The most successful third party in the US is the Vermont Progressive Party. It includes the current Lt. Governor, David Zuckerman, four members of the Vermont State House of Representatives, on State Senator, the mayor of Burlington, Vermont's largest city, as well as 5 of the 12 members of the Burlington City Council, 2 of the 5 members of the Winooski City Council, and a majority of at least one town Select Board (Ripton). Senator Bernie Sanders is closely linked with the party, but is officially an independent. Maybe Burlington and Vermont are just different from the rest of the country, but we've had success running people as Progressive Party candidates.
Hi Adam: You're right that the VPP is the most successful (in proportion of seats held) third party in the United States. However, Vermont IS different from the rest of the country:
First, it has "fusion" voting. The vast majority of VPP candidates are dual endorsees of the Vermont Democratic Party and VPP (which appears as "Dem-Prog" or "Prog-Dem" on the ballot). To my knowledge, all successful VPPers in the last decade have been Prog-Dem. All Prog-only candidates have lost (on last check).
Second, Vermont is very progressive, so that makes dual balloting attractive.
Having lived in Pennsylvania for over a year now, I'm quite unhappy about our senatorial options this election cycle-- Pro-genocide Bob Casey (D) or Pro-genocide transphobe David McCormick (R). I wish we lived in a world in which the Green candidate Leila Hazou, a Palestinian American stood a chance against this hegemony of supporting the imperialist project of the Israeli government. But that is not the case, and the consequences of the senate seat being filled by a republican would only net regression of policies on the federal level. So it's with great dissatisfaction that I will commit my vote to the center-right democrat as opposed to the far-right republican.
The most successful third party in the US is the Vermont Progressive Party. It includes the current Lt. Governor, David Zuckerman, four members of the Vermont State House of Representatives, on State Senator, the mayor of Burlington, Vermont's largest city, as well as 5 of the 12 members of the Burlington City Council, 2 of the 5 members of the Winooski City Council, and a majority of at least one town Select Board (Ripton). Senator Bernie Sanders is closely linked with the party, but is officially an independent. Maybe Burlington and Vermont are just different from the rest of the country, but we've had success running people as Progressive Party candidates.
Hi Adam: You're right that the VPP is the most successful (in proportion of seats held) third party in the United States. However, Vermont IS different from the rest of the country:
First, it has "fusion" voting. The vast majority of VPP candidates are dual endorsees of the Vermont Democratic Party and VPP (which appears as "Dem-Prog" or "Prog-Dem" on the ballot). To my knowledge, all successful VPPers in the last decade have been Prog-Dem. All Prog-only candidates have lost (on last check).
Second, Vermont is very progressive, so that makes dual balloting attractive.
I'm writing about this for after the election!
Having lived in Pennsylvania for over a year now, I'm quite unhappy about our senatorial options this election cycle-- Pro-genocide Bob Casey (D) or Pro-genocide transphobe David McCormick (R). I wish we lived in a world in which the Green candidate Leila Hazou, a Palestinian American stood a chance against this hegemony of supporting the imperialist project of the Israeli government. But that is not the case, and the consequences of the senate seat being filled by a republican would only net regression of policies on the federal level. So it's with great dissatisfaction that I will commit my vote to the center-right democrat as opposed to the far-right republican.
It is extremely frustrating to live in such a flawed voting system. We desperately need reforms, such as ranked-choice voting (or STV, which FairVote calls "proportional ranked choice voting": https://fairvote.org/our-reforms/proportional-ranked-choice-voting/).