1998 Election Summary

Natural Law Party Candidates Win 1.2 Million Votes, High Percentages Nationwide

The results of the 1998 election clearly show the Natural Law Party's growing political power in America. They show rising popular support for our message and also reflect the media's increasing respect and coverage.

Despite the lowest voter turnout (37%) since 1942, the Party's 142 candidates in 24 states won more than 1.2 million votes nationwide--many more votes, proportionally, than in 1996. Our candidates also received a higher percentage of the vote (more than 3%) than in 1996, with many candidates pulling over 10%. Some candidates came within reach of victory, with percentages approaching 30%. (For detailed election results, see our web site at http://www.natural-law.org.)

These votes were sufficient in many states to win automatic ballot access for the year 2000. Thanks to Carlos Aguirre's 157,000 votes for Treasurer of California, for example, access to the California ballot for 2000 is ensured. (This is no small achievement! The Reform Party and the Peace and Freedom Party lost ballot access in California due to insufficient votes.)

Other top vote getters included Barbara Bourdette (Insurance Commissioner, California, 116,700), Jane Bialosky (Secretary of State, California, 92,900), Ann Rappaport (Board of Regents, Michigan, 82,500), and Zanna Feitler (Governor, Ohio, 64,100).

Some of our candidates won extremely high percentages. Leading the pack were Anne Markle (Montana State House, 28.5%), Rebecca Scott (Montana State House, 24%), Nat Adam (California State House, 23%), Richard G. Thayne (Utah State House, 14%), and Dale Friedgen (Massachusetts State House, 13%).

Even in highly competitive federal races, our candidates did well. Sharon Miles, our Southern California coordinator, won 13% of the vote (20,300) in her bid for U.S. Congress in California's 48th District, and Adrienne Pelton pulled 10% (13,300) in California's 52nd District.

Also, in many races, Natural Law Party candidates received more votes than the difference between the vote totals for the Republican and Democratic candidates, thereby shaping both the outcome of the race and the margin of victory.

NLP Votes Make Headlines

For many newspapers, the big news of the election was not the Republican electoral "defeat" but that third parties, especially the Natural Law Party, did so well. The November 9 banner headline of the Ottumwa Courier (Iowa) read, "Natural Law Party Gets Votes." The article cited 95,000 Natural Law Party votes in Iowa.

Four states deserve recognition for especially successful and well-organized campaigns. California's 44 candidates, under the leadership of John Black, Judy Black, Sharon Miles, Barbara Bourdette, and Valerie Janlois, led the nation with 630,000 votes. Michigan's 20 candidates, with the leadership of Chris Wege, Brian and Lynnea Ellison, Wendy Conway, and Fred Rosenberg, won 190,000 votes. In Iowa, a strong slate of 12 candidates, chaired by Ed Malloy, drew 95,000 votes. And in Ohio, Zanna Feitler's leadership of 5 candidates in her hugely successful gubernatorial campaign, which won repeated national C-SPAN coverage, generated 75,000 votes statewide.

U.S. Results Inspire Natural Law Parties Worldwide

Immediately following the election, Drs. Hagelin and Tompkins, Kingsley Brooks, and Dr. Harold Bloomfield, our California gubernatorial candidate, traveled to India and Holland to spread the news of the growing support for the Party in the U.S. Leading authorities and members of the Parliament of India met with the U.S. delegation to plan for the growth of India's Natural Law Party, known as the Ajeya Bharat Party. The former Minister of Higher Education of Madhya Pradesh, Mr. Mukesh Nayak, has resigned from the Congress–I Party to become the leader of the Ajeya Bharat Party and its candidate for Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh. Elections will be under way soon.

Building On Our Momentum

This 1998 election has shown that Americans are ready for new ideas, new solutions, and new leadership for the 21st century. We need to get the Natural Law Party's message out to the millions of Americans who did not vote in 1998 and who no longer feel they have a reason to vote.

Our Year 2000 campaign begins today, with the goal of at least 1000 candidates on the ballot in all 50 states. With automatic ballot access won in many of the toughest states, and with a core of outstanding, successful, seasoned candidates from our 1998 campaign, this ambitious goal is well within reach. 2000 is our year! Please help us transform America in 2000 by supporting the Natural Law Party in every way you can!