Moderate Party

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Moderate Party
ModerateRI.jpg
Basic facts
Location:North Kingstown, R.I.
Type:Political party
Top official:William Gilbert, Chair
Founder(s):Ken Block
Year founded:2009
Website:Official website

The Moderate Party is one of three recognized political parties in Rhode Island. The group is headquartered in North Kingstown, R.I.[1][2] As of September 2019, it was not a ballot-qualified party.

Note: This party was previously ballot-qualified in Rhode Island. As of March 8, 2022, it is no longer ballot-qualified. The content here reflects the most current information as of March 8, 2022.

Background

The Moderate Party obtained recognition as a ballot-qualified political party in Rhode Island on August 18, 2009. The group was founded by Ken Block, a Rhode Island businessman and political activist. According to the party's archived website, the group "is a centrist political party dedicated to the idea that elected officials should serve the best interests of the state’s residents."[3][4][5]

The party supported Ken Block in the 2010 race for governor of Rhode Island. Block earned 6.1 percent of the vote, which allowed the party to maintain ballot access through the 2014 elections. However, Block left the party in 2013 to run for governor of Rhode Island as a Republican candidate. Instead of Block, the Moderate Party supported Robert Healey as its 2014 gubernatorial candidate. Healey finished third in the race with 21.4 percent of the vote, allowing the party to maintain ballot access through the 2018 elections.[3][6][7][8][9]

Ballot access for political parties

See also: List of political parties in the United States


As of January 2025, there were at least 55 distinct ballot-qualified political parties in the United States. There were 238 state-level parties.[10] Some parties are recognized in multiple states. For example, both the Democratic Party and the Republican Party are recognized in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. These two parties account for more than half of the 238 total state-level parties.[11][12][13] Three minor parties were recognized in more than 10 states as of January 2025:

  1. Libertarian Party: 38 states
  2. Green Party: 23 states[14]
  3. Constitution Party: 12 states[15]

Although there are dozens of political parties in the United States, only certain parties qualify to have the names of their candidates for office printed on election ballots. In order to qualify for ballot placement, a party must meet certain requirements that vary from state to state. For example, in some states, a party may have to file a petition in order to qualify for ballot placement. In other states, a party must organize around a candidate for a specific office; that candidate must, in turn, win a percentage of the vote in order for the party to be granted ballot status. In still other states, an aspiring political party must register a certain number of voters.

The number of ballot-qualified political parties fluctuates as parties gain or lose qualified status. In addition, some states distinguish between major parties and minor parties. Specific differences between major and minor parties differ from state to state. For example, in all states, major parties are granted access to primary elections. Some states, however, do not permit minor parties to participate in primary elections. Consequently, minor party candidates in these states can run only in general elections.[11]

The table below lists all ballot-qualified political parties in each state as of January 2025. Click "[show]" to expand the table.[11]


Platform

The party's stated platform is composed of two main issues:[5]

  • Economic development
    "A healthy economy is the primary ingredient for a high quality of life for the residents of a state."
  • Education
    "A skilled, educated workforce is essential to economic growth in our state."

Rules and bylaws

Candidate ballot access
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Find detailed information on ballot access requirements in all 50 states and Washington, D.C.

The state party is governed by a set of rules and bylaws. Typically, these give structure to the different levels of organization—local, county, and state committees—and establish protocol for electing committee members. The bylaws also typically give details on the party's process for nominating and sending delegates to the national party convention during presidential elections. As of March 2016, the rules and bylaws of the Moderate Party were not publicly available.

Convention

As of March 2016, no information was available regarding a 2016 state convention of the Moderate Party.

Leadership

The Moderate Party does not have an executive director.

The following individuals hold leadership positions with the Moderate Party:[16]

  • William Gilbert, Chair

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'Moderate Party'. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Moderate Party - Google News

See also

External links

The Internet Archive's Wayback Machine was used to recall this version of the website from July 9, 2015.


Footnotes

  1. ↑ Rhode Island Secretary of State, "Voter registration," accessed March 8, 2016
  2. ↑ Rhode Island Board of Elections, "Active parties," accessed March 8, 2016
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Moderate Party, "History," accessed March 8, 2016
  4. ↑ Facebook, "Ken Block for Governor," accessed March 8, 2016
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Moderate Party, "Home," accessed March 8, 2016
  6. ↑ Rhode Island Board of Elections, "2014 general election results," accessed March 8, 2016
  7. ↑ Rhode Island Board of Elections, "2010 general election results," accessed March 8, 2016
  8. ↑ Politifact Rhode Island, "Block says 9,000 R.I. voters used master lever for Moderate Party—with no party candidates on ballot," February 22, 2013
  9. ↑ Ballot Access News, "Rhode Island Moderate Party gets 22.0% for governor," November 5, 2014
  10. ↑ This total does not include parties that have attained ballot status at the municipal level. Only those parties with state-level ballot status are included here.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Jaime Healy-Plotkin, "Research of state election agency websites and email correspondence with state election agencies," June 2024
  12. ↑ As of January 2025, there were nine state-level parties that called themselves Independent or Independence parties. For the purposes of this article, these were not tallied when counting the number of distinct ballot-qualified parties in the United States because it is difficult to determine to what extent these various parties are affiliated with one another.
  13. ↑ Because Washington utilizes a top-two, nonpartisan primary system, the state does not officially recognize parties. Consequently, only the state's two largest parties, the Democratic and Republican parties, were included in this tally.
  14. ↑ This figure includes the D.C. Statehood Green Party, Maine's Green Independent Party, Oregon's Pacific Green Party, and West Virginia's Mountain Party.
  15. ↑ This figure includes Nevada's Independent American Party and Michigan's U.S. Taxpayers Party.
  16. ↑ Rhode Island Board of Elections, "Moderate Party—summary of campaign activity," Feb 19 2016
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