Florida has not held a primary for statewide office for any party other than the Republican and Democratic Parties since 2016, when there was a Libertarian primary for U.S. Senate between Paul Stanton and Augustus Invictus. This year there will be a contested Independent Party primary for Governor. The two candidates are Reginald Byron and Michael J. Brown. Neither one seems to have a campaign website.

Technically, all qualified parties in Florida nominate by primary. But when only one candidate files, no primary is actually held and the person who filed is deemed nominated. Filing fees are so high in Florida that there aren’t many people who file to run in a minor party primary.

Before 2007, parties with registration below 5% of the state total did not have primaries; they nominated by convention. The law changed with HB 537.

No party in Florida history, other than the Democratic and Republican Parties, has ever had registration as high as 5% of the state total.

The Maine Green Party and the Maine Libertarian Party are both qualified, and each is entitled to its own primary. Filing for the June 2026 primaries has now closed. Only one Green Party member filed to run in the Green Party primary for any federal or state office, John Baldwin for state rep, 87th district. No Libertarian Party member filed to run in the Libertarian primary for any federal or state office.

Maine makes it very difficult for members of small qualified parties to get onto their own party’s primary ballot. The number of signatures for primary ballot access is just as high for qualified minor parties as it is for the two major parties.

The North Carolina Forward Party has been petitioning for party status. It is half-way and has decided to apply its existing signatures to a future election year, because it won’t be finished in time to qualify for the 2026 election. The Constitution Party of North Carolina had already made a similar decision. Therefore, the only parties that will be on in North Carolina in 2026 are Republican, Democratic, Libertarian, and Green.