Reform Party of the United States of America facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Reform Party of the United States of America
Chairperson	Nicholas Hensley
Founder	Ross Perot
Founded	1995; 30 years ago (1995)
Headquarters	Dallas, Texas
Membership	6,819 (2021 est.)
Ideology	Populism Radical centrism
Political position	Center
Colors	Purple
Elected offices	11 (2024)
Politics of United States Political parties

The Reform Party of the United States of America is a political party in the United States. It was started in 1995 by Ross Perot. This party is known for its "centrist" views, meaning it tries to find a middle ground between the main Republican and Democratic parties.

Ross Perot believed that many Americans were unhappy with politics. He thought the system was unfair and not dealing with important problems. After he ran for president as an independent in 1992 and got a lot of votes (18.9%), he decided to create the Reform Party. He wanted it to be a real choice for voters. In the 1996 presidential election, Perot ran as the Reform Party's candidate and received 8.4% of the votes. No other third-party candidate has gotten that many votes since then.

Over the years, other well-known people ran for president with the Reform Party, including Pat Buchanan and Ralph Nader. The party's biggest success was when Jesse Ventura became the Governor of Minnesota in 1998. However, he left the party soon after. Donald Trump was also a member for a short time during his 2000 presidential campaign. Around the year 2000, disagreements and problems within the party caused it to become much weaker. Since 1996, no Reform Party presidential candidate has won even 1% of the popular vote.

The Ross Perot Movement: How it Started

Ross Perot's First Presidential Campaign in 1992

The Reform Party grew from Ross Perot's efforts in the 1992 presidential election. He ran as an independent candidate. This made him the first non-major party candidate since 1912 who was seen as having a real chance to win. Perot gained attention by focusing on money issues. These included the country's debt and how the government spent money. He also wanted to change how politics worked. He talked about limiting how long politicians could serve and making rules for campaign money. Many people supported him because they felt he was talking about important problems that the two main parties were ignoring.

At one point, a poll showed Perot slightly ahead. But on July 19, he stopped his campaign. He said that Republican workers were threatening his daughter's wedding. A magazine called Newsweek then called him a "quitter." When he started his campaign again on October 1, people kept calling him a "quitter." They also made other claims about his character. On Election Day, many voters were confused if he was still running. He ended up getting about 18.9% of the popular vote. This was a very high number for an independent candidate. Only former President Theodore Roosevelt had done better in 1912. After the election, Perot stayed involved in politics. He turned his campaign group into a lobbying group. One of his main goals was to stop the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Forming the Party and its Rise

In 1995, the Republican Party gained control of the House of Representatives. They promised to fix many of the issues that Perot's supporters cared about. However, some of their main promises, like changing the Constitution for term limits and balanced budgets, did not get enough votes in Congress.

Because of this, the groups that had supported Perot in 1992 decided to form a new party. They wanted it to compete with the Republicans and Democrats. They called it the "Reform Party." They tried to get the party on the ballot in all fifty states. This was successful, but it led to some legal challenges in certain areas. In a few places, smaller parties joined the Reform Party.

The Party's Peak: The 1996 Presidential Election

Choosing a Candidate for 1996

When the 1996 election came, Perot first said he would not run for the Reform Party's presidential nomination. He wanted others to try. The only person who announced they would run was Richard Lamm, a former Governor of Colorado. Then, the government election group said that only Perot could get federal money for his campaign. This was because his 1992 campaign was as an independent. So, Perot decided to enter the race. Some people were upset because they felt Perot overshadowed Lamm's campaign. This started a split within the party. Some claimed that problems in the primary election, like Lamm supporters not getting ballots, were Perot's fault. The Reform Party said these problems happened because of how they collected names to get on the ballot in all states. They used these names to send out ballots. In the end, Perot won the nomination and chose economist Pat Choate as his running mate. Perot received 32,145 votes, and Lamm received 17,121 votes.

Not Allowed in Debates

Between 1992 and 1996, the group that organizes presidential debates changed its rules. This made it harder for candidates to join the debates. Perot had done very well in debates before. So, it was a big problem for his campaign when the group said he could not participate. They said a candidate needed to be supported by "a substantial number of major news organizations." The group would decide what "substantial" meant for each case. Perot would not have qualified for the 1992 debates under these new rules. He even showed that many famous U.S. presidents would also have been kept out of modern debates.

Perot's team tried to take legal action. Also, 80% of Americans wanted him to be in the debates. But the group refused to change its mind. Perot had to share his ideas through half-hour "commercials" instead. In the end, Perot and Choate won 8% of the votes.

Decline of the Party

Problems Begin in 1997

By October 1997, disagreements started to break out. A group left the party because they believed Perot had cheated in the 1996 primary election to beat Lamm. This group later formed the "American Reform Party" (ARP). The ARP is a smaller political group. The chairman at the time, Roy Downing, said the split happened because they found out the Reform Party was controlled from the top, not by its members. Members of this new group tried to get former Colorado Governor Dick Lamm to run for president as an Independent. But he said no, because he had promised not to challenge the party's decision. During this time, Perot focused on lobbying through his group, United We Stand America.

American Reform Party

When the ARP was founded, it was noted that 40 African-American delegates were present. This was the first time in U.S. history that African-Americans were at the founding of a major national political party.

The ARP has not grown much and is only active in a few states. In the 2000, 2004, and 2008 elections, the American Reform Party supported Ralph Nader for president. The ARP is not a typical political party. It does not have access to ballots in any state, and it does not run its own candidates. Instead, it supports third-party and independent candidates who agree with its main ideas.

Around 2010–2011, the party changed its focus. It moved from being a middle-ground party to one that supported fiscal conservative ideas, similar to the Tea Party. In the 2012 election, the ARP supported Republican candidate Mitt Romney. In the 2016 election, they supported Republican candidate Donald Trump.

Related Groups

• In New York State, a group called the Integrity Party is connected to the ARP. This group helped a Democratic sheriff candidate win an election by supporting him. They also tried to run candidates statewide in 2006.
• The Reform Party of Northern Mariana Islands was also connected to the ARP. It was started by a former governor who was unhappy with the Democratic Party there. This party elected one member to their local Senate in 1999. This was their only elected official. They lost this official in 2003 and stopped their political activities.

Mid-term Elections of 1998

In 1998, the Reform Party got a big boost. Jesse Ventura was elected Governor of Minnesota. The Reform Party USA received more votes nationwide in 1998 than any other third party in America, even without Ventura's votes. If you count Ventura's success, the Reform Party got more votes than all other third parties combined. This made the Reform Party America's third-largest party at that time.

2000 Presidential Election

The Reform Party's candidate for the 2000 election was supposed to receive $12.5 million in federal money. This was based on Perot's 8% showing in 1996. Early on, there was an attempt to get Ron Paul to run, but it failed.

Donald Trump briefly entered the race. He gave TV interviews about his ideas. Trump was open-minded on social issues. He supported allowing openly gay soldiers in the military. Trump saw himself as a conservative. But he criticized Pat Buchanan, saying Buchanan was too extreme. Trump left the race because of fighting within the party. Jesse Ventura and the Minnesota Reform Party also left. Donald Trump said, "The Reform Party now includes a Klansman, Mr. Duke, a neo-Nazi, Mr. Buchanan, and a communist, Ms. Fulani. This is not company I wish to keep." "Mr. Duke" was David Duke, a former leader of the Ku Klux Klan.

Pat Buchanan decided to leave the Republican Party. He said the Republican Party had changed too much. He felt it had become a "New World-order party" that interfered too much around the world. He believed the U.S. should return to a policy of not getting involved in other countries' affairs.

After a difficult fight, Pat Buchanan won the Reform Party's presidential nomination. He beat John Hagelin of the Natural Law Party. Hagelin and a group against Buchanan left and held their own meeting. They nominated Hagelin as their candidate. The dispute went to court. The government election group decided that Buchanan was the real nominee. They gave him $12.6 million for his campaign. Buchanan's running mate was Ezola Foster. Buchanan received 449,225 votes, which was 0.4% of all votes. Because of this low number, the party lost its federal funding for the 2004 election. In 2002, Buchanan returned to the Republican Party.

2004 Presidential Election

By October 2003, the Reform Party was just starting to rebuild. Several former state groups decided to rejoin. They grew from 24 to 30 states. They also managed to get on the ballot in seven states. Buchanan's poor performance in 2000 had caused the party to lose ballot access in almost all states.

Because of money and organization problems, the party decided to support Ralph Nader's independent campaign. They thought he was the best choice for an independent candidate that year. This support brought attention to Nader and the Reform Party. However, the party could only get Nader on the ballot in seven states. This was much less than the 49 states they had access to in 2000.

Party Collapse

2006 Candidates

In 2006, the Reform Party nominated candidates in Arizona. They also tried to get back on the ballot in other states where their groups were active. The Reform Party of Kansas nominated several candidates, including Iraq War veteran Richard Ranzau. In Colorado, a "fiscal conservative" named Eric Eidsness ran on the Reform Party ticket. He received 11.28% of the vote. He later joined the Democratic Party. The Florida Reform Party allowed Max Linn to use its ballot line for governor. Linn had connections to the Perot and Ventura campaigns, but he only received 1.9% of the vote. By March 2007, the Reform Party had ballot access for the 2008 presidential election in four states: Florida, Kansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. They had also started trying to get on the ballot in four more states.

2008 National Convention

The Reform Party held its 2008 National Convention in Dallas from July 18–20.

At the convention, Ted Weill from Mississippi was chosen as the party's 2008 presidential candidate. Frank McEnulty from California was chosen as the vice-presidential candidate. David Collison from Texas was elected as the national chairman. However, the party could not announce these results on its website until October. This was due to a court order from a group linked to the Independence Party of New York. So, the Weill/McEnulty ticket only appeared on the ballot in Mississippi, where it received 481 votes.

There was a false news report that said the party had supported John McCain. This endorsement was made by Frank MacKay of the Independence Party of New York, not the Reform Party USA. David Collison, the Reform Party's chairman, said in 2009, "Do you believe that any legitimate national party would endorse the Republican candidate for President rather than have a candidate of their own?"

Candidates who sought the nomination included:

• Alan Keyes, a former diplomat and Republican candidate.
• Frank McEnulty, who became the vice presidential nominee.
• Ted Weill, an activist from Mississippi, who became the presidential nominee.
• Daniel Imperato, who later joined the Libertarian Party.
• Gene Chapman, a blogger.

2010 Activities

In January 2010, Charles S. Faddis, a former CIA officer, announced his support for the party. He later left the party and ran as a Republican in 2016.

In February 2010, former Reform Party Chairman Pat Choate talked about the Tea Party movement. He said the Tea Party was different from Ross Perot's party. He felt the Tea Party was strongly pushed by conservative talk-show hosts. He believed the Republican Party was trying to use it to attract independent voters.

In February, candidates ran as Reform Party members for Congress in all four of Mississippi's congressional districts. But no one ran for statewide offices.

In April 2010, former Vice President Dan Quayle criticized the Reform Party. He said it caused President George H.W. Bush and him to lose to Bill Clinton in 1992. He firmly believed that Perot cost the Republican Party the White House.

Pat Choate remained suspicious of the Tea Party movement. He said that at Tea Party events, a Republican always speaks. He questioned why the Tea Parties endorse candidates but never Democrats. He felt they seemed to be a front for the Republican Party. He said the Reform Party was seen as very serious. Perot gave millions, they ran candidates, and they were a real threat to the way things were.

Kristin M. Davis announced on June 27, 2010, that she was running for governor in New York State. She used the name "Reform Party" without the party's permission. She had failed to get the Libertarian Party nomination. Davis criticized the Democrats and Republicans for only caring about wealthy white males. She said, "Where are the women, the Hispanics, the African-Americans, and the gay people? We must reject their tired old thinking...."

On June 29, 2010, Reform Party National Committee chairman David Collison sent Davis a legal notice. He demanded that she immediately change the name she was using. Davis had not asked for permission to run as an official Reform Party candidate. So, she stopped using the Reform Party name. Davis was not a member of the Reform Party. She changed her ballot line name and ran as an independent candidate on the "Anti-Prohibition" line.

2012 Presidential Election

The Reform Party held its 2012 National Convention in Philadelphia on August 11–12, 2012.

At the convention, the Reform Party nominated Andre Barnett from New York for president. Ken Cross from Arkansas was chosen for vice president. Other people who had sought the nomination but dropped out earlier included former football coach Robby Wells, economist Laurence Kotlikoff, historian Darcy Richardson, and former Louisiana Governor Buddy Roemer.

2016 Presidential Election

The Reform Party supported the American Delta Party's candidates for president and vice-president in 2016. These were Rocky de la Fuente and Michael Steinberg. However, in 2016, De La Fuente also ran as a Democrat in other elections.

2020 Presidential Election

On June 20, 2020, during an online meeting, the Reform Party again nominated Rocky de la Fuente for president. De la Fuente won against three other candidates. Darcy Richardson from Florida was nominated for vice president.

2024 Presidential Election

In September 2023, the Reform Party lost its ability to be on the ballot in Florida. This left the party with no state ballot lines. At their party meeting on May 23, 2024, the Reform Party nominated the Kennedy Jr./Shanahan ticket for president and vice president. The Reform Party filed paperwork in May 2024 to get back on the ballot in Florida. This would place Kennedy and Shanahan on the ballot there.

Best Election Results

Presidential Candidates Over the Years

Year	Presidential nominee	Home state	Previous positions	Vice presidential nominee	Home state	Previous positions	Votes	Notes
1996	Ross Perot (campaign)	Texas	Businessman Candidate for President of the United States (1992)	Pat Choate	District of Columbia	Economist	8,085,294 (8.4%) 0 EV
2000	Pat Buchanan (campaign)	Virginia	White House Director of Communications (1985–1987) Candidate for President of the United States (1992; 1996)	Ezola Foster	California	Activist Candidate for California's 48th State Assembly district (1986)	448,895 (0.4%) 0 EV
2004	Ralph Nader (campaign)	Connecticut	Lawyer, activist Candidate for President of the United States (1996; 2000)	Peter Camejo	California	Candidate for Mayor of Berkeley (1967) Candidate for President of the United States (1976) Candidate for Governor of California (2002; 2003)	465,151 (0.4%) 0 EV
2008	Ted Weill	Mississippi	Nominee for United States Senator from Mississippi (1996)	Frank McEnulty	California	Businessman	481 (0.0004%) 0 EV
2012	Andre Barnett	New York	Entrepreneur	Ken Cross	Arkansas	Engineer, businessman	962 (0.001%) 0 EV
2016	Rocky De La Fuente (campaign)	California	Businessman	Michael Steinberg	Florida	Lawyer Candidate for Florida's 47th State House of Representatives district (2002; 2010) Candidate for Florida's 11th congressional district (2006)	33,136 (0.02%) 0 EV
2020	Rocky De La Fuente (campaign)	California	Businessman Candidate for President of the United States (2016)	Darcy Richardson	Florida	Historian Author 2018 Reform Party Nominee for Governor of Florida	88,238 (0.06%) 0 EV
2024	Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (campaign)	California	Attorney, activist	Nicole Shanahan	California	Attorney, technologist	TBD

What the Reform Party Believes In

The Reform Party has a set of main ideas, called a platform. Here are some of their key beliefs:

• Balanced Budget: They want the government to spend only as much money as it takes in. They support a law to make sure the budget is balanced. They also want to pay off the national debt.
• Campaign Finance Reform: They believe there should be strict limits on how much money people can give to political campaigns. They also want to ban groups that collect money for political purposes.
• Immigration Laws: They want to make sure existing immigration laws are followed. They are against people entering the country illegally.
• Trade Agreements: They are against certain free trade agreements, like NAFTA. They also want the U.S. to leave the World Trade Organization.
• Term Limits: They want to limit how many terms U.S. Representatives and Senators can serve.
• Election Reform: They want the U.S. President to be elected directly by popular vote. They also want other changes to the election system.
• National Holiday for Elections: They suggest that federal elections should be held on weekends or that Election Day (a Tuesday) should become a national holiday.

One thing you might notice is that the Reform Party platform does not focus on social issues, like gay rights. The party used to say that it could bring together people with different views on these topics. They wanted to focus on what they saw as more important issues listed in their platform. The idea was to create a large group of people with moderate views. However, this goal was changed in 2001 when Pat Buchanan's supporters took over and rewrote the party's rules. But in 2002, the party went back to its original goals and rules from 1996.

Active State Groups

The Reform Party has active groups in several states:

• Reform Party of California
• Reform Party of Montana
• Reform Party of New Jersey (reorganized in 2010)
• Reform Party of North Carolina
• Reform Party of New York State
• Reform Party of Tennessee
• Reform Party of Texas
• Reform Party of Virginia
• Reform Party of Wisconsin

See also

In Spanish: Partido de la Reforma de los Estados Unidos para niños

• Absentee ballot
• Forward Party
• No Labels
• Write-in candidate

Images for kids

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  The official logo of the Reform Party.