Thomas J. Harens (born 1954) is a former

third-party Third party may refer to: Business * Third-party source, a supplier company not owned by the buyer or seller * Third-party beneficiary, a person who could sue on a contract, despite not being an active party * Third-party insurance, such as a Ve ...

candidate (Christian Freedom Party) for

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

in the 2004 presidential election in which he was only on the ballot in

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

. His running mate was Jennifer A. Ryan. He had created the Christian Freedom Party in June 2004, and filed his "affidavit of candidacy" with the

Minnesota Secretary of State The secretary of state of Minnesota is a constitutional officer in the executive branch of government of the U.S. State of Minnesota. Twenty-two individuals have held the office of secretary of state since statehood. The incumbent is Steve Simon, ...

in August. Some claimed Harens was a stalking horse for the

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party, he ...

campaign, "a device for luring away

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

votes from

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

in a tight election," an accusation he denied. He did, however, express a desire to have a

spoiler effect Vote splitting is an electoral effect in which the distribution of votes among multiple similar candidates reduces the chance of winning for any of the similar candidates, and increases the chance of winning for a dissimilar candidate. Vote spl ...

on the election, hoping to win more votes than the margin between the major party candidates. The margin between Bush and Kerry in Minnesota was almost 100,000 votes, while Harens won only 2,387. The total for his new party was larger than the combined total in Minnesota of three of the established third parties, the Socialist Equality Party,

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of t ...

and Socialist Workers Party. Harens had previously run unsuccessfully for mayor of St. Paul, Minnesota in 1997 as a member of the Reform Party.Jacobson, ''op.cit.'' At the time he made his presidential run, he claimed he was still "technically a member" of that party. Harens was elected to the

Minnesota House of Representatives The Minnesota House of Representatives is the lower house of the Legislature of the U.S. state of Minnesota. There are 134 members, twice as many as the Minnesota Senate. Floor sessions are held in the north wing of the State Capitol in Saint ...

at age 25 as a member of the

Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to i ...

. He served from 1981 to 1982, when his district was redrawn and he also left "feeling abandoned" because of his anti-abortion views. He attempted to run for the US Senate in Minnesota with the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation f ...

. He did not attend the Green Party of Minnesota Convention, and therefore was not endorsed. Harens is a graduate of

Winona State University Winona State University (Winona) is a public university in Winona, Minnesota. It was founded as First State Normal School of Minnesota in 1858 and is the oldest member of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System. It was the first no ...

Notes

Further reading