The Citizen's Party in the first Reagan Administration
In its first election, the Citizen's Party fared well for a new party. Its presidential nominee, Barry Commoner, placed a respectable fifth with over 230,000 votes. In 1982, the Citizens Party offered two candidates for Governor (PA and TX), three candidates for the Senate (PA, TX, and VT), and 15 candidates for the U.S. House.
The Party held a national convention on 9/4/1983 to discuss strategy for the 1984 election. Commoner had decided to support Jesse Jackson for President, saying that Jackson "represents the best hope ... of uniting the movements for civil rights, environmentalism, a sensible energy policy, and women's rights into an effective movement..." [New York Times, 8/30/1983]. The delegates, meeting in San Francisco, voted to run a national ticket in 1984 but put off the choice of a ticket until the spring of 1984 [NYT 9/5/1983]. Commoner later reported that the delegates feared that supporting Jackson would make the Citizen's Party a "pressure group" within the Democratic Party and did not want to nominate him [NYT 10/17/1983].
The Socialist Party meeting in New York City on 9/3–5/1983 chose not to nominate candidates of its own and voted to try to run a joint ticket with the Citizens Party.
On 10/22/1983, Sonia Johnson announced she would seek the presidential nomination of the Citizen's Party in 1984. Johnson had been excommunicated from the Mormon Church in 1979 as a res
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The Citizen's Party in the first Reagan Administration
In its first election, the Citizen's Party fared well for a new party. Its presidential nominee, Barry Commoner, placed a respectable fifth with over 230,000 votes. In 1982, the Citizens Party offered two candidates for Governor (PA and TX), three candidates for the Senate (PA, TX, and VT), and 15 candidates for the U.S. House.
The Party held a national convention on 9/4/1983 to discuss strategy for the 1984 election. Commoner had decided to support Jesse Jackson for President, saying that Jackson "represents the best hope ... of uniting the movements for civil rights, environmentalism, a sensible energy policy, and women's rights into an effective movement..." [New York Times, 8/30/1983]. The delegates, meeting in San Francisco, voted to run a national ticket in 1984 but put off the choice of a ticket until the spring of 1984 [NYT 9/5/1983]. Commoner later reported that the delegates feared that supporting Jackson would make the Citizen's Party a "pressure group" within the Democratic Party and did not want to nominate him [NYT 10/17/1983].
The Socialist Party meeting in New York City on 9/3–5/1983 chose not to nominate candidates of its own and voted to try to run a joint ticket with the Citizens Party.
On 10/22/1983, Sonia Johnson announced she would seek the presidential nomination of the Citizen's Party in 1984. Johnson had been excommunicated from the Mormon Church in 1979 as a result of her outspoken support of the Equal Rights Amendment. In 1982 Johnson undertook a publicized 37 day fast in front of the Illinois Capitol which was designed to encourage the legislature of IL to ratify the ERA. She had written an autobiography entitled From Housewife to Heretic. In her announcement, Johnson said she planned "to bring a feminist perspective to the campaign dialogue" [NYT 10/23 and 12/29/1983]. Johnson said later that she realized her ideas might be too radical for the Citizen's Party and that she might not win the nomination [NYT 12/29/1983].
The Citizen's Party was supposed to hold its national convention in the spring of 1984. The extended Democratic presidential primary campaign caused the Citizen's Party to postpone its own convention until it became clear the Jesse Jackson would not be the nominee. In the meantime, Johnson began to raise money for her own campaign. On 6/2/1984, she announced that she was the first third party candidate of the 1984 cycle to qualify for federal matching funds. "This is one of the most significant accomplishments for any independent candidate," she said [NYT 6/3/1984]. The Federal Elections Commission ruled on 7/26/84 that Johnson was entitled to $140,000 in matching funds [NYT 7/27/1984].
National Convention
The 2d Citizens Party National Convention was held at Hamline University in St. Paul MN on 8/9–12/1984. There were 125 delegates from 30 states present. The convention took the unusual action of nominating the VP candidate first, then the presidential nominee. Richard J. Walton was nominated for VP with 191 votes and 17 abstentions. Johnson was then nominated for President with 185 votes to 24 abstentions [Havel 2:318–320, NYT 8/12/1984].
The Campaign
An early effort by Johnson was to try to win the endorsement of California's Peace and Freedom Party. The PFP had become a state party since its inception, and its convention was scheduled for 8/25-26/1984. Although Johnson was successful in winning the PFP nomination, the convention ran its own Bill Thorn for Vice President (Havel 2:318, 341).
Sonia Johnson made a major effort to gain admittance to the presidential debates. On 8/15/84, she asked the FEC to allow third party candidates in the general election debates [NYT 8/16/1984]. FEC staff turned down her request [NYT 10/5/1984], and the following week she sued the FEC unsuccessfully [NYT 10/13/1984].
Johnson made a campaign appearance during the International March and Conference for Lesbian and Gay Freedom, held in NYC on 9/30/1984. She addressed the group and participated in a march from Greenwich Village to the United Nations building [NYT 10/1/1984].
In spite of the two additional endorsements, the Citizens Party suffered serious setbacks during 1984. It ran fewer candidates for office: one for the Senate (IL), one for Governor (VT), and two for the U.S. House. Johnson appeared on the ballot in thirteen states under the Citizens banner, two as an Independent, one (AR) as the Citizens Group nominee, and one (PA) as the Consumer nominee. The Citizens Party vote fell by two thirds – to 72,153 although Johnson significantly improved upon Commoner’s totals in PA and in LA.
1st Citizen's Party National Convention [1980]
Consumer Party Campaign [1988]
Popular Vote of 1984
Electoral Vote of 1984
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