 | |
| Campaign | 2016 United States presidential election |
|---|---|
| Candidate |
|
| Affiliation | Constitution Party |
| Headquarters | Germantown, Tennessee |
| Receipts | US$72,264[1] |
| Slogan(s) | Preserve Protect Defend The Constitution |
| Website | |
| castle2016.com | |
The2016 presidential campaign of Darrell Castle of the Constitution Party began on the eve of theConstitution Party National Convention in April 2016.[2] On April 16, the Constitution Party nominated Castle on the first ballot, after he won 184 votes out of the 339.5 cast to win the nomination with 54.19%. His running mate, Scott Bradley, was nominated by voice vote.[3]
In his acceptance speech, Castle stated;
Today I want to speak to you in defense of liberty and against tyranny. I speak for the republic and against the fascism that seems to be enveloping us. The general government was created by the sovereign states for a specific purpose; that purpose was to protect our God-given rights. Anything that runs afoul of that purpose is therefore illegal and unconstitutional. And since virtually everything this government does runs afoul of that purpose, virtually everything it does is illegal and unconstitutional.[4]
Six days after the convention, he formally filed with theFederal Election Commission (FEC).
The Constitution Party ofIdaho nominated Scott Copeland ofTexas for president and J.R. Myers ofAlaska for vice president in 2016 instead of Castle and Bradley, who were put on the ballot with no party affiliation. The Copeland-Myers ticket received 2,381 votes in Idaho to 4,403 votes cast for Castle.[5][6]
On Election Day, Castle finished with 172,570 votes to finish in 6th place, with just under 300,000 votes less thanEvan McMullin's campaign. They did however gain 50,000 more votes than the previous Constitution Party ticket (Goode/Clymer) four years prior, with their 0.15% being better than the previous campaign's 0.09% of the vote.[7]
Castle attended Ketron High School inMemphis, Tennessee and graduated fromTennessee State University in 1970. During theVietnam War, he served in theUnited States Marine Corps before going on to obtain aJuris Doctor fromMemphis State University (which is now called the University of Memphis).[8] Castle was a commissioned officer in theU.S. Marine Corps for four years. He graduated fromTennessee State University andMemphis State University. By 1984, he opened his ownlaw firm, Darrell Castle & Associates, which is still operational.[8][9] The firm operates inbankruptcy,personal injury,social security disability,workers' compensation, andnursing home abuse.[10] Recently in 2022, the firm would take part in a children's mental health lawsuit.[11]
In 1998, Castle and his wife founded theMia’s Children Foundation, aChristian organization inRomania aiding homelessRomani children.[12] Castle's daughter, Joanna Castle Miller, attendedNew York University and is a comedy writer based inLos Angeles.[13] She produced aYouTube documentary series on her father's campaign.[13]
Castle was one of five original founders of the Constitution Party in 1992, which was created to support the candidacy ofHoward Phillips.[14][12] Castle has held many positions in theConstitution Party such as vice-chairman and the Chairman of the Platform Committee. He was also one of the original founders of the party.[15][14]
In the 2008 election Darrell Castle was selected[16] as the vice-presidential (VP) nominee on theChuck Baldwincampaign in 2008 after winning the Vice-Presidential vote by 75.8%.[17] After losing the Constitution Party nomination toVirgil Goode four years later and receiving only 30% of the votes, Castle became the nominee the following cycle.[18] Castle was the second VP nominee from the Party to later run as the Presidential nominee, the first since 2008.
Scott Bradley was Constitution Party nominee for United States Senator from Utah in2006 and2010.
Despite not appearing on any primary ballots, the Constitution Party nominated Castle at their nominating convention inSalt Lake City, Utah.[19][20] He defeated Scott Copeland ofTexas andTom Hoefling ofNebraska.[19]
He was named byThe Collegian as an alternative toLibertarian nomineeGary Johnson.[21] Polls showed Castle reaching 0.9% of the vote.[22]
Joanna Castle Miller, daughter of Darrell Castle, produced aYouTube documentary about her father's campaign.[23]
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The campaign had ballot access in Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada (as the Independent American Party of Nevada), New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, with write-in status in Alabama, Delaware, Georgia, Indiana, Maine, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, Texas, and Vermont. The campaign attempted and gained write-in status in Arizona, California, Connecticut, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.[24]
The campaign's main objective was to adhere to theUnited States Constitution, citing it as a "charter of liberty for the American Republic".[8]
Castle advocates for the end of theFederal Reserve by repealing theFederal Reserve Act and letting lenders and borrowers set interest rates instead, adding that banks would no longer depend on the Reserve to lend them money in an emergency. He also advocates the U.S. Treasury to accept any major currency such asbitcoin andgold.[8]
Castle believes in the United States withdrawing from theUnited Nations in order to regain sovereignty, freedom, and independence, citing the U.N. as a "church of unbelieving humanism" that is in "direct opposition to the ideas of America" and "an affront to liberty and human dignity".[8] He also supports getting out ofNATO,North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA),Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP),Dominican Republic–Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR),General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), and theWorld Trade Organization (WTO).[25]
Castle asserted that he is the only candidate in any party to be 100% opposed to abortion rights, stating that unborn persons have rights to live in part due to the5th Amendment and14th Amendment. He supports vetoing any attempt to spend money to fundPlanned Parenthood and other abortion providers along with taking away the power of theSupreme Court to preside over the matter via recommendation and collaboration withCongress.[8]
Like the party's platform, the campaign is opposed togun control of any kind.[26] They also oppose any attempt to go to war without adeclaration of war by Congress underArticle I, Section 8 of the Constitution.[27] The platform also rejectsletting women train or participate in combat due to the practices of dual qualification standards and forced integration undermining the "integrity, morale, performance" of the military organizations.[28]
Citing the10th Amendment, the campaign supports the right of parents to provide for the education of their children, opposing any federal involvement in education.[29][30]
Castle advocates for the replacement of the current tax system with a "tariff based revenue system supplemented by excise taxes", along with repealing the16th Amendment and abolishing theInternal Revenue Service.[31]
CitingJames Madison, the platform and campaign favor a moratorium on immigration to the United States until proper security procedures and the discontinuation of all federal subsidies and assistance, except under extreme circumstances. They also reject giving citizenship to children of immigrants born in the country, extension of amnesty and bilingual ballots along with supporting English as the official language for all government business.[32]
Five-way race
| Poll source | Date administered | Democrat | % | Republican | % | Libertarian | % | IAPN | % | Unaffiliated | % | Lead margin | Sample size | Margin of error |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Suffolk University[33] | September 27–29, 2016 | Hillary Clinton | 44% | Donald Trump | 38% | Gary Johnson | 7% | Darrell Castle | 1% | Rocky De La Fuente | 1% | 6 | 500 | ± 4.4% |
| Suffolk[34] | August 15–17, 2016 | Hillary Clinton | 43.8% | Donald Trump | 41.6% | Gary Johnson | 4.8% | Darrell Castle | 1% | Rocky De La Fuente | 1% | 2.2 | 500 | ± 4.4% |
Four-way race
| Poll source | Date administered | Democrat | % | Republican | % | Libertarian | % | Other candidate | % | Lead margin | Sample size | Margin of error |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nielson Brothers Polling[35] | October 24–26, 2016 | Hillary Clinton | 35% | Donald Trump | 49% | Gary Johnson | 7% | Darrell Castle | 1% | 14 | 600 | 4% |
| Remington Research Group[36] | October 19–21, 2016 | Hillary Clinton | 37% | Donald Trump | 48% | Gary Johnson | 6% | Darrell Castle | 2% | 11 | 1,115 | 2.93% |
Six-way race
| Poll source | Date administered | Democrat | % | Republican | % | Libertarian | % | Green | % | Constitution | % | Independent | % | Lead margin | Sample size | Margin of error |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dan Jones & Associates[37] | September 1–9, 2016 | Hillary Clinton | 24% | Donald Trump | 39% | Gary Johnson | 13% | Jill Stein | 0% | Darrell Castle | 2% | Evan McMullin | 9% | 15 | 605 | ± 3.98% |
| Public Policy Polling[38] | August 19–21, 2016 | Hillary Clinton | 24% | Donald Trump | 39% | Gary Johnson | 12% | Jill Stein | 5% | Darrell Castle | 2% | Evan McMullin | 9% | 15 | 1,018 | ± 3.1% |
People
Organizations
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