As many people know of the political system of the United States, we are unique among other advanced democracies in the fact that we are an almost exclusively two-party state, in contrast to other countries which are multi-party or two-party plus (only two parties typically win the executive, but multiple parties are in the parliament or congress). The biggest reasons why we don’t have third parties is the amount of money the main parties have and the electoral college, which both essentially guarantee that a third party will never reach the presidency. However, it is technically possible for third-party candidates to win elections, as long as they aren’t presidential, with politicians such as Bernie Sanders from Vermont or Angus King from Maine being examples of Independents who were elected into the federal government. For the election in our county, Congressional District 3, aside from the regular Democratic and Republican candidates, there are also many third-party candidates in this election.
There are three leading third-party candidates running for the federal House of Representatives, which is the lower chamber of our legislative branch which represents states proportionally to population; Joe Meyer of the Pacific Green Party, David Frosch of the Constitution Party, and David Walker of the Progressive Party.
Joe Meyer of the Pacific Green Party was born in Chicago in 1962, has a PhD in Physics, worked as a KBOO reporter, and ran in 2014 for Portland City Council. David Frosch of the Constitution Party is from Oklahoma, and his past experience is being a candidate for Oklahoma 5th district in 2022. David Walker of the Progressive Party is from Oregon, has an associate’s degree from Mt. Hood Community College, was a disaster healthcare responder, a candidate for this election from 2016-2018, and is a nurse practitioner.
Many of these candidates have different motivations for why they are running. Joe Meyer’s motivation to run in this election is based on money and corruption in politics. According to Joe Meyer’s website, “I am running for Congress because there has been a coup in the United States. We the people lost; corporate and foreign interests won. They won and they continue to beat us by mastering our elections.” This is referring to the fact that the winner of the Democratic primary, Maxine Dexter, beat her opponents by raising $1,472,483 in the election. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee is her second highest contributor at $15,950, and the biggest outside spender of her campaign was 314 Action Fund, which is funded by AIPAC, with $2,212,989 spent from them in the election. This is extremely important given the major issue with the Israeli genocide of Palestine going on right now. So, it is due to the high amount of money raised from Political Action Committee’s and the foreign influence from AIPAC that Joe Meyer is running.
Joe Meyer believes that the first and largest responsibility of the government is to the health and welfare of its citizens. The most unique policy on his website says, “When elected I will select citizens from my district by lottery to form a council of 100. These 100 will have the same access to my office as the big donors have to their politicians.” This will give direct representation of the people in the district’s influence and advisory over him. Other policies on his site include returning the tax code on the rich to post-WW2 levels, $20 billion a year to guarantee housing, universal healthcare which he claims would save $500 billion a year, Universal Basic Income, ending the funding of the genocide in Gaza, and reduce our 800 military bases and military spending.
David Frosch’s motivation to run for this election is based on corporate greed and corruption in our politics. According to David Frosch’s website, Davidfrosch.com, “It’s hard not to notice the changes in our country. We can no longer trust those in the positions of highest authority. Corporate greed is running amok, Biden is flooding our country with illegal immigrants, and wages are stagnant.” So it is due to corporate greed bribing our politicians, underpaying our labor, and our border crisis that David Frosch is running.
David Frosch believes that the purpose of government is to serve the interests of the people rather than large corporations. On his website, his two highlighted biggest policies are to overturn Citizens United and guarantee a constitutional right to unionize, which would lower money in our politics and help workers. Other policies include a two-tiered minimum wage of $15 an hour for large businesses, 100 days of paid maternity leave for the mother, increased low-income housing, increased child tax credits, and removal of work requirements for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.
Unfortunately, David Walker has no campaign site but based on the Progressive Party’s platform, he likely supports campaign finance reform, access to abortion, Medicare For All, same-sex marriage, and a higher minimum wage. According to the site he is likely against Wall Street bailouts, increases in military spending, “corporate personhood,” and free trade agreements that hurt the environment and consumers.
With the state of current politics creating a climate where many want a third party, there is a chance they could make a huge impact. Usually, this election would be barely contested due to the stronghold that Democrats hold over District 3, but due to the fact that Earl Blumenauer is retiring when his term ends meaning there is no incumbent, they lose that advantage. The new candidate only gained 47% of the vote in the Democratic primary, showing that many in the party contested Dexter and wanted someone else. The combination of no incumbent and an unpopular democratic candidate means there is huge potential for this district’s first third party candidate.
