Pat Buchanan's "Brigade" took control of the Reform Party in 2000, along with its $12 million in money from the FEC. As it turned out, however, Buchanan mustered a little less than half a million votes in the election. Once the election was over, Buchanan just walked away from the party. Chairman Gerry Moan called an off-year convention which met in Nashville the following summer. Buchanan gave a rousing speech and immediately left. The convention was united behind Buchanan and took additional action to remove remnants of the old Reform Party people [New York Times 7/29/2001].

The Party divided in 2002. Internal dissent caused Moan to change party by-laws; the minority faction, consisting of the entire state parties of AR, CO, MS, IL, IA, NH, and TN, withdrew from the party altogether and formed the America First Party. This action took half of the executive committee with it [NYT 4/16/2002]. Other state parties followed suit, though Ezola Foster and the state parties of CA and MD switched to the Constitution Party instead. Buchanan himself returned to the Republican Party.

The Reform Party held an organizational convention in 10/2003 in Diamondhead MS. Ted Weill of MS announced his interest in the presidential nomination for 2004. The convention called a national nominating convention for 8/13-15/2004 but did not choose a city. [Source: Ballot Access News, 11/2003]. Three months later, the party decided to hold the convention on 7/30 in Columbus OH [Ballot Access News, 2/2004].

The 3d Reform Party National Convention

In early 2004, Reform Party leaders discussed their options. Buchanan's poor showing left the party with ballot status in FL, KS, MI, MS, MT, and SC. With its funds at a low ebb, the new national chairman Shawn O'Hara held a conference call with the national committee members on 5/11/2004. The rules were changed to allow the national committee to nominate and bypass the expense of a national convention. It was decided that a candidate would need two-third of the vote of the committee for the nomination. Six candidates were interviewed before the vote proceeded. On the first ballot, Nader had the lead with 25 to Peroutka 6, John Buchanan 3, Richard Green 3, and other 4. Nader won the nomination on the third ballot with 28 votes to Peroutka 6 and others 4. The following day, Weill was chosen as the alternate nominee if Nader declined to run [BAN, 6/2004].

The decision was rather unusual, since Nader just the previous month had filed papers to create his own Populist Party for his presidential campaign [BAN, 5/2004].

In the summer of 2004, Nader worked to win the nomination of the Green Party. Peter Camejo represented Nader at the Green National Convention in Milwaukee, but the party passed by Nader and nominated David Cobb of Texas [NYT 6/26/2004].

The Campaign

The fall campaign began when Nader chose Peter Camejo as his running mate [BAN, 7/2004]. Having finally met the requirements for federal matching funds, Nader concentrated on ballot access. His petitions were often supported by Republicans, and in several battleground states, the Democratic Party sued to keep Nader off the ballot [NYT 7/1/2004].

A major challenge for the Reform Party in 2004 was its relationship to the Nader campaign. Since Nader was juggling several distinct political parties, and concentrating on the election, he spent little time on strengthening the various political organizations. The Reform Party's national treasurer, William D. Chapman, filed a report with the FEC and recommended that the party's fundraising authority be revoked. He reported that the party had only $18 in its treasury. The party's leaders removed Chapman from office [NYT 8/11/2004].

With Bush and Kerry running neck and neck in state polls, the Democratic Party examined state legislation to find ways to keep Nader off the ballot. In Florida, they found a wrinkle in the law. They sued to keep Nader off the ballot because the Reform Party did not hold a national convention to nominate him. A state judge agreed and took him off the ballot [NYT 9/10/2004], but he was later reinstated.

In the end, Nader placed third with just under half a million votes. His support fell 80% from his support in 2000 and left the Reform Party struggling to survive.

3d Reform National Convention [2000]

5th Reform National Convention [2008]

Popular Vote of 2004

Electoral Vote of 2004