of how many states their presidential nominees are on the ballot (so far). UPDATE: an earlier version of this post said the Socialist Workers Party is on and that the Reform Party is not, but the post has been corrected.

Probably Florida will have more presidential candidates on its ballot than any other state except Colorado, although Louisiana might also have more but that is not yet determined. None of the other 47 states will have more than ten.

Four parties that placed presidential candidates on the ballot in Florida in 2008 did not do so in 2012. They are the Prohibition, Boston Tea, Socialist Workers, and Ecology Parties.

Three minor parties have nominees on the West Virginia ballot for state legislature this year. The Mountain Party (which is the Green Party affiliate in West Virginia) has four, the most it has had on the ballot for the legislature since 2002, when it had five.

The Constitution Party has three legislative nominees on the ballot. The Constitution Party did not get on the ballot for president, so it put its resources into petitioning for state legislature in three districts.

American Third Position also has a state legislative nominee on the ballot. American Third Position did not attempt to get on the ballot in West Virginia for president, and put its resources into petitioning for a legislative seat. As far as is known, its legislative nominee is the party’s only nominee for any partisan office anywhere in the United States this year, other than for President and Vice-President.

The New Alliance Party was the nation’s most successful “left” party during the period 1986-1993. It placed its presidential nominee on the ballot in all 50 states in 1988, and in 40 states in 1992. It qualified for over $900,000 in primary season matching funds in 1988, and $2,100,000 in 1992. It had offices, or candidates for local office, or both, in 36 states during those years. It elected a state legislator in Nebraska in 1988.

In U.S. history, no other “left” party had such success with ballot access as the New Alliance Party did in 1988. Even the Socialist Party never qualified for the government-printed ballot in all states, even in the party’s strongest decades, the 1900’s and 1910’s.

The New Alliance Party held itself out to the public as a party led by African-Americans, and this was certainly true, at least partially. Some criticis pooh-poohed that claim because the party’s leader was Fred Newman, who was white. Nevertheless, all of the party’s presidential candidates were African-Americans, as were many of its gubernatorial candidates. As a black-led party, the New Alliance Party worked especially hard to establish strength in southern states. It had many candidates for public office in the south. But there are three southern states in which the party never opened a campaign office or headquarters, and never had any candidates for public office (other than presidential elector). They were Arkansas, Florida, and Louisiana.

Louisiana had the top-two open primary for all offices, 1978 through 2006. Also, Louisiana had very discriminatory laws relating to party labels on the ballot during the years 1978 through 2004, the years the New Alliance Party was active. It appears that the Louisiana top-two system so discouraged the New Alliance Party from participating in Louisiana elections that the party simply did no organizing in that state. By contrast, the New Alliance Party had many strong campaigns in Texas and Mississippi, two states that border Louisiana.