Socialist Equality Party (United States)
Encyclopedia
The Socialist Equality Party (SEP) is a Trotskyist political party in the United States, one of several Socialist Equality Parties around the world affiliated to the International Committee of the Fourth International
(ICFI). The ICFI publishes daily news articles, perspectives and commentaries on the World Socialist Web Site
.
The party held public conferences in 2009 and 2010. It led an inquiry into utility shutoffs in Detroit, Michigan earlier in 2010, after which it launched a Committee Against Utility Shutoffs. Recently it sent reporters to West Virginia to report on the Upper Big Branch Mine disaster
and the way that Massey Energy
has treated its workers. It also sent reporters to the Gulf Coast to report on the Deepwater Horizon oil spill
. In addition, it has participated in elections with the aim of opposing the American occupation of Iraq and building a mass socialist party
with an international perspective. Despite having been active for over a decade, the Socialist Equality Party held its founding congress in 2008, where it adopted a statement of principles and a historical document.
(ICFI). Tim Wohlforth
was a youth leader in that party and was opposed to the course of the organization, which was heading toward reunification with the International Secretariat of the Fourth International (ISFI). With others, including James Robertson
, he formed the Revolutionary Tendency
(RT) within the SWP. It developed links with the Socialist Labour League in Britain, led by Gerry Healy
.
They saw the course of the SWP towards a regrouping with the ISFI, which had long been called "Pabloite" by members of the ICFI, as breaking with basic Trotskyist principles. The party leadership at the same time blocked discussion over other issues, such as the SWP's support for Fidel Castro
as an "unconscious" Trotskyist.
The ICFI leadership, supported by the RT, argued that if a revolution can be carried out by an unconscious Trotskyist, there was no point of building the Fourth International
as the conscious leadership of the working class
. The ICFI traced the SWP's support for Cuba to their "regroupment" policy, in which, according to the ICFI, they attempted to gain the support of the middle-class radical supporters of Cuba. The ICFI claimed this was done without a genuine discussion of the principles of the Fourth International.
. The remainder of the tendency, now led by Wohlforth alone renamed their group the Reorganized Minority Tendency.
Wohlforth and his supporters were themselves expelled in 1964, but they maintained connections with Gerry Healy and the rest of the ICFI, which they considered the legitimate Trotskyist movement.
They claimed the split was due to their insistence on a discussion of the decision by the Sri Lankan Lanka Sama Samaja Party
to participate in the national government. They explained this decision as "opportunism
" that originated in the "centrist
" position of the LSSP during the split between the ISFI and ICFI of 1953.
was the largest section of the ICFI, followed by the French OCI.
In 1985, the ICFI split over policies advanced by the Workers Revolutionary Party. The policies they disagreed with included supporting national bourgeois regimes, including those of Saddam Hussein
and Muammar Gadhafi
, and supporting Stalinists such as Gordon McLennan
of the Communist Party of Great Britain
. Many of Healy's former supporters saw these moves as a repetition of the mistakes of Pabloism.
The Workers League engaged in a long-term campaign against the rival Socialist Workers Party. In the 1970s they issued a report titled "Security and the Fourth International" which alleged, amongst other things, that leading SWP member Joseph Hansen
, who had been an assistant to Leon Trotsky
during his Mexico City exile, was an accomplice in his assassination alleging that he and, by implication the SWP, were agents of the Soviet secret police (GPU). The WL also supported a lawsuit against the SWP by expelled member Alan Gelfand, who argued that he had been unconstitutionally deprived of his freedom of political expression by being expelled from the SWP by agents of the government. He attempted to force the government to reveal all its agents in the SWP and force the SWP to readmit him as a member. The lawsuit was dismissed in 1989, but not before confirming that former SWP leader Jim Cannon's secretary, Sylvia Callen
(referred to by then-SWP national secretary Jack Barnes as his "hero") had been a GPU agent.
The WL and its successor organization, the Socialist Equality Party, also countered the SWP's campaign in defense of Mark Curtis
with its own campaign alleging that the SWP member was guilty of the sexual assault charge for which he was imprisoned.
, which was launched in 1998. In 2006, the Socialist Equality Party relaunched its student movement, the Students for Social Equality, as the International Students for Social Equality
emphasizing the international perspective of the party and anticipating a growing radicalization of workers, students, and youth.
Other Socialist Equality Parties linked to the one in the United States exist in Australia, Canada, Germany, Sri Lanka and the United Kingdom.
reporters to West Virginia after the Massey Upper Big Branch Mine disaster
, which occurred on April 5, 2010. According one of the reports, Massey workers claimed that the company had refused to allow them time off so that they could attend the funerals of their coworkers. The World Socialist Web Site
claimed that the article containing these interviews was "widely circulated and reposted or linked on the Internet."
On April 18 and 19 2010, the party held a public conference in Ann Arbor, Michigan on the topic of "Social Crisis and War: The Fight for a Socialist Alternative." A report claimed that the conference was attended by "many workers and working class youth who have been drawn into politics by the economic crisis." On April 23, the party published the resolutions passed at the conference on the World Socialist Web Site
. The resolution on socialist program called for "the international unity of the working class," "the political independence of the working class," "an emergency public works program," "nationalization of the banks and major corporations," "redistribution of wealth," and "an end to militarism and war," and "defense of democratic rights."
In the 2004 presidential elections, it nominated Bill Van Auken
for President and Jim Lawrence for Vice-President.
The Socialist Equality Party also ran candidates for the 2006 US mid-term elections, including Bill Van Auken
for US Senate in New York State, Jerome White for Congress in Michigan and John Burton for Congress in California. In its elections it called for the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all US troops from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Other candidates, announced on the World Socialist Web Site
on May 15, 2006 included:
In 2008, the party did not seek ballot status, citing "prohibitive ballot access laws." It instead encouraged voters to write the candidates in
.
In 2009, the party sponsored D’Artagnan Collier in the Detroit mayoral election
.
In 2010, the party sponsored Collier as a candidate for state representative in Michigan’s 9th District in Detroit.
International Committee of the Fourth International
The International Committee of the Fourth International is the name of two Trotskyist internationals; one with sections named Socialist Equality Party which publishes the World Socialist Web Site and another linked to the Workers Revolutionary Party in Britain.-Foundation:The International...
(ICFI). The ICFI publishes daily news articles, perspectives and commentaries on the World Socialist Web Site
World Socialist Web Site
The World Socialist Web Site is the online news and information center of the International Committee of the Fourth International . The site publishes articles and analysis covering a wide range of topics and events all around the world. The daily 'Perspective' article presents the position of the...
.
The party held public conferences in 2009 and 2010. It led an inquiry into utility shutoffs in Detroit, Michigan earlier in 2010, after which it launched a Committee Against Utility Shutoffs. Recently it sent reporters to West Virginia to report on the Upper Big Branch Mine disaster
Upper Big Branch Mine disaster
The Upper Big Branch Mine disaster occurred on April 5, 2010 about underground in Raleigh County, West Virginia at Massey Energy's Upper Big Branch coal mine located in Montcoal . Twenty-nine out of thirty-one miners at the site were killed. The explosion occurred at 3:27 pm...
and the way that Massey Energy
Massey Energy
Massey Energy Company was a coal extractor in the United States with substantial operations in West Virginia, Kentucky and Virginia. By revenue, it was the fourth largest producer of coal in the United States and the largest coal producer in Central Appalachia...
has treated its workers. It also sent reporters to the Gulf Coast to report on the Deepwater Horizon oil spill
Deepwater Horizon oil spill
The Deepwater Horizon oil spill is an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico which flowed unabated for three months in 2010, and continues to leak fresh oil. It is the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry...
. In addition, it has participated in elections with the aim of opposing the American occupation of Iraq and building a mass socialist party
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
with an international perspective. Despite having been active for over a decade, the Socialist Equality Party held its founding congress in 2008, where it adopted a statement of principles and a historical document.
Revolutionary tendency
In the early 1960s, most U.S. Trotskyists were organized in the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) as part of the International Committee of the Fourth InternationalInternational Committee of the Fourth International
The International Committee of the Fourth International is the name of two Trotskyist internationals; one with sections named Socialist Equality Party which publishes the World Socialist Web Site and another linked to the Workers Revolutionary Party in Britain.-Foundation:The International...
(ICFI). Tim Wohlforth
Tim Wohlforth
Timothy Andrew Wohlforth , is a United States former Trotskyist leader. Since leaving the Trotskyist movement he has become a writer of crime fiction and of politically oriented non-fiction....
was a youth leader in that party and was opposed to the course of the organization, which was heading toward reunification with the International Secretariat of the Fourth International (ISFI). With others, including James Robertson
James Robertson (Trotskyist)
James Robertson is National Chairman of the Spartacist League of the United States, which is a section of the International Communist League , an international organization of small Trotskyist groups...
, he formed the Revolutionary Tendency
Revolutionary Tendency
Revolutionary Tendency was the name of at least two internal factions within Trotskyist organizations in the United States.*Revolutionary Tendency which developed within the Socialist Workers Party in the early 1960s....
(RT) within the SWP. It developed links with the Socialist Labour League in Britain, led by Gerry Healy
Gerry Healy
Thomas Gerard Healy, known as Gerry Healy , was a political activist, a co-founder of the International Committee of the Fourth International, and, according to former prominent U.S. supporter David North, the leader of the Trotskyist movement in Great Britain between 1950 – 1985...
.
They saw the course of the SWP towards a regrouping with the ISFI, which had long been called "Pabloite" by members of the ICFI, as breaking with basic Trotskyist principles. The party leadership at the same time blocked discussion over other issues, such as the SWP's support for Fidel Castro
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...
as an "unconscious" Trotskyist.
The ICFI leadership, supported by the RT, argued that if a revolution can be carried out by an unconscious Trotskyist, there was no point of building the Fourth International
Fourth International
The Fourth International is the communist international organisation consisting of followers of Leon Trotsky , with the declared dedicated goal of helping the working class bring about socialism...
as the conscious leadership of the working class
Working class
Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
. The ICFI traced the SWP's support for Cuba to their "regroupment" policy, in which, according to the ICFI, they attempted to gain the support of the middle-class radical supporters of Cuba. The ICFI claimed this was done without a genuine discussion of the principles of the Fourth International.
Reorganized minority tendency
The two main leaders of the RT had different evaluations of the SWP. Robertson's position led the SWP to expel him and his supporters first, but he and his supporters did not join the ICFI. Robertson's group went on to form the Spartacist LeagueSpartacist League (US)
The Spartacist League/ US is a Trotskyist organization in the United States. It was the original Spartacist group that helped to inspire and organize similarly oriented groups around the world...
. The remainder of the tendency, now led by Wohlforth alone renamed their group the Reorganized Minority Tendency.
Wohlforth and his supporters were themselves expelled in 1964, but they maintained connections with Gerry Healy and the rest of the ICFI, which they considered the legitimate Trotskyist movement.
They claimed the split was due to their insistence on a discussion of the decision by the Sri Lankan Lanka Sama Samaja Party
Lanka Sama Samaja Party
The Lanka Sama Samaja Party is a Trotskyist political party in Sri Lanka....
to participate in the national government. They explained this decision as "opportunism
Opportunism
-General definition:Opportunism is the conscious policy and practice of taking selfish advantage of circumstances, with little regard for principles. Opportunist actions are expedient actions guided primarily by self-interested motives. The term can be applied to individuals, groups,...
" that originated in the "centrist
Centrism
In politics, centrism is the ideal or the practice of promoting policies that lie different from the standard political left and political right. Most commonly, this is visualized as part of the one-dimensional political spectrum of left-right politics, with centrism landing in the middle between...
" position of the LSSP during the split between the ISFI and ICFI of 1953.
American Committee of the Fourth International
Those Americans expelled from the SWP then formed the American Committee of the Fourth International (ACFI) and became the United States section of the ICFI, while the SWP joined the ISFI. At this time, the Socialist Labour League under Gerry HealyGerry Healy
Thomas Gerard Healy, known as Gerry Healy , was a political activist, a co-founder of the International Committee of the Fourth International, and, according to former prominent U.S. supporter David North, the leader of the Trotskyist movement in Great Britain between 1950 – 1985...
was the largest section of the ICFI, followed by the French OCI.
Workers League
The ACFI grew throughout the 1960s along with most leftist groupings. The ACFI was renamed the Workers League in 1966 and developed into a nationwide organisation with hundreds of members. Its youth work, which led to the development of the Young Socialists, was particularly successful in this period.In 1985, the ICFI split over policies advanced by the Workers Revolutionary Party. The policies they disagreed with included supporting national bourgeois regimes, including those of Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...
and Muammar Gadhafi
Muammar al-Gaddafi
Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar Gaddafi or "September 1942" 20 October 2011), commonly known as Muammar Gaddafi or Colonel Gaddafi, was the official ruler of the Libyan Arab Republic from 1969 to 1977 and then the "Brother Leader" of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya from 1977 to 2011.He seized power in a...
, and supporting Stalinists such as Gordon McLennan
Gordon McLennan
Gordon McLennan was General Secretary of the Communist Party of Great Britain between 1975 and 1990.Born in Glasgow, McLennan worked as an engineering draughtsperson before taking on various full-time posts within the CPGB...
of the Communist Party of Great Britain
Communist Party of Great Britain
The Communist Party of Great Britain was the largest communist party in Great Britain, although it never became a mass party like those in France and Italy. It existed from 1920 to 1991.-Formation:...
. Many of Healy's former supporters saw these moves as a repetition of the mistakes of Pabloism.
The Workers League engaged in a long-term campaign against the rival Socialist Workers Party. In the 1970s they issued a report titled "Security and the Fourth International" which alleged, amongst other things, that leading SWP member Joseph Hansen
Joseph Hansen (socialist)
Joseph Leroy Hansen , was an American Trotskyist and leading figure in the Socialist Workers Party.Born in Richfield, Utah, Joseph Hansen was the oldest of 15 children in a poor working class family, and he was the only one of them who could attend college. His father, Conrad J. Z...
, who had been an assistant to Leon Trotsky
Leon Trotsky
Leon Trotsky , born Lev Davidovich Bronshtein, was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and theorist, Soviet politician, and the founder and first leader of the Red Army....
during his Mexico City exile, was an accomplice in his assassination alleging that he and, by implication the SWP, were agents of the Soviet secret police (GPU). The WL also supported a lawsuit against the SWP by expelled member Alan Gelfand, who argued that he had been unconstitutionally deprived of his freedom of political expression by being expelled from the SWP by agents of the government. He attempted to force the government to reveal all its agents in the SWP and force the SWP to readmit him as a member. The lawsuit was dismissed in 1989, but not before confirming that former SWP leader Jim Cannon's secretary, Sylvia Callen
Sylvia Callen
Sylvia Callen Franklin, also known as Sylvia Lorraine Callen, and Sylvia Caldwell, was a young Chicago communist, recruited by Louis Budenz into the Communist Party USA's secret apparatus circa 1937....
(referred to by then-SWP national secretary Jack Barnes as his "hero") had been a GPU agent.
The WL and its successor organization, the Socialist Equality Party, also countered the SWP's campaign in defense of Mark Curtis
Mark Curtis (SWP member)
Mark Curtis is a former member of the American Socialist Workers Party . Curtis was the subject of a high profile defense campaign by the SWP after he was charged and convicted of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl in 1988. The SWP and others of Curtis's defenders claimed that he had been...
with its own campaign alleging that the SWP member was guilty of the sexual assault charge for which he was imprisoned.
Socialist Equality Party
In 1995, the various parties affiliated to the ICFI renamed themselves the Socialist Equality Party. The ICFI publishes the World Socialist Web SiteWorld Socialist Web Site
The World Socialist Web Site is the online news and information center of the International Committee of the Fourth International . The site publishes articles and analysis covering a wide range of topics and events all around the world. The daily 'Perspective' article presents the position of the...
, which was launched in 1998. In 2006, the Socialist Equality Party relaunched its student movement, the Students for Social Equality, as the International Students for Social Equality
International Students for Social Equality
The International Students for Social Equality is the student organization of the Socialist Equality Party and the International Committee of the Fourth International, an international Trotskyist organization...
emphasizing the international perspective of the party and anticipating a growing radicalization of workers, students, and youth.
Other Socialist Equality Parties linked to the one in the United States exist in Australia, Canada, Germany, Sri Lanka and the United Kingdom.
Program
The Obama Administration
The Socialist Equality Party claims that the majority of left-wing opponents of the Bush Administration have "lined up behind the Obama Administration.", despite the fact that the Obama Administration's policies are in many respects similar to those of the Bush Administration. The Socialist Equality Party seeks to create a mass movement in opposition to the Obama Administration on the basis of a Socialist Program.Workers' Struggles and the Trade Unions
Although some members of the Socialist Equality Party are union members, and the Party is committed to working within those organizations, it does not seek to facilitate any sort of social change through the Trade Unions, which they characterize as having interests antithetical to the workers they represent. The Party calls for a break with the US union bureaucracies and the formation of "workplace committees" that will carry on economic struggles.Massey Coal Mine Explosion Reports
The Socialist Equality Party sent World Socialist Web SiteWorld Socialist Web Site
The World Socialist Web Site is the online news and information center of the International Committee of the Fourth International . The site publishes articles and analysis covering a wide range of topics and events all around the world. The daily 'Perspective' article presents the position of the...
reporters to West Virginia after the Massey Upper Big Branch Mine disaster
Upper Big Branch Mine disaster
The Upper Big Branch Mine disaster occurred on April 5, 2010 about underground in Raleigh County, West Virginia at Massey Energy's Upper Big Branch coal mine located in Montcoal . Twenty-nine out of thirty-one miners at the site were killed. The explosion occurred at 3:27 pm...
, which occurred on April 5, 2010. According one of the reports, Massey workers claimed that the company had refused to allow them time off so that they could attend the funerals of their coworkers. The World Socialist Web Site
World Socialist Web Site
The World Socialist Web Site is the online news and information center of the International Committee of the Fourth International . The site publishes articles and analysis covering a wide range of topics and events all around the world. The daily 'Perspective' article presents the position of the...
claimed that the article containing these interviews was "widely circulated and reposted or linked on the Internet."
Citizens Inquiry into the Dexter Avenue Fire
In March 2010, the Socialist Equality Party initiated the Citizens Inquiry into the Dexter Avenue Fire in order to expose the life-threatening dangers caused by utility shutoffs" after Sylvia Young, a single mother living on Dexter Avenue in Detroit, lost three of her children in a February fire several hours after DTE shut off her power and gas. The committee held a press conference on March 11, a hearing on March 20, and Fox 2 News did a television report. The inquiry conducted interviews with Sylvia Young's sister and attendees of the hearing. The inquiry concluded with a report-back meeting on April 13, at which it announced its findings. The inquiry concluded that (1) "There is a direct and clearly established link between utility shutoffs and house fires," (2) "The claim that there are resources widely available to help people pay their utility bills is untrue" and "the programs that exist are inadequate and designed to benefit DTE," (3) "DTE’s policies are determined not by community need, but by corporate and shareholder interests," (4) "The city and state governments work on behalf of DTE and other corporations. Government officials have longstanding political and business ties to DTE," (5) "Extreme poverty and mass unemployment are decisive factors in deadly house fires," (6) "Sylvia Young, the mother of the three children killed in the Bangor Street fire, has been wrongly victimized," and (7) "DTE Energy, its executives and regulating agencies bear primary responsibility for the deaths of Marvin Allen, Tyrone Allen, Lynn Greer, and the three Young children." The Citizens Inquiry also made a number of recommendations for solving the problems that it had uncovered.Committee Against Utility Shutoffs
In May 2010, workers and young people established the Committee Against Utility Shutoffs (CAUS) in response to the deadly house fires in Detroit, Michigan that were "the result of the shutoff of gas and electrical service by the local utility monopoly, DTE Energy."Public Conferences
In 2009, the Socialist Equality Party held regional public conferences in Los Angeles, California (May 10), New York City (May 3), and Ann Arbor, Michigan (April 25). The topic of the conferences was "The world economic crisis, the failure of capitalism and the case for socialism." According to a report, the conferences were attended by workers and students from across the country. A resolution passed at the conference was later published by the party on May 20.On April 18 and 19 2010, the party held a public conference in Ann Arbor, Michigan on the topic of "Social Crisis and War: The Fight for a Socialist Alternative." A report claimed that the conference was attended by "many workers and working class youth who have been drawn into politics by the economic crisis." On April 23, the party published the resolutions passed at the conference on the World Socialist Web Site
World Socialist Web Site
The World Socialist Web Site is the online news and information center of the International Committee of the Fourth International . The site publishes articles and analysis covering a wide range of topics and events all around the world. The daily 'Perspective' article presents the position of the...
. The resolution on socialist program called for "the international unity of the working class," "the political independence of the working class," "an emergency public works program," "nationalization of the banks and major corporations," "redistribution of wealth," and "an end to militarism and war," and "defense of democratic rights."
Elections
The Socialist Equality Party has also run candidates in several recent elections. In 2003, it ran John Christopher Burton in the California recall gubernatorial elections, although it urged people to vote "No" on the recall because it saw the recall campaign as an anti-democratic attempt by right-wing forces to undo the results of the election that happened only a few months earlier. Burton received 6,000 votes and came in 13th in a field of 135 candidates.In the 2004 presidential elections, it nominated Bill Van Auken
Bill Van Auken
Bill Van Auken is a politician and activist for the Socialist Equality Party and was a presidential candidate in the U.S. election of 2004, announcing his candidacy on January 27, 2004. His running mate was Jim Lawrence. He came in 15th for the popular vote, receiving 1,857 votes. In November...
for President and Jim Lawrence for Vice-President.
The Socialist Equality Party also ran candidates for the 2006 US mid-term elections, including Bill Van Auken
Bill Van Auken
Bill Van Auken is a politician and activist for the Socialist Equality Party and was a presidential candidate in the U.S. election of 2004, announcing his candidacy on January 27, 2004. His running mate was Jim Lawrence. He came in 15th for the popular vote, receiving 1,857 votes. In November...
for US Senate in New York State, Jerome White for Congress in Michigan and John Burton for Congress in California. In its elections it called for the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all US troops from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Other candidates, announced on the World Socialist Web Site
World Socialist Web Site
The World Socialist Web Site is the online news and information center of the International Committee of the Fourth International . The site publishes articles and analysis covering a wide range of topics and events all around the world. The daily 'Perspective' article presents the position of the...
on May 15, 2006 included:
- Joe Parnarauskis, a nurse, for Illinois State Senate (District 52, Champaign-Urbana)
- Eric Des Marais, a graduate student, for Maine State Senate (District 32, BangorBangor, MaineBangor is a city in and the county seat of Penobscot County, Maine, United States, and the major commercial and cultural center for eastern and northern Maine...
) - Christie M. Schaefer, a service worker, for Oregon State Senate (District 19, PortlandPortland, OregonPortland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
) - Paul Palinkas, a computer consultant, for Washington State House (District 36, SeattleSeattle, WashingtonSeattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
)
In 2008, the party did not seek ballot status, citing "prohibitive ballot access laws." It instead encouraged voters to write the candidates in
Write-in candidate
A write-in candidate is a candidate in an election whose name does not appear on the ballot, but for whom voters may vote nonetheless by writing in the person's name. Some states and local jurisdictions allow a voter to affix a sticker with a write-in candidate's name on it to the ballot in lieu...
.
In 2009, the party sponsored D’Artagnan Collier in the Detroit mayoral election
Detroit mayoral election, 2009
The Detroit mayoral elections of 2009 took place on May 5, 2009, with a primary on February 24, 2009 to fill the vacancy created when Kwame Kilpatrick resigned as Mayor....
.
In 2010, the party sponsored Collier as a candidate for state representative in Michigan’s 9th District in Detroit.
Presidential tickets
- 1984 - Edward WinnEdward WinnEdward Winn was a third-party candidate for President of the United States in the 1984 and 1988 presidential elections, representing the Socialist Equality Party . In 1984 his running mate varied from state to state, being either Helen Halyard or Edward Bergonzi Edward Winn (February 12, 1937 —...
and Helen HalyardHelen HalyardHelen Halyard was a third-party candidate for President of the United States in the 1992 presidential election, representing the Socialist Equality Party , also called the Workers League...
, 10,801 votes - 1988 - Edward WinnEdward WinnEdward Winn was a third-party candidate for President of the United States in the 1984 and 1988 presidential elections, representing the Socialist Equality Party . In 1984 his running mate varied from state to state, being either Helen Halyard or Edward Bergonzi Edward Winn (February 12, 1937 —...
and Helen HalyardHelen HalyardHelen Halyard was a third-party candidate for President of the United States in the 1992 presidential election, representing the Socialist Equality Party , also called the Workers League...
, 18,693 votes - 1992 - Helen HalyardHelen HalyardHelen Halyard was a third-party candidate for President of the United States in the 1992 presidential election, representing the Socialist Equality Party , also called the Workers League...
and Fred MazelisFred MazelisFred Mazelis was a third-party candidate for Vice President of the United States in the 1992 and 1996 presidential elections, representing the Socialist Equality Party. He was the running mate of Helen Halyard and Jerome White respectively....
, 3,050 votes - 1996 - Jerome White and Fred Mazelis, 2,438 votes
- 2004 - Bill Van AukenBill Van AukenBill Van Auken is a politician and activist for the Socialist Equality Party and was a presidential candidate in the U.S. election of 2004, announcing his candidacy on January 27, 2004. His running mate was Jim Lawrence. He came in 15th for the popular vote, receiving 1,857 votes. In November...
and Jim LawrenceJim LawrenceJim Lawrence may refer to:* Jim Lawrence , football player for the Chicago Cardinals* Jim Lawrence Canadian baseball player-See also:*Jimmy Lawrence, Scottish footballer*James Lawrence...
, 1,857 votes - 2008 - Jerome White and Bill Van AukenBill Van AukenBill Van Auken is a politician and activist for the Socialist Equality Party and was a presidential candidate in the U.S. election of 2004, announcing his candidacy on January 27, 2004. His running mate was Jim Lawrence. He came in 15th for the popular vote, receiving 1,857 votes. In November...
, no ballot access