In the United States, theConservative Party refers to a collection of state-level parties that operate independently and advocate for conservative principles. Currently, there is no national Conservative Party.[1] Historically, many of these parties emerged from divisions within theDemocratic andRepublican parties, supporting a variety of conservative ideologies, includingfiscal conservatism,social conservatism,states' rights, andnationalism.
Although there has not been a national Conservative Party, the Republican Party currently follows the conservative ideology, with third partiesConstitution Party andAmerican Independent Party following thePaleoconservatism ideology. In the late 1960s, the American Independent Party was rebranded as the American Conservative Party in some states. A separate American Conservative Party was later established in 2008 but was decommissioned in 2016. Meanwhile, the Conservative Party USA was organized on January 6, 2009, as a527 organization aimed at building and managing state party affiliates under the national Conservative Party USA banner.[citation needed]
In the1838 and1839 Connecticut gubernatorial elections,Elisha Phelps, a formerSpeaker of the Connecticut House of Representatives, ran as the Conservative Party candidate. He received 2.96% of the popular vote in 1838 and 2.09% in 1839. In the1842, Luther Loomis ran as the Conservative Party candidate, garnering 1.20% of the popular vote.[citation needed]
In the late 19th century, a new Conservative Party of Virginia formed to opposeReconstruction, uniting former Democrats, Whigs, and moderate Republicans. Led byAlexander H. H. Stuart and Raleigh T. Daniel, the party won majorities in theVirginia General Assembly in 1869. Though divided on black suffrage, the party supported economic reforms and established a segregated public school system. However, internal divisions over state debt repayment led to the formation of theReadjuster Party, which ultimately defeated the Conservatives. By 1883, most members of the Conservative Party merged with the Democratic Party.[citation needed]
In theReconstruction era after the Civil War, formerWhigs in several Southern states formed parties with the "Conservative" or "Democratic-Conservative" name. Eventually they all merged into the Democratic Party.[2][3]
.jpg)
In 1874, the Conservative Party ofSouth Carolina was established byJames Chesnut Jr. to mobilize white voters, as theSouth Carolina Democratic Party was inactive statewide. A convention of the State Tax Union was convened in Columbia on September 10 to prepare for the upcoming election and addressPresidentUlysses S. Grant's comments on theKu Klux Klan. Another convention on October 8 endorsed theIndependent Republican ticket with a platform focused on honesty in government.[4]
Although the Independent Republican candidates were defeated in the general election, the Conservatives reduced Republican majorities in the legislature and saw some local success through collaboration with Independent Republicans. This cooperation enabled the election ofEdmund W. M. Mackey to Congress from for the2nd district.[5] Despite these limited gains, the failure of the Conservative Party in 1874 pushed the Democrats to reorganize, leading to their resurgence in the 1876 elections, which ultimately marked the end of the Conservative Party in South Carolina.
After the collapse of the Whigs and then of the Know-Nothings, and the disruptions to politics caused by the start of the Civil War, some former Whigs and some former Unionist Democrats in North Carolina formed a loose coalition called the Conservative Party. The name continued to be used after the war for a coalition of those who opposed the Reconstruction policies of the Republican-led U.S. Congress. In 1876, the party re-branded itself as the Democratic Party.[6] Both during the Civil War and afterwards, the leading public figure in the Conservative Party was GovernorZebulon B. Vance.[7]
In 2009, a Conservative Party ofDelaware had a website with a mailing address inBaton 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 theLibertarian Party of Delaware, took the opportunity to reorganize the party. In the same year, the party nominated perennial candidateVermin Supreme and comedian Jonathan Realz for President and Vice President of the United States, while endorsing Jon Roe for the2024 Delaware Senate election.[8][9]
In 2018, Illinois State SenatorSam McCann left the Republican Party to establish the Conservative Party ofIllinois for his gubernatorial campaign.[10] Positioning himself as an "independent conservative," he explained that his candidacy aimed to prevent "two billionaires from Chicago" (Bruce Rauner andJ. B. Pritzker) from dominating the general election.[11] McCann secured his spot on the ballot by gathering 65,000 signatures but ultimately finished third in thegeneral election, receiving 4.23% of the popular vote.[12][13]
In 1963, several candidates ran as Conservatives for theNew Jersey Assembly inEssex andBergen counties, reflecting a nationwide split within the Republican Party. This divide saw northeastern states, includingNew Jersey, dominated by the party's liberal faction. These Conservative candidates opposed the social liberal policies of theDwight D. Eisenhoweradministration, advocating instead for the emerging socially conservative views championed byU.S. SenatorBarry Goldwater. The split subsided after Goldwater secured the Republican nomination during the1964 National Convention.
In 1992, a separate New Jersey Conservative Party was founded by Tom Blomquist, who had previously run in the1989 gubernatorial election. Blomquist ran as a Conservative in the1993 gubernatorial race, earning 0.21% of the vote.[14][15] The party gained the endorsement ofUnited We Stand America in 1995 and fielded approximately 60 candidates for theNew Jersey General Assembly, as well as candidates in all districts for the1998 U.S. House of Representatives elections.[16][17] In 2001, it was involved in a lawsuit advocating for New Jersey voters to have the right to join third parties. Following the election ofDonald Trump in 2016, third-party registrations surged across New Jersey, with the Conservative Party becoming the state's fourth-largest political party by 2018.[18]
In 1962, theConservative Party of New York State was established in response to dissatisfaction with the perceived liberalism ofNew York'sRepublican Party. UsingNew 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 theLiberal Party of New York.[19] While it often endorses Republican candidates, the party has withheld support from Republicans it considers too liberal.
In 1965, conservative author and commentatorWilliam F. Buckley Jr. ran forMayor of New York City, securing 13.4% of the vote.[20] The following year, academicPaul L. Adams ran forGovernor of New York, earning 8.5% of the vote.[21] In 1968, William F. Buckley Jr.'s brother,James L. Buckley, ran forU.S. Senate, garnering 17.31% of the vote.[22] James would later win a seat in the U.S. Senate in1970, gaining a 38.75% plurality as the Conservative Party candidate.[23] In1978,William Carney was elected as a Conservative to theU.S. House of Representatives.[24]
The party been described byThe 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."[25] 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.
In 1965, a new Conservative Party of Virginia was formed in response toMills Godwin's nomination as the Democratic candidate for governor, which the party opposed due to his outreach to African-American voters.[26] 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.[27][28] In 1969, the party nominated Beverly McDowell for governor, but he placed fourth in the election, receiving 1.16% of the popular vote.[29]
In 1966,Floyd Paxton and other ultra-conservatives founded the Conservative Party ofWashington, nominating two candidates for theU.S. House of Representatives and seven for theWashington State Legislature.[30][31] The party attracted disaffected Republicans critical ofGovernorDaniel J. Evans and his allies.[32] Though some party leaders supportedGeorge Wallace’s1968 presidential bid, they ultimately ran under theAmerican Independent Party instead of the Conservative Party.[33][34] In 1968, the party fielded candidates for state offices and Congress under the Constitution Party label, but neither label appeared in the 1970 election.[citation needed]
