Cornel West forms new political party — and plans to be on Florida ballot in November
02 February 2024
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Academic, author and independent presidential candidate Cornel West announced this week that he has formed a new political party called the Justice for All Party that is working to get on the presidential ballot this fall in Florida.
“Currently, our focus is on the states of North Carolina, Florida, Washington,” West said in a press release. “This initiative is a strategic and community-driven effort to extend our reach and impact across the nation.”
A spokesperson for West said that Florida is a key state for his presidential campaign in part because of the “streamlined process it offers for third-party creation.”
According to Florida statute 103.021, there are two ways a presidential ticket from a minor political party can get on the ballot. One is to get a petition signed by 1 percent of the registered voters from the last general election. Another way is by being affiliated with a national party holding a national convention to nominate candidates for President and Vice President of the United States.
“This eliminates the need for gathering over 145,040 signatures, a requirement for independent candidates, and allows us to establish the Justice for All party through a nominating convention,” said West spokesperson Edwin DeJesus. “This strategic advantage makes Florida an ideal starting point for our campaign.”
DeJesus says that the Justice for All Party will hold a national convention later this year but hasn’t yet finalized a date.
West, 70, announced last summer that he would run for president on the Green Party ticket, which already has ballot access in Florida. But he reversed course last October and said that he was dropping his bid for the Greens nomination and instead would run as a political independent.
West is among several high-profile candidates who say that they will compete for the presidential ticket as either an independent or member of a minor political party. Others include Robert F. Kennedy Jr., 2016 Green Party candidate Jill Stein and possibly West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin on the centrist-oriented No Labels ticket, which also is already on the ballot in Florida.
The West campaign rejects the notion that they will act as a “spoiler” for Democratic President Joe Biden, who in some recent polls has shown some erosion with parts of the Democratic base, specifically younger people who are unhappy in particular with his handling of the Israeli-Hamas conflict in Gaza.
A New York Times/Sienna poll conducted in December showed that nearly three quarters of voters between the ages of 18-29 said that they disapproved of the way that Biden had dealt with the situation in Gaza. Among registered voters, they say they would vote for Donald Trump by 49 percent to 43 percent — in July, those young voters backed Mr. Biden by 10 percentage points.
Though there hasn’t much current polling in Florida, a Florida Atlantic University survey taken last November showed Trump leading Biden in Florida by 10 percentage points, 49%-39%.
“The current dissatisfaction with the Biden administration among Floridians, particularly concerning inflation and government censorship, highlights a demand for alternative voices, ” DeJesus told the Phoenix. “Our campaign aims to fulfill this demand, advocating for policies that resonate with a broad spectrum of voters. The real spoiler, we believe, is the continuation of a political system that limits choice and suppresses diverse voices.”
As an independent candidate working with other minor political parties, West has already qualified for the ballot in Alaska and Oregon.
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