Overview Of Alternative Party Candidates In Pennsylvania
By Bob Small
The Pennsylvania Department of State’s website has a way to search by political party and election. Also you can search by position like state sSenate candidates. One can als search by district.
So I searched for “alternative parties.”
Parties that have at least onecandidate on the ballot in Pennsylvania’s 2022 general election, Nov. 8, are:
| Libertarian | 17 |
| Green | 5 |
| Keystone | 5 |
| Independent | 2 |
| Fostering the Vote | 1 |
| SWP (Socialist Workers Party) | 1 |
There are 31 candidates who are not major party. Most are running to spread their ideas and don’t really expect to get elected.
There are non-listed candidates running, some with party support, most without. Ron Johnson, for instance has the support of the Pa. Constitution Party, but was unable to obtain enough signatures to attain ballot status. Then there were other candidates, mostly Libertarian and SWP candidates, who had enough signatures until the state. decided, with less than a week to go, that they needed more signatures. See this video for details.
Imagine, if you will, that the Houston Astros were allowed four outs per inning but the Phillies only were allowed three. That’s how it is between Dems and GOP and the alternative parties.
I only know about Fostering the Vote, because I live in the 165th District and can vote for Bill Foster, which will be a future post. There are more candidates, I’m sure, running on a very local basis as purely write-ins. Unless they can provide a strong internet basis, as an Everett Stern manages, we probably won’t ever hear of them.
As of my last count, The Libertarians have 179 Elected Officials, and the Greens 20 in Pennsylvania.
In a better future society we need these candidates running with a more realistic chance of getting elected, though I’m not sure how, and if, this ever happens.
Please update me if I have missed any parties and/or candidates in Pennsylvania.
