# Is it possible for a US party to refuse to let someone run for office under their party banner? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [July 9, 2015, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-for-a-us-party-to-refuse-to-let-someone-run-for-office-under-their-party-banner/724695 "2015-07-09T20:31:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-for-a-us-party-to-refuse-to-let-someone-run-for-office-under-their-party-banner/724695/41 "2015-07-13T21:19:00Z")
REFUSE? No, but there are steps that can be taken to drive unwanted candidates out of a race, or even off a ticket. State and Local Democrats regularly find ways to get crazed followers of Lyndon LaRouche off their ballots. And when the embarrassing pest Abe Hirschfeld managed to win the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor of New York, Mario Cuomo declared war on him, and got him removed. [CUOMO USED HAMMER TO SQUASH GADFLY](http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1986-08-31/news/8603040910_1_cuomo-didn-t-abe-hirschfeld-lieutenant-governor) Now, from a purely practical standpoint, I don’t blame Cuomo at all for wanting to get rid of Abe Hirschfeld, a perennial candidate for something or other. But Cuomo proved himself (not for the first or last time time) a cold, cruel, heartless prick who’d stoop at nothing to get rid of an enemy (and it was mighty easy to get on Mario’s enemies list!). ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-for-a-us-party-to-refuse-to-let-someone-run-for-office-under-their-party-banner/724695/42 "2015-07-13T22:04:46Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > No, but there are steps that can be taken to drive unwanted candidates out of a race, or even off a ticket. Out of the race, yes. Many states have arcane laws governing the preparation of nominating petitions to get on the ballot, and if you put such petitions under scrutiny, many candidates can be disqualified. Eccentric or under-resourced candidates are especially likely to cut corners and submit invalid petitions. Off the ticket, no. Once a candidate is certified for ballot access, it is virtually impossible to dislodge them. In the extreme case, LaRouche followers won nomination for Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of State when Illinois Democrats went to sleep in 1986. There was nothing the party could do about it, after the fact. They had to run their own alternatives as Independents. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-for-a-us-party-to-refuse-to-let-someone-run-for-office-under-their-party-banner/724695/43 "2015-07-13T22:51:19Z")
> [@Haberdash](#): > > Trump isn’t going to win anything, by the way – his candidacy is propped up by Democratic editorialists who like making fun of the most mockable Republican on the scene. He doesn’t have any real supporters and none of the above is going to happen. But that’s how it would play out if it did. Keep whining about the liberal media. I like that. Meanwhile back in reality [Fox News gave Donald Trump more airtime than any other GOP Presidential candidate](http://mediamatters.org/blog/2015/07/06/the-fox-news-primary-for-june-donald-trump-take/204252) in both the June and May-June period. Polls among GOP primary goers put him in 1st or 2nd place. But no, Trump isn’t going anywhere except to the Republican nomination debates: [his net GOP favorability ratings are awful](http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/why-donald-trump-isnt-a-real-candidate-in-one-chart/). ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2015, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-for-a-us-party-to-refuse-to-let-someone-run-for-office-under-their-party-banner/724695/44 "2015-07-14T00:52:35Z")
You may remember the story of [Todd Akin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Todd_Akin), who won Missouri’s Republican Senate primary and then made a comment about how women who were “legitimate victims” of rape didn’t get pregnant. This embarrassed the national Republican leadership, including Mitch McConnell, Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John Cornyn, Orrin Hatch, Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, and Mitt Romney, all of whom publicly called on Akin to quit the race. He didn’t and they couldn’t force him to. ---
**Author:** ![Haberdash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Haberdash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Haberdash)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2015, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-for-a-us-party-to-refuse-to-let-someone-run-for-office-under-their-party-banner/724695/45 "2015-07-14T02:50:09Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > Keep whining about the liberal media. I like that. > > Meanwhile back in reality [Fox News gave Donald Trump more airtime than any other GOP Presidential candidate](http://mediamatters.org/blog/2015/07/06/the-fox-news-primary-for-june-donald-trump-take/204252) in both the June and May-June period. Polls among GOP primary goers put him in 1st or 2nd place. But no, Trump isn’t going anywhere except to the Republican nomination debates: [his net GOP favorability ratings are awful](http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/why-donald-trump-isnt-a-real-candidate-in-one-chart/). Keep quoting things that no one is saying, and let’s revisit this post in a year when the nominee is decided. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2015, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-for-a-us-party-to-refuse-to-let-someone-run-for-office-under-their-party-banner/724695/46 "2015-07-14T05:06:37Z")
> [@Haberdash](#): > > … let’s revisit this post in a year when the nominee is decided. 😕 We both agree that Trump won’t be nominated. I would give 10:1 on that sort of bet, if there was an easy way of doing so. I was just correcting the factual record: Trump has been getting extensive and sometimes fawning coverage in the conservative media. Limbaugh. Fox News. Are you saying that you don’t think he will be in the top tier Fox News debate this fall? I think he will. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2015, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-for-a-us-party-to-refuse-to-let-someone-run-for-office-under-their-party-banner/724695/47 "2015-07-14T12:29:22Z")
There has been at least one case recently where a candidate espousing Lyndon Larouche’s beliefs has won the nomination for a Democratic state-wide office. It was a case where the Republican candidate was likely to win anyway. The state Democratic committee couldn’t take this person off the ballot, but they could announce that they didn’t support the candidate themselves. (I hope that I’m remembering the details right.) ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2015, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-for-a-us-party-to-refuse-to-let-someone-run-for-office-under-their-party-banner/724695/48 "2015-07-14T14:41:35Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > Keep whining about the liberal media. I like that. That sounds like something George “Clinton Foundation stooge” Stephanopoulos and Paul “I get my news/PR releases directly from the White House” Begala would say. ---
**Author:** ![Haberdash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Haberdash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Haberdash)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2015, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-for-a-us-party-to-refuse-to-let-someone-run-for-office-under-their-party-banner/724695/49 "2015-07-14T17:11:10Z")
No. There are no Clinton or Sanders-supporting Democrats on the editorial shows or writing opinion pieces anywhere.\*\* Measure for Measure\*\* has made it clear that even acknowledging the existence of Democrats in the opinion space is a conspiracy theory about the “liberal media.” Who are we to disagree? ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2015, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-for-a-us-party-to-refuse-to-let-someone-run-for-office-under-their-party-banner/724695/50 "2015-07-14T17:28:37Z")
> [@Haberdash](#): > > …Who are we to disagree? (post shortened) Who is this “we” that you’re referring to? ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2015, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-for-a-us-party-to-refuse-to-let-someone-run-for-office-under-their-party-banner/724695/51 "2015-07-14T17:48:19Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > There has been at least one case recently where a candidate espousing Lyndon Larouche’s beliefs has won the nomination for a Democratic state-wide office. It was a case where the Republican candidate was likely to win anyway. The state Democratic committee couldn’t take this person off the ballot, but they could announce that they didn’t support the candidate themselves. (I hope that I’m remembering the details right.) It wasn’t “recent”, but this happened in 1986 in Illinois, where two LaRouche supporters managed to win the Democratic nominations for Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of State in Illinois. (Note that, in Illinois, the Secretary of State is a very powerful office.) It led to the Democratic nominee for governor to run on a third-party ticket, where he lost (despite apparently having been favored in the race). See the second paragraph here: [LaRouche movement - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LaRouche_movement#Political_activities) ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2015, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-for-a-us-party-to-refuse-to-let-someone-run-for-office-under-their-party-banner/724695/52 "2015-07-14T18:07:59Z")
Haberdash moves from this characterization: > [@Haberdash](#): > > Trump isn’t going to win anything, by the way – his candidacy is propped up by Democratic editorialists who like making fun of the most mockable Republican on the scene. He doesn’t have any real supporters… which combines unsubstantiated claims (candidacy propped up…) with delusional ones (has no real supporters). I provide facts: > [@Measure for Measure](#): > > [Fox News gave Donald Trump more airtime than any other GOP Presidential candidate](http://mediamatters.org/blog/2015/07/06/the-fox-news-primary-for-june-donald-trump-take/204252) …and Hab has a meltdown: > [@Haberdash](#): > > No. There are no Clinton or Sanders-supporting Democrats on the editorial shows or writing opinion pieces anywhere.\*\* Measure for Measure\*\* has made it clear that even acknowledging the existence of Democrats in the opinion space is a conspiracy theory about the “liberal media.” Who are we to disagree? Where did I deny the existence of liberal editorialists? They exist at the New Republic, Mother Jones et al after all. I just _substantiated_ that Trump gets _tons_ of conservative airplay. Hab didn’t like the argument provided, so he substituted one more to his liking. Comedy Gold. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2015, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-for-a-us-party-to-refuse-to-let-someone-run-for-office-under-their-party-banner/724695/53 "2015-07-15T00:08:51Z")
kenobi 65, I note that the link you give gives another more recent case, although the details are different. A Larouche supporter won the Democratic nomination in 2010 and 2012 for U.S. Representative and was disavowed by the state Democratic party. I probably confused the case you talked about with the one I just mentioned. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-for-a-us-party-to-refuse-to-let-someone-run-for-office-under-their-party-banner/724695.md?page=2)