At least six minor party legislative candidates were elected on November 4. The Progressive Party of Vermont re-elected David Zuckerman, Sandy Haas, Susan Davis, and Sarah Edwards. Also it elected a new member, Mollie Burke.
In Arkansas, Green Party nominee Richard Carroll was elected. He was the only candidate listed on the ballot, but two Democratic write-in candidates ran against him. However, Carroll received 83.1% of the total vote cast.
Rick Lass, Green Party candidate for Public Regulation Commission, District 3, polled 35% in a two-person race. His only opponent was a Democrat.
The voters of Cincinnati, Ohio, rejected Single-Transferable Vote by a margin of 46.5% to 53.5%. The voters of Davis, California rejected a proposal to make Davis a charter city by 45.7% to 54.3%. If Davis were a charter city it would be free to implement its own system of electing city officials.
However, Instant Runoff Voting passed for city elections in Memphis, Tennessee, with 70%. It passed for city elections in Telluride, Colorado, with 67%.
After each election, the list of states in which the various minor parties are qualified changes somewhat, based on the election returns.
Because it is more difficult for parties to remain on the ballot immediately after a presidential election, compared to a mid-term year, the only accurate measurement to determine whether a particular party made headway in polling enough votes to stay on the ballot, is to compare its situation to what its situation was exactly four years ago.
Relative to December 2004, these are the changes:
Libertarian: gained Massachusetts and North Carolina, lost South Dakota. On in 27. The gain in Massachusetts is dependent on the party’s U.S. Senate nominee, Robert Underwood, having polled at least 3%. He polled 3.18%.
Green: relative to December 2004, gained Connecticut, Illinois, Louisiana and West Virginia, and lost Alaska, Hawaii, and Vermont, with New Mexico ambiguous. Assuming the party is still qualified in New Mexico, it is on in 16 states. For purposes of this comparison, if a party has any ballot status for any statewide office in Connecticut, it is on the list.
Constitution: relative to December 2004, gained Maryland, Missouri, Montana, New Mexico, Utah, and Vermont, and lost Wisconsin. The party is now on in 20 states, the most ever following a presidential election. Also it has a chance to persuade the Kansas Reform Party to affiliate with it. For purposes of this list, California is deemed to still be a state affiliate of the Constitution Party, although further court proceedings will determine that for sure. The party is on in 19 states if California isn’t included.
Working Families Party: relative to December 2004, gained Delaware, Oregon, South Carolina.
Prohibition Party: relative to December 2004, gained Florida.
Relative to 2004, the Reform Party has lost one state (Colorado), but that loss occurred in 2006, not 2008. The Reform Party in 2008 polled enough votes to remain ballot-qualified in Kansas, and it didn’t need to pass any vote test in Mississippi, Louisiana or Florida. Therefore it has 4 states.
The Socialist Workers Party continues to be ballot-qualied in Delaware and Florida. The Socialist Party continues to be qualified in Florida.
CNN has compiled a list of all third party candidates and their totals.
With 97% of the precincts reporting, here is the list for candidates in multiple states (the CNN link includes candidates running in single states). There are still millions of absentee and provisional votes to be counted, along with the normal votes from 4% of the precincts.
Nader: 653,392
Barr: 487,266
Baldwin: 174,096
McKinney: 142,093
Keyes: 34,533
Paul: 19,583
SWP 9,529
La Riva: 7,513
B. Moore: 6,378
Duncan: 3,672
Jay: 2,307
Polachek: 1,212
Warmboldt: 766
McEnulty: 740
Stevens: 683
Amondson: 631
Boss: 602
Weill: 470
Phillies: 465
Allen: 277
Lyttle: 97
