{news} (Waterbury Republican American) "3rd party hopefuls feel they have role"

[Tim McKee]

http://www.rep-am.com/story.php?id=6810 3rd party hopefuls feel they have role Many feel they influence legislation

Sunday, September 19, 2004 
By Marrecca Fiore 

Copyright © 2004 Republican-American 
So far this campaign season, 29 residents of Litchfield County, Greater Waterbury and the Naugatuck Valley are running on third party lines for state and local offices, according to the latest statistics from the Secretary of State's office. In Waterbury alone, nine residents are seeking seats in the state House of Representatives. 
The candidates represent a number of parties including the Reform Party, the Libertarian Party, the Green Party, Working Families, Concerned Citizens and the Independent American Party. They also represent the latest trend in politics: Third-party candidates may never be part of the mainstream, but they keep running, and try to grow in number, in an effort to keep Republicans and Democrats from ignoring issues independent voters want discussed. 
"I really do believe it was Ross Perot who forced President Clinton to resolve the budget deficit," said Gary Rose, chairman of the political science and history department at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield. "And there have been a lot of other victories for labor, consumer protection, and other issues that were forced by third parties." 
Third-party candidates focus on the issues and most don't expect to win, Rose said. That fits Wildey Moore of Warren, who is challenging U.S. Rep. Nancy Johnson, R-5th, for her seat. 
A self-proclaimed "masochist," this is the fifth time Moore, who's running on the Concerned Citizens ticket, has run for office. He's lost every time. "I don't believe in quitting," said Moore, 67. "I think you should get up every morning and do the best you can do. I don't believe in sitting around doing nothing." 
Locally, third parties have made gains in recent years. Six of Waterbury's Board of Alderman members are Independents. The Working Families party is running 50 candidates for state and local offices this year and has several members already serving on local boards. The Green Party has four members serving in local government and state-wide and is running about 19 candidates in the upcoming election. Of the just under 200 races statewide, third-party candidates are running in about half of them. 
"We have 205 people elected across the country, four in Connecticut," said the state's Green Party spokesman Tim McKee. "We are starting to make tremendous differences and I think we'll continue to make progress." 
Third party movements can be traced back to 1801 to the Tertium Quids, which translates to "a third something," which expressed opposition to the country's then-major parties, the Federalists and Democrat-Republicans. Minor parties gained notoriety in recent years through the likes of Ross Perot, who in 1992 captured an unprecedented 19 percent of the popular vote in the presidential election as a Reform Party candidate, and Winsted native Ralph Nader, who has made several runs for president on third-party tickets. 
But third-party candidates don't tend to have enough money to get their messages out, and election laws make it a challenge to get on ballots.In Connecticut, new minor parties must petition, gathering several hundred signatures to get each of their candidates on the ballot. After each signature is verified and they get on the ballot, the candidates have to capture 1 percent of the votes cast in that election in order to qualify to nominate candidates in the next election cycle. If they fail to secure the 1 percent, they have to go through the petitioning process all over again, said Larry Perosino, spokesman for the Secretary of State's office. 
"Those laws are purposely made by Democrats and Republicans to squash the opposition. It's a lot of work and a lot of expense and even if you get the signatures, it doesn't guarantee you get on the ballot," the Green Party's McKee said. 
Concerned Citizens has gone through the petitioning process and secured the 1 percent vote needed in the last election cycle, so now the party is eligible to nominate candidates for certain offices just like Democrats and Republicans, said Joseph Zdonczyk, the party's chairman and a candidate for state representative in the 80th District. 
But Zdonczyk still isn't satisfied. "We had to gather 7,500 signatures to get (Maryland resident and presidential candidate Michael) Peroutka on the ballot here in Connecticut," Zdonczyk said. "We succeeded. But other states have failed. So what they're doing is stealing votes. People who considered voting for Mr. Peroutka (in some other states) are being denied the right to do so. That's criminal. When people are denied the right to vote, it's like living in a Third World country. The most precious right we have is the right to vote." 
Working Families is aware of the challenges facing third parties, and in some cases run their own candidates, but often simply cross endorses a candidate running on the Democrat or Republican ticket, said state director Jon Green. 
"We want to give low and moderate income families a stronger voice in politics," he said. "We do that all year by fighting for issues that matter to families, whether it's lobbying at the Capitol to raise the minimum wage or fighting for a living wage on the local level. And, at election time, a lot of times that means voting for the Democrat or Republican that supports those issues without the stigma of wasting a vote." 





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