Delaware In 2009, a Conservative Party of
Delaware had a website with a mailing address in
Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It was affiliated with the Conservative Party USA and had no formal leadership. In 2024, the party achieved official recognition after Delaware residents registered as Conservative and met the state’s qualification threshold. Libertarian activist Will McVay, formerly of the
Libertarian Party of Delaware, took the opportunity to reorganize the party. In the same year, the party nominated perennial candidate
Vermin Supreme and comedian Jonathan Realz for President and Vice President of the United States, while endorsing Jon Roe for the
2024 Delaware Senate election.
Illinois In 2018, Illinois State Senator
Sam McCann left the Republican Party to establish the Conservative Party of
Illinois for his gubernatorial campaign. Positioning himself as an "independent conservative," he explained that his candidacy aimed to prevent "two billionaires from Chicago" (
Bruce Rauner and
J. B. Pritzker) from dominating the general election. McCann secured his spot on the ballot by gathering 65,000 signatures but ultimately finished third in the
general election, receiving 4.23% of the popular vote.
New Jersey In 1963, several candidates ran as Conservatives for the
New Jersey Assembly in
Essex and
Bergen counties, reflecting a nationwide split within the Republican Party. This divide saw northeastern states, including
New Jersey, dominated by the party's liberal faction. These Conservative candidates opposed the social liberal policies of the
Dwight D. Eisenhower administration, advocating instead for the emerging socially conservative views championed by
U.S. Senator Barry Goldwater. The split subsided after Goldwater secured the Republican nomination during the
1964 National Convention. In 1992, a separate New Jersey Conservative Party was founded by Tom Blomquist, who had previously run in the
1989 gubernatorial election. Blomquist ran as a Conservative in the
1993 gubernatorial race, earning 0.21% of the vote. The party gained the endorsement of
United We Stand America in 1995 and fielded approximately 60 candidates for the
New Jersey General Assembly, as well as candidates in all districts for the
1998 U.S. House of Representatives elections. In 2001, it was involved in a lawsuit advocating for New Jersey voters to have the right to join third parties. Following the election of
Donald Trump in 2016, third-party registrations surged across New Jersey, with the Conservative Party becoming the state's fourth-largest political party by 2018.
New York accepting the
Conservative Party's nomination for President in 2016. In 1962, the
Conservative Party of New York State was established in response to dissatisfaction with the perceived liberalism of
New York's
Republican Party. Using
New York's fusion voting system, which allows candidates to appear on multiple party lines in the same election, the party sought to counterbalance the influence of the
Liberal Party of New York. While it often endorses Republican candidates, the party has withheld support from Republicans it considers too liberal. In 1965, conservative author and commentator
William F. Buckley Jr. ran for
Mayor of New York City, securing 13.4% of the vote. The following year, academic
Paul L. Adams ran for
Governor of New York, earning 8.5% of the vote. In 1968, William F. Buckley Jr.'s brother,
James L. Buckley, ran for
U.S. Senate, garnering 17.31% of the vote. James would later win a seat in the U.S. Senate in
1970, gaining a 38.75% plurality as the Conservative Party candidate. In
1978,
William Carney was elected as a Conservative to the
U.S. House of Representatives. The party been described by
The New York Times as having "a successful electoral record in a decidedly blue state in which the Conservatives have elbowed the Republican Party to the right." As of 2018, the party holds Row C on New York ballots due to receiving the third-highest number of votes among political parties in multiple gubernatorial elections.
Virginia In 1965, a new Conservative Party of Virginia was formed in response to
Mills Godwin's nomination as the Democratic candidate for governor, which the party opposed due to his outreach to African-American voters. Around 300 delegates gathered in Richmond, Virginia, to officially establish the party. They nominated William J. Story Jr., the assistant superintendent of schools from Chesapeake, for governor, Reid T. Putney, a forestry consultant from Goochland, for lieutenant governor, and John W. Carter for attorney general. In 1969, the party nominated Beverly McDowell for governor, but he placed fourth in the election, receiving 1.16% of the popular vote.
Washington In 1966,
Floyd Paxton and other ultra-conservatives founded the Conservative Party of
Washington, nominating two candidates for the
U.S. House of Representatives and seven for the
Washington State Legislature. The party attracted disaffected Republicans critical of
Governor Daniel J. Evans and his allies. Though some party leaders supported
George Wallace’s
1968 presidential bid, they ultimately ran under the
American Independent Party instead of the Conservative Party. In 1968, the party fielded candidates for state offices and Congress under the Constitution Party label, but neither label appeared in the 1970 election. == See also ==