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United Citizens Party

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United Citizens Party
(Patriot Party of South Carolina)
Founded1969[a]
Split fromDemocratic Party[1]
IdeologyProgressivism[2]
Black nationalism[2][1]
Political positionCenter-left to Left-wing[2][1]
National affiliationReform (1996)
Website
Archived Website

The United Citizens Party (UCP) is an American political party first organized in 1969 in the U.S. state of South Carolina by John Roy Harper II and others, in response to the state Democratic Party's opposition to nominating black candidates. The party's objective was to elect blacks to the legislature and local offices in counties with black majority populations. The party ran candidates in 1970 and 1972; as a result in 1970 the first three black candidates were elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives since Reconstruction.

History

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Original formation

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The first president was John Roy Harper II,[3] named at the first annual convention on April 13, 1970; he later served as party chairman.[4] Harper stated that he had split from the Democratic Party due to the party's refusal to nominate Black candidates.[1] The party's candidate in 1970 was Thomas Broadwater for Governor. The party's founding document stated that it was creating “a separate party running people who will do what we, the people, want done,” and that, “furthermore, whites have never publicly promised Black folks nothing-we need to divorce.”[4]

In 1972 the party was able to secure a line on the ballot for George McGovern in his campaign against Richard Nixon via fusion voting.[5] The 1972 elections also marked the entry of Black South Carolinian Democrats to the House, largely due to the efforts of the UCP, despite the party electing no stand-alone candidates.[6] In 1974, the political scientists Hanes Walton Jr. and William H. Boone cited the UCP up to that point as an example of a successful sub-national African American political party.[7]

1st Refoundation

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Lenora Fulani (left) ran as the United Citizens candidate for her 1988 and 1992 presidential campaigns; Ross Perot (right) for his 1992 and 1996 presidential campaigns.

Since 1972 the party stood no additional candidates, largely going dormant, however, in 1986 new election laws passed in South Carolina requiring a party to run candidates in at least every other general election.[2] In 1988, the New York based New Alliance Party filed the paperwork to run a candidate for the UCP line, Lenora Fulani, for President of the United States.[8] She ran again as a UCP candidate in her 1992 run for president.[9] During this period Fulani changed the name of the party to the Patriot Party (PP) and was also simultaneously working with supporters of Ross Perot to make a national political party for Perot.[2]

For his second bid for president in 1996, Perot's newly formed Reform Party (RP) also secured ballot access in South Carolina, meaning Perot appeared twice, once for the RP, and the other for the PP.[10] The PP would earn Perot 36,913 votes in South Carolina, to the Reform Party's 27,464.[11] The combined 64,386 votes was 5.60% of the electorate.[12] However, with an established state branch of the Reform party, Perot's supporters migrated, leaving the PP dormant.[2]

2nd Refoundation

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In 2000, Michael Avey, then a professor of political science at Lander College, with some activist friends, took over the dormant PP and wrote to the Federal Election Commission requesting federal recognition for changing the name back to the United Citizens Party.[13] Ralph Nader ran as the UCP nominee in his 2000 bid for president, earning him 20,279 votes or 1.47% of the electorate.[14] The party's original founder Harper has come out in support of Avey's restored party, applauding his efforts to make a party for Black Americans stating that "The problems and inequities the United Citizens Party identified 30 year ago are still problems today. Sure, there have been a number of black legislators elected, but not enough to make difference without the support of white Democrats, which too rarely happens. The [Democratic] Party gives lip service to the needs of the black community and working people, but it stops there."[2]

In the 2002 election for the Second Congressional District in South Carolina, Mark Whittington received 17,189 votes or 10.03% of the total.[15] Activist and political operative Kevin Alexander Gray was a gubernatorial candidate representing the South Carolina United Citizens’ Party and the South Carolina Green Party. He did not collect the required number of signatures to be on the ballot, and consequently ran as a write-in candidate.[16]

2004 Presidential Elections

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In presidential election of 2004, the UCP chose to nominate the Socialist Party candidate Walt Brown for president. Brown received 2,124 votes or about 0.1% of the total 1,617,730.

In 2006, the Party endorsed John "JC" Nelums for State House District 79 (Kershaw, Richland)[17] and did not cross-endorse candidates of any other party.

2008 Presidential Elections

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On March 29, 2008, the party endorsed Barack Obama via convention for the 2008 presidential election,[18] but the nomination was not accepted. Obama appeared on the ballot as solely as the candidate of the Democratic Party.[19]

In 2010, the party cross-endorsed former football player Morgan Bruce Reeves for governor, alongside the South Carolina Green Party. Reeves received 0.9% of the vote. On the November 2014 ballot, the party nominated Reeves for Governor and David Edmond for Commissioner of Agriculture. Reeves received 0.5% of the vote.

In 2018 and 2022, Chris Nelums ran as a United Citizens Party candidate for Commissioner of Agriculture.[20] In 2018 Nelums received 118,671 votes, or 8.85% of the vote; in 2022, he received 95,625 votes, or 6.84% of the vote.[21]

2024 Presidential Elections

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Main article: Cornel West 2024 presidential campaign
2024 Presidential Candidate Cornel West (left) and his running mate Melina Abdullah (right)
Cornel West's ballot access in 2024, appearing in South Carolina as the UCP Candidate

For the 2024 United States presidential election, the UCP chose to nominate Cornel West.[22] Also on the 2024 UCP ticket are Gregg Marcel Dixon[23] running for South Carolina's 6th Congressional District challenging Democratic incumbent Jim Clyburn, and Chris Nelums[24] running for State Senate District 19, challenging Democratic incumbent Tameika Isaac Devine.[25] Neither the UCP's leadership, nor its candidates, responded to requests from The State for an interview to be included in their profile of third-party candidates.[26]

Presidential nominees

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d Edgar, Walter. ""U" is for United Citizens Party". South Carolina Public Radio. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Bursey, Brett. "Is South Carolina ready for a progressive third party?". POINT. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
  3. ^ "John Roy Harper, II at a United Citizens' Party of S.C. meeting". Civil Rights Digital Library. February 12, 1970. Retrieved June 7, 2024.
  4. ^ a b "John Roy Harper II papers". University of South Carolina South Caroliniana Library. 2024. Retrieved June 7, 2024.
  5. ^ "General Election Results 1972" (PDF). Report of the South Carolina Election Commission For the Period Ending June 30, 1973. 1973. Retrieved June 7, 2024.
  6. ^ Fellner, Kevin (June 28, 2016). "United Citizens Party". South Carolina Encyclopedia. Retrieved June 7, 2024.
  7. ^ Hanes Walton Jr.; William H. Boone (September 1974). "Black political parties: A demographic analysis". Journal of Black Studies. 5 (1): 86–95. doi:10.1177/002193477400500106. S2CID 149175117.
  8. ^ "Votes Cast in General Election November 8, 1988" (PDF). South Carolina Election Commission Annual Report 1988-1989. 1988. Retrieved June 7, 2024.
  9. ^ "General Election Results 1992" (PDF). South Carolina Election Commission Annual Report 1992-1993. 1992. Retrieved June 7, 2024.
  10. ^ "Ballot Access News -- September 1, 2000". ballot-access.org. Archived from the original on 2002-08-20. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
  11. ^ "Election Returns from Primaries and General Elections (Statewide)". www.scvotes.org. Archived from the original on 31 October 2006. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
  12. ^ Dave Leip's Atlas of United States Presidential Election Results – 1996 South Carolina Results
  13. ^ "Letter to FEC from Michael J. Avey" (PDF). Federal Election Commission. August 20, 2000. Retrieved June 7, 2024.
  14. ^ "2000 Presidential General Election Results — South Carolina". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.
  15. ^ South Carolina Election Commission, Nov. 5, 2002.
  16. ^ O'Cain, Susan (July 16, 2002). "Gray to run as write in candidate". WLTX-TV. Retrieved June 7, 2024.
  17. ^ "General Election Results 2006" (PDF). South Carolina Election Commission Annual Report 2005-2006. 2006. Retrieved June 7, 2024.
  18. ^ Winger, Richard (editor). United Citizens Party Nominates Barack Obama for President. Ballot Access News. 2008-04-11
  19. ^ "SC - Election Results", 2008 General Election Returns, South Carolina State Election Commission, p. 1, 2009-06-01, retrieved 2011-09-06
  20. ^ Collins, Jeffrey (November 5, 2022). "Democrats in South Carolina trying to win 1st statewide race in 16 years". WFAE 90.7 National Public Radio. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
  21. ^ "Election Results". South Carolina Election Commission. 2022. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
  22. ^ Wagner, Richard; Fox, Bradley (27 February 2024). "United Citizens Party of South Carolina Nominates Cornel West for President". ballot-access.org. Retrieved 5 June 2024.
  23. ^ Blakeney, Barney (June 2, 2024). "Dixon makes his bid". The Post and Courier. Retrieved June 7, 2024.
  24. ^ Jordon, Kei'Yona (May 20, 2024). "Candidates for Senate District 19 and 22 weigh in on heavy topics at political forum". WACH-TV. Retrieved June 7, 2024.
  25. ^ "Candidate Listing". South Carolina State Election Commission. 2024. Retrieved June 7, 2024.
  26. ^ Wilder, Anna. "6 SC candidates for Congress aren't Democrat or Republican. Here are your third party candidates". The State. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
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Notes

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  1. ^ Although the party was never formally disestablished, the original UCP went dormant following the 1972 election, the party would be taken over by supporters of Lenora Filani in 1988, being renamed to the PP in 1994, which too went dormant after the 1996 election, and the formation of a South Carolina branch of the Reform Party. The party would again be taken over in 2000 and changed back into the UCP
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