American Independent Party

The American Independent Party is a political party in the United States that was established in California in 1967 by Bill and Eileen Shearer. It gained significant attention during the 1968 US Presidential Election when it nominated George Wallace, the then-governor of Alabama, as its candidate.

American Independent Party
Chairman	Markham Robinson (CA)[1]
Vice Chairman	Mark Seidenberg (CA)[1]
Founded	July 8, 1967; 57 years ago (1967-07-08)
Headquarters	476 Deodara St. Vacaville, California 95688
Ideology	Paleoconservatism[2]
Political position	Independent politicians
National affiliation	America's Party[3]
Colors	Purple
State Senate	0 / 40
State House	0 / 80
Website
aipca.org

The party is known for giving support to independent candidates, most recently, in 2024, nominating Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for the California presidential ballot.^[4]

Background information

Wallace's 1969 AIP party card, showing annual dues of $3.00 for the organization

The party's support base initially included individuals from the Democratic Party (United States) who were opposed to the desegregation policies prevalent at the time, and it achieved notable electoral success in some Southern states.

Over time, the party became closer to the conservative movement and it renounced policy against racial equality. Today, the party still exists but many of its original members have left: most of the earlier members returned to the Democratic Party after the 1969 election and its later members have moved to the Constitution Party.

In 1967, the AIP was founded by Bill Shearer and his wife, Eileen Knowland Shearer. It nominated George C. Wallace (Democrat) as its presidential candidate and retired U.S. Air Force General Curtis E. LeMay as the vice-presidential candidate. Wallace ran on every state ballot in the election, though he did not represent the American Independent Party in all fifty states: in Connecticut, for instance, he was listed on the ballot as the nominee of the "George Wallace Party." The Wallace/LeMay ticket received 13.5 percent of the popular vote and 46 electoral votes from the states of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Georgia, and Alabama. No third-party candidate has won more than one electoral vote since the 1968 election.^[5][6]

Presidential tickets

Year	Presidential nominee[7]	Home state	Previous positions	Vice presidential nominee	Home state	Previous positions	Votes	References
1968	George Wallace Democratic (campaign)	Alabama	Governor of Alabama (1963–1967)	Curtis LeMay	California	General of the United States Air Force (1951–1965) Commander-in-Chief of the Strategic Air Command (1948–1957) Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force (1957–1961) Chief of Staff of the Air Force (1961–1965)	9,906,473 (13.5%) 46 EV	[8]
1972	John G. Schmitz	California	Member of the United States House of Representatives from California's 35th district (1970–1973)	Thomas J. Anderson	Tennessee	Magazine publisher	1,099,482 (1.4%) 0 EV
1976	Lester Maddox	Georgia	Governor of Georgia (1967–1971) Lieutenant Governor of Georgia (1971–1975)	William Dyke	Wisconsin	Mayor of Madison (1969–1973) Candidate for Governor of Wisconsin (1974)	170,531 (0.2%) 0 EV
1980	John Rarick	Louisiana	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Louisiana's 6th district (1967–1975)	Eileen Shearer	California	Co-founder of the American Independent Party	41,268 (<0.1%) 0 EV
1984	Bob Richards (Populist)	Texas	Retired Olympic athlete (1948; 1952; 1956)	Maureen Kennedy Salaman	California	Writer, nutritionist	66,336 (0.1%) 0 EV
1988	James C. Griffin	Texas	Nominee for United States Senator from California (1980) Nominee for Governor of California (1982) Nominee for Lieutenant Governor of California (1986)	Charles Morsa			27,818 (<0.1%) 0 EV
1992	Howard Phillips (U.S. Taxpayers')	Virginia	Chairman of The Conservative Caucus Candidate for United States Senator from Massachusetts (1978)	Albion W. Knight	Florida	Presiding Bishop of the United Episcopal Church of North America (1989–1992)	43,369 (<0.1%) 0 EV
1996	Howard Phillips (U.S. Taxpayers')	Virginia	Chairman of The Conservative Caucus Candidate for United States Senator from Massachusetts (1978) Nominee for President of the United States (1992)	Herbert Titus	Oregon	Lawyer, writer	184,656 (0.2%) 0 EV
2000	Howard Phillips (Constitution)	Virginia	Chairman of The Conservative Caucus Candidate for United States Senator from Massachusetts (1978) Nominee for President of the United States (1992; 1996)	Curtis Frazier	Missouri	Candidate for United States Senator from Missouri (1998)	98,020 (0.1%) 0 EV	[9]
2004	Michael Peroutka (Constitution)	Maryland	Lawyer Founder of the Institute on the Constitution	Chuck Baldwin	Florida	Pastor, radio host	143,630 (0.1%) 0 EV
2008	Alan Keyes (America's Independent)	New York	Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs (1985–1987) Candidate for United States Senator from Maryland (1988; 1992) Candidate for President of the United States (1996; 2000) Candidate for United States Senator from Illinois (2004)	Wiley Drake	California	Minister, radio host	47,694 (<0.1%) 0 EV
2012	Tom Hoefling (America's)	Iowa	Activist	Robert Ornelas	California	Activist	40,641 (<0.1%) 0 EV
2016	Donald Trump (Republican)	New York	Businessman Chairman of The Trump Organization (1971–2017)	Mike Pence	Indiana	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Indiana's 2nd district (2001–2003) Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Indiana's 6th district (2003–2013) Governor of Indiana (2013–2017)	62,984,825 (46.1%) 304 EV	[10]
2020	Rocky De La Fuente (Alliance; Reform)	California	Businessman and perennial candidate	Kanye West (Independent; Birthday)	Wyoming	Rapper, producer and fashion designer; 2020 presidential candidate	60,160 (0.34%) 0 EV	[11]
2024	Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (Reform; We The People; Texas Independent; Natural Law; Independent of Delaware)	California	Environmental lawyer	Nicole Shanahan	California	Attorney	TBD	[12]

References

1. "American Independent Party Leadership, State Central Committee for Term Ending 09/03/2020". American Independent Party. 2019. Archived from the original on 2021-02-25. Retrieved 2021-01-16.
2. John Myers, Would-be independents joining the American Independent Party could blame California's voter registration card, Los Angeles Times (April 19, 2016).
3. "History of the American Independent Party". American Independent Party. 2011. Archived from the original on 2018-12-24. Retrieved 2021-01-16.
4. "Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says he has qualified for California's presidential ballot". Los Angeles Times. 2024-04-30. Retrieved 2024-05-02.
5. Chrostopher D. Rodkey, "Third Parties" in Culture Wars: An Encyclopedia of Issues, Viewpoints and Voices (eds. Roger Chapman & James Ciment: 2d ed: Routledge, 2015), p. 665.
6. ""Conservative third parties since the New Deal" in The Princeton Encyclopedia of American Political History (Vol. 1) (eds. Michael Kazin, Rebecca Edwards & Adam Rothman: Princeton University Press, 2010), p. 195.
7. And political party if different from the AIP.
8. Wallace and LeMay carried five states, receiving 45 electoral votes, plus one from a North Carolina faithless elector.
9. Joseph Sobran was the original vice presidential nominee, but he withdrew from the ticket and was replaced by Frazier.
10. Mejia Davis, Edward. "Trump is the nominee of George Wallace's American Independent Party in California". CNN. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
11. Winger, Richard (August 15, 2020). "American Independent Party Nominates Rocky De La Fuente for President and Kanye West for Vice-President". Ballot Access News. Archived from the original on August 15, 2020. Retrieved January 16, 2021.
12. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (2024-04-29), RFK Jr.: Officially On The Ballot In California, retrieved 2024-05-31