Colonel William A. Phillips

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The Florida Whig Party was a political party in the state of Florida.[1][2][3][4] The party chose to revive the 19th century Whig Party name. In 2008, the party aligned itself with the Modern Whig Party, a national organization of about 30,000 members initially founded by Iraq and Afghanistan veterans as a "comeback" of the historic Whig Party.[5] However, the Florida Whig Party discontinued this association in late 2009, largely due to its increasingly conservative platform.[6] The Florida Whig Party was the first "Whig" state political party to officially run candidates for federal office in over a century.[7]

Activity

In late 2009 and early 2010, the Florida Whig Party attracted attention for fielding an unusually large number of candidates for a third party.[7][8] However, their first candidate, Paul McKain, left the party in early 2010 to run without affiliation. In addition, the party attempted to field additional Whig candidates, to include Clayton Schock, John Annarumma, Stephen Bacon, and Steve Gerritzen, but in spring 2010 the party announced that they failed to qualify for the ballot.[9] Some of these candidates reportedly attempted to run as either write-in candidates or no party affiliation.[8][10]

Businessman Craig Porter, however, did qualify for the ballot as a Florida Whig. He received 2.2% of the vote, a total of 3,186 votes.[11]

After the election of November 4, 2008, the Modern Whig Party and the Florida Whig Party began a push to attract moderate/conservative Democrats and Republicans.[12]

According to the party website, the party was dissolved in 2012.[13]

References

  1. ^ "Martin County Supervisor of Elections".
  2. ^ "Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections".
  3. ^ "Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections". Archived from the original on 2011-07-28. Retrieved 2010-03-05.
  4. ^ Thompson, Bill. "Whig party leaders hope to offer voters more options". Ocala Star Banner.
  5. ^ "Modern Whig Party has Appeal to Some Troops: No Candidates Yet, but with Moderate Stance, it's Starting to Catch On". Marine Corps Times, Army Times and Air Force Times. June 2008.[volume & issue needed]
  6. ^ Phillips, Michael M. (2010-08-24). "Political Party for Mild-Mannered Is Off to a Slow Start". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2013-03-28.
  7. ^ a b Winger, Richard (2009-10-19). "Whig Party Says it will Have At Least Three U.S. House Candidates on Florida Ballot in 2010". Ballot Access News. Retrieved 2013-03-28.
  8. ^ a b Winger, Richard (January 8, 2010). "Florida Whig Party Now Has 5 Announced Candidates for U.S. House". Ballot-Access News.
  9. ^ See Florida Whig Party website candidates section
  10. ^ Hatfield, Pat. "Who is Stephen Bacon? DeBaryite wants Mica's seat in Congress". West Volusia Beacon.
  11. ^ "U.S. House Election Results". The Gainesville Sun. Archived from the original on 8 November 2010. Retrieved 8 November 2010.
  12. ^ Munzenrieder, Kyle (November 7, 2008). "Republicans are Bald, Put on your Whigs". Miami New Times.
  13. ^ "The Florida Whig Party". www.floridawhig.com.

External links

See also