Independence Party
|
|
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Chairman | William Randolph Hearst |
Founded | 1906 |
Dissolved | 1914 |
Preceded by | Municipal Ownership League |
Headquarters | New York City, NY |
Newspaper | Hearst Newspapers |
Ideology |
Reformism Merit system Progressivism |
Colors | Bronze (party's medal color) |
The Independence Party, established as the Independence League, was a short-lived minor American political party sponsored by newspaper publisher and United States Representative William Randolph Hearst in 1906. The organization was the successor to the Municipal Ownership League, under whose colors Hearst had run for Mayor of New York in 1905.
Following its second-place finish in a race for Governor of Massachusetts in 1907, the party set its sights on the Presidency, and held a national convention to nominate a ticket in 1908. The party garnered 83,000 votes in the 1908 election, however, and immediately dissolved as a national force.
The Independence League of New York continued to nominate candidates for office in New York state until the state election of 1914.
In 1905 millionaire newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst made a high-profile run for Mayor of New York City under the banner of the Municipal Ownership League. Hearst ran on a reform ticket in opposition to incumbent Tammany Hall Democrat George B. McClellan, Jr. and Republican William Mills Ivins, Sr. Hearst narrowly missed election, losing to the Democrat by fewer than 3,500 votes out of nearly 600,000 cast between the three candidates, with the New York Supreme Court ultimately deciding the matter in favor of Tammany Hall on June 30 amidst charges of electoral fraud.