Could an Independent candidate become Governor

Published March 29, 2014

by Tom Campbell, Executive Producer and Moderator, NC SPIN, March 29, 2014.

A good friend responded that even without the formality of a third political party Independent candidates can and are being elected to public office in North Carolina. We have one in the legislature, but the best example can be found in the Capital City.

Mayor Nancy McFarlane ran and was elected as an Independent candidate, proving that voters will respond when a legitimate candidate with a sound platform presents herself for election. This should be encouraging to any who are considering running for office as an unaffiliated.

But could an independent candidate ever win a statewide office?

Being Mayor of a large city like Raleigh is often considered a leg-up to higher office. If you look at their resumes many of our legislators and Council of State members started in local politics and McFarlane has already proved herself capable of winning in North Carolina’s second largest city. In fact, political consultant Gary Pearce, in his Talking About Politics blog recently suggested McFarlane would be an attractive candidate for governor.

There is good news and bad news about running as an independent. The 2013 session of The General Assembly abolished straight ticket voting so voters must now consider all candidates on the ballot before casting their vote. Independent candidates also don’t have to endure the expensive and sometimes brutal primary contests many Republicans or Democrats often have to face. And with 26 percent of all registered voters identifying themselves as “unaffiliated” the playing field is becoming more level every day.

But the bad news is that an independent candidate must secure signatures on a petition from a certain number of registered voters in order to gain ballot access. Our legislature, controlled by Democrats for years and now by Republicans, has made it about as difficult as any state in the union for third parties or independent candidates to get on the ballot.

Our legislators are running for re-election in November. Get them to pledge they will lower the threshold on the number of signatures needed for independents to gain ballot access. See how they respond to you. That’s a fight worth fighting.

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