FL: Darcy G. Richardson on the History of Third Party and Independent Politics in the Sunshine State

In an article for the Jacksonville Observer, author and historian of third party and independent politics in the US, Darcy G. Richardson, surveys the history of third party and independent campaigns in the Sunshine State over the course of the twentieth century:

With Governor Charlie Crist pondering a bid for U.S. Senate as a No Party Affiliation candidate, now seems like a good time to take a look back at the history of third party and independent candidates in Florida.

Excluding the seemingly miraculous election of ex-Baptist minister Sidney J. Catts, the colorful “Cracker Messiah” who was swept into the governor’s mansion on the tiny Prohibition Party ticket in 1916, voters in the Sunshine State have never been particularly friendly to statewide candidates running outside the traditional “two-party system."