American Party of South Carolina

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Not to be confused with American Party (1969) or American Party of Florida.

Alliance Party South Carolina
ChairpersonJim Rex
FoundedJanuary 2014; 10 years ago (2014-01)
HeadquartersGreat Falls, South Carolina, U.S.
IdeologyCentrism
National affiliationAlliance Party
Seats in the Upper House
0 / 46
Seats in the Lower House
0 / 124
Website
https://sc.theallianceparty.com/

The Alliance Party of South Carolina, known as the American Party of South Carolina until 2018, is a third party in the United States.

History[edit]

The party was founded by physician Oscar Lovelace and former South Carolina Superintendent of Education Jim Rex in 2014. According to Rex and Lovelace, their impetus in starting the new party was to present a centrist alternative to the Republican Party and Democratic Party that could address perceived government dysfunction.[1] Rex and Lovelace began collecting the 10,000 petition signatures required for formal party recognition under South Carolina state law during the 2013 South Carolina State Fair. Voter discontent with the United States federal government shutdown of 2013, which coincided with the fair, helped invigorate an unusually robust level of interest in the proposed new party.[2]

In 2014, the first year of electoral activity for the party, it unsuccessfully ran four candidates for public office in that year's South Carolina elections.[3][4][5][6][7][8] The same year, its youth wing, Young Americans, was established with an inaugural chapter at Winthrop University.[9]

The party's 2016 state convention was attended by 61 delegates from nine South Carolina counties, and nominated Peter Skewes as its candidate for president of the United States, as well as candidates for five other offices. As of 2016, the party said it hoped to expand beyond South Carolina and it registered with the Federal Elections Commission the same year.[10][11]

On October 14, 2018, a group of independent state political organizations, including the American Party, joined together to create the Alliance Party. Jim Rex is the national chair.[12] In the 2018 South Carolina elections, the party unsuccessfully ran thirteen candidates, one of whom was under a fusion vote with the Democratic Party, for public office.[13]

In the 2020 South Carolina elections, the Alliance Party's presidential candidate Roque "Rocky" De La Fuente Guerra, received 1,862 votes, around 0.07%.[14] The party unsuccessfully ran five other candidates for public office.[15]

In the 2022 South Carolina elections, the party unsuccessfully ran three candidates. Sarah E. Work performed the best of the three with her bid for state treasurer, gaining 281,695 votes, around 19.86% of the vote, in a two way race against a Republican candidate.[16]

2024 elections[edit]

See also 2024 United States Presidential election, 2024 United States House of Representatives elections, 2024 South Carolina elections

On May 31, 2024, the party nominated Independent Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. for president, granting him ballot access in South Carolina.[17][18] The party nominated two additional federal candidates: Michael Bedenbaugh for the South Carolina's 3rd Congressional District seat being vacated by Republican Jeff Duncan, and Joseph Oddo for South Carolina's 6th Congressional District seat against incumbent Democrat Jim Clyburn[19]. The party is running two candidates for the South Carolina General Assembly: Sarah Work who ran in 2022, running for State Senate District 15[20], and Jackie Todd for State House District 8.[21] In March, James Albert Pauling filed to run as the Party candidate for Marlboro County Sheriff.[22]

Platform[edit]

According to the party, it supports term limits, campaign finance reform, and "attacking problems from the center instead of the left or the right".[8]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Hutchins, Corey (April 9, 2014). "S.C.'s New Moderate American Party Debuts with Four Candidates for 2014". Free Times. Archived from the original on September 14, 2016. Retrieved August 4, 2016.
  2. ^ Hutchins, Corey (January 17, 2017). "Government shutdown helps new political party in S.C. | The Battery". Archived from the original on January 17, 2017. Retrieved December 21, 2021.
  3. ^ "American Party of South Carolina". ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia. Retrieved August 24, 2016.
  4. ^ "Donna McGreevy". ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia. Retrieved August 24, 2016.
  5. ^ "Ed Murray". ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia. Retrieved August 24, 2016.
  6. ^ "Emile DeFelice". ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia. Retrieved August 24, 2016.
  7. ^ "Jill Bossi". ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia. Retrieved August 24, 2016.
  8. ^ a b Thompson, Scott (March 30, 2016). "3 Sun City residents running for office on third-party ticket". Blufton Today. Retrieved August 4, 2016.
  9. ^ Street, Lindsay (February 10, 2014). "Organizer: New party outnumbers Democrats, Republicans at Winthrop". South Carolina Radio Network. Retrieved August 4, 2016.
  10. ^ Arnsdorf, Isaac (June 28, 2016). "NFIB nabs Addington". Politico. Retrieved August 4, 2016.
  11. ^ Crowder, Mike (May 15, 2016). "American Party of SC nominates candidates for a handful of offices". WRHI. Retrieved August 4, 2016.
  12. ^ "How We Formed". Alliance Party of South Carolina. Retrieved June 2, 2024.
  13. ^ "2018 Statewide General Elections". www.enr-scvotes.org. Retrieved December 21, 2021.
  14. ^ "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  15. ^ "2020 Statewide General Election - Election Night Reporting". www.enr-scvotes.org. Retrieved December 21, 2021.
  16. ^ "2022 Statewide General Election". South Carolina Election Commission. November 17, 2022. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
  17. ^ Brams, Sophie (May 31, 2024). "Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to be on presidential ballot in South Carolina as third party candidate". WCBD-TV. Retrieved June 5, 2024.
  18. ^ Bustos, Joseph (May 31, 2024). "Robert Kennedy Jr. makes SC's presidential ballot but not as an independent. Here's how". AOL. Retrieved June 5, 2024.
  19. ^ Wilder, Anna (April 5, 2024). "6 SC candidates for Congress aren't Democrat or Republican. Here are your third party candidates". The State Newspaper. Retrieved June 5, 2024.
  20. ^ Marks, John (June 5, 2024). "2024 voter guide: Primary elections for York, Lancaster, Chester county legislature seats". The Rock Hill Herald. Retrieved June 5, 2024.
  21. ^ "Statewide Candidate Listings". South Carolina State Election Commission. 2024. Retrieved June 5, 2024.
  22. ^ Benson, Adam (March 25, 2024). "Interim Marlboro County sheriff is 2nd to seek office in June's Democratic primary". WBTW-TV. Retrieved June 5, 2024.

External links[edit]

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