Socialist Party of Florida
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Socialist Party of Florida (SPFL) is the
Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
state chapter of the
Socialist Party USA The Socialist Party USA, officially the Socialist Party of the United States of America,"The article of this organization shall be the Socialist Party of the United States of America, hereinafter called 'the Party'". Art. I of th"Constitution o ...
, a
democratic socialist Democratic socialism is a left-wing political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and workers' self-management within a ...
party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often feature f ...
. The SPFL appeared on ballots during the 2012 US presidential election in Florida and
2014 Florida gubernatorial election The 2014 Florida gubernatorial election took place on November 4, 2014, to elect the Governor and Lieutenant Governor of Florida. The incumbent Republican, Rick Scott, ran for reelection. The Democratic nominee was former governor Charlie Cri ...
. It is no longer a registered political party in the state.


History and political activity


1901–1920


Establishment

The first
Socialist Party of America The Socialist Party of America (SPA) was a socialist political party in the United States formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party of America and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party of Ameri ...
(SPA) local in Florida was founded in Orlando on November 18, 1901, a few months after the national party was founded. The original Socialist Party of Florida was founded as a part of the SPA, in July 1902. By 1904, it had more than fifty chapters. In July and August of that year county chapters in Manatee, Hillsborough and Duval would nominate candidates for local office who would all run without success. The state party would hold its first convention in Orlando sometime during the first week of July 1904 nominating several candidates to run governor and cabinet positions. During the early 1900s, the Socialist Party in Florida would be impacted by
Jim Crow The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the Southern United States. Other areas of the United States were affected by formal and informal policies of segregation as well, but many states outside the Sout ...
as African-American members were required to be members of their own local chapter separate from white ones or in the case there was an insufficient amount they would be members of the state party directly.


Election of Andrew Pettigrew in Manatee County

During the 1906 elections,
Manatee County Manatee County is a county in the Central Florida portion of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 US Census, the population was 399,710. Manatee County is part of the North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton Metropolitan Statistical Area. Its county s ...
would unexpectedly elect Andrew Jackson Pettigrew who was running under the Socialist Party as state representative defeating John A. Graham. Pettigrew had previously ran in 1904 for the same position but was unsuccessful. He had also previously served as the chairman of the Manatee County Socialist Party. During Pettigrew's campaign, journalist
Claude L'Engle Claude L'Engle (October 19, 1868 – November 6, 1919) was a United States representative from Florida for one term from 1913 to 1915. Early life He was born in Jacksonville, Florida, where he attended the public schools and Duval High School ...
from the ''Florida Sun'' would question Graham's activities in Northern Florida which would end up benefitting Pettigrew at the expense of Graham. L'Engle accused him of swindling several people in several articles published in June and July 1906 which resulted in Graham filing a lawsuit in a circuit court for libel demanding $30,000 on August 2. L'Engle ended up endorsing Pettigrew that month and said voters in Manatee County should shy away from Graham.


1908 elections

After the 1906 elections the party would generally be optimistic for 1908. A second convention would be held in
Tampa Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough County ...
on July 4, 1908. Sixty delegates would attend with at least one coming from each of Florida's counties. The party would select its nominees for every state level office with the exception of the
Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...
. The convention would also select candidates to run its three congressional districts along with five electoral college members. Mrs. S. F. J. Linn who was the party's nominee for Superintendent of Schools that year would be the first female candidate to appear on the ballot in a state level race. She would also receive the highest percentage the Socialist Party would ever manage to achieve at 10.4% for a race at the state level.


St. Augustine 1913 municipal elections and inroads in surrounding areas

During the summer of 1913 the party would make rounds in
St. Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Afri ...
's municipal elections getting close to winning positions in the municipal government during a contentious campaign with the Democratic party but ended up losing by "only forty-eight votes". Nominees would be: David L. Dunham for mayor, T.J. Speisseger, Candido Meitin for an unknown position and Edgar Manucy for municipal judge. All of the party's nominees came from prominent families in the city and the rest of the party's support came from members of the city's working class. Socialists in St. Augustine showed less consideration for issues of race, ethnicity and class although the city overall was described as having an intense racial, ethnic and religious hierarchy to it. They would find more success in Longwood and
Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...
which was located nearby where the party would elected justices of the peace for both locations.


Attempts to establish a newspaper

A newspaper aligned with the party named ''Florida Beacon'' would also be launched in 1913 but only lasted for less than a year before it went bankrupt. Another attempt would be made to establish a newspaper for the party named ''Slege Hammer'' but it would end up facing the same issues that the ''Florida Beacon'' would have. Socialists in Florida would have the same difficulties that were faced at the national level when it came to establishing a media organ for them.


Decline of the party

The party overall would begin to decline starting in 1917 with the United States' entry into World War I which ended up significantly hurting the party as many saw them as being traitors for not supporting the war effort. With the Russian Revolution occurring in November, much of the public nationally would turn against them. Federal and state officials would increase monitoring in Florida as a result with an emphasis being made on Tampa's
Ybor City Ybor City ( ) is a historic neighborhood just northeast of downtown Tampa, downtown Tampa, Florida, United States. It was founded in the 1880s by Vicente Martinez-Ybor and other cigar manufacturers and populated by thousands of immigrants, mainly ...
and
West Tampa West Tampa is one of the oldest neighborhoods within the city limits of Tampa, Florida, United States. It was an independently incorporated city from 1895 until 1925, when it was annexed by Tampa. West Tampa is located west of the Hillsborough ...
neighborhoods. By 1920 the party would become virtually irrelevant politically.


1920–present

The
Socialist Party of America The Socialist Party of America (SPA) was a socialist political party in the United States formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party of America and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party of Ameri ...
voted 73:34 to change its name to
Social Democrats, USA Social Democrats, USA (SDUSA) is a small political association of social democrats founded in 1972. The Socialist Party of America (SPA) had stopped running independent presidential candidates and consequently the term "party" in the SPA's na ...
in December 1972. SPUSA was founded in 1973, after which the SPFL was founded on March 16, 1998. The SPFL became inactive in about June 2011 and on December 20, 2011, the Florida Division of Elections revoked the status of the SPFL as a registered party in the State of Florida. While the party was primarily an activist organization, it was also an official minor party in Florida, which enabled it to field candidates for office. The SPFL ran candidates for president in 2000 ( David McReynolds) and 2004 ( Walt Brown). In 2006, the SPFL attempted to field a write-in candidate for governor, but failed to gain eligibility. SPFL member Brian Moore was nominated to run for President in 2008 by the SP national convention. In 2010, SPFL member, David Maynard, was elected to the Hillsborough County Soil and Water Conservation Board. The SPFL had locals in the county of Broward and the Tampa Bay Area.


Platform

The SPFL is a democratic socialist organization. In 2004, the party described its position as:
We believe the economy should be transformed into a socialist economy that is publicly owned and democratically controlled. The production of goods and services are created by the people and the benefits should be shared by everyone equitably. Our economy should focus on meeting people's basic needs such as healthcare, education, food and shelter, rather than profits. A small percent of the public controls our resources and political power, while the rest of society is oppressed and excluded. Discrimination on the basis of race/ethnicity, gender, age, class, religion, ability/disability and sexual orientation prohibits us from working cooperatively for the benefit of the community.
The SPFL endorsed the positions of
anti-racism Anti-racism encompasses a range of ideas and political actions which are meant to counter racial prejudice, systemic racism, and the oppression of specific racial groups. Anti-racism is usually structured around conscious efforts and deliberate a ...
and socialist feminism, saying:
As socialist-feminists, we differ from both those on the left who fail to recognize feminism as an essential aspect of human liberation, and from those parts of the feminist movement that believe that women's liberation can be achieved without a fundamental change in the economic system... We support independent organization by people of color to fight oppression. Racism will not be eliminated merely by eliminating capitalism.
In the "Principles of the Socialist Party", the party says that it considers a socialist planned economy a way to solve ecological crises. The SPFL endorses
full employment Full employment is a situation in which there is no cyclical or unemployment#Cyclical unemployment, deficient-demand unemployment. Full employment does not entail the disappearance of all unemployment, as other kinds of unemployment, namely Structu ...
and
cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-control ...
s. The SPFL was involved in the
anti-war movements A peace movement is a social movement which seeks to achieve ideals, such as the ending of a particular war (or wars) or minimizing inter-human violence in a particular place or situation. They are often linked to the goal of achieving world pea ...
around
Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
and
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
, working on behalf of the
Coalition of Immokalee Workers The Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) is a worker-based human rights organization based in Immokalee, Florida, which focuses on the fields of social responsibility, human trafficking, and gender-based violence at work. Built on a foundation o ...
, and opposing the anti gay marriage amendment effort. In addition, the SPFL worked on bringing a lawsuit against the State of Florida over violations of minor parties'
First Amendment First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...
rights.


Elected officials

Formerly and currently elected Florida Socialists: * Andrew Jackson Pettigrew, State Representative, Manatee County, 1907–1909 * C.C. Allen, State Representative, Pinellas County, 1909–1911 * John Dobler, Mayor, Gulfport, 1909–1911 * James Love, Mayor, Lake Worth, 1914–1916 *David Maynard, Hillsborough County Soil & Water Conservation Board, Seat 5 2010-


Candidates for office


Gubernatorial candidates

:* 1908 — Andrew Jackson Pettigrew :* 1912 — Thomas Cox :* 1916 — C. C. Allen :* 1920 — Dr. Furman Whitaker


U.S. Senatorial candidates

:* 1916 — R. L. Goodwin :* 1920 — M. J. Martin


U.S. Representatives candidates

1904 :* 2nd District — W. B Wood :* 3rd District — George S. Smith 1906 :* 1st District — C. C. Allen :* 3rd District — T. B. Meeker 1908 :* 1st District — C. C. Allen :* 2nd District — A. N. Jackson :* 3rd District — C. N. Wood 1910 :* 1st District — C. C. Allen :* 2nd District — Thomas W. Cox :* 3rd District — Eric Vonaxelson 1912 :* 1st District — C. C. Allen :* 2nd District — J. J. Collins :* 3rd District — W. N. Lamberry :* At-large — A. N. Jackson 1916 :* 1st District — Frank L. Sullivan :* 4th District — A. N. Jackson 1920 :* 1st District — C. W. Smith :* 2nd District — W. L. Case :* 4th District — Earl Hunt 2008 :*20th District — Marc Luzietti


Election results


State Offices


Gubernatorial results


Federal offices


Presidential results

Since 1976, the
Socialist Party USA The Socialist Party USA, officially the Socialist Party of the United States of America,"The article of this organization shall be the Socialist Party of the United States of America, hereinafter called 'the Party'". Art. I of th"Constitution o ...
has run a candidate for President of the United States. The party's nominee has been on the ballot in Florida in each election since 2000. The candidate who has received the highest vote total in Florida under the Socialist Party USA and nationally was former Oregon State Senator Walt Brown.


US Senatorial


US House


Logos

The Socialist Party of Florida near the end of its life had four official logos. The linked hands over the world is the official logo of the Socialist Party USA, while the red carnation is the former logo of the SPUSA. The use of both logos was approved by the State Executive Committee of the SPFL in July 2007. In May, 2008, the SEC approved the use of the Red Star Over Florida. In February, 2010, the SEC approved yet another new logo, based on the linked hands over the world and the red star over Florida.


Notes

:1.Despite the Socialist Party of Florida becoming inactive in 2011, Maynard is apparently still a member of the Socialist Party USA, and in office as of the fall of 2016.


References


Further reading

* Griffin, R. S. (2008). Workers of the sunshine state unite!: The Florida Socialist Party during the Progressive Era, 1900–1920. The Florida Historical Quarterly, 86(3), 346–379.


External links


Socialist Party USA

Young People's Socialist League
Platform:
Socialist Party of the United States of America platform
{{DEFAULTSORT:Socialist Party Of Florida
Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
Political parties in Florida
Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...