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Elon Musk says he's forming a new political party. The billionaire and former Trump adviser announced what he calls the America Party after harshly criticizing President Trump's sweeping tax cut and spending bill. Musk isn't the first to try to forge a third party. NPR's Ashley Lopez looks at the history.
ASHLEY LOPEZ, BYLINE: It's not like there's never been a third party with any meaningful representation in Congress.
RICHARD WINGER: Way back in 1914, we had five robust parties in this country.
LOPEZ: That's Richard Winger. He runs a website called Ballot Access News. He says back then, the Democratic, Republican, Progressive, Socialist and Prohibition parties were all on the ballot in almost every U.S. House district. Winger says these days, it's pretty much unheard of for a third party to get on the ballot in most U.S. House districts.
WINGER: The Libertarians managed to run just over half the seats back in 2000, but ever since then, no party - no third party has been able to run for the U.S. House in more than a fourth of the seats.
LOPEZ: A big reason for that is that there are a patchwork of laws across states that decide who gets on a ballot. Winger says most state lawmakers don't care much when it comes to third-party presidential candidates, so the laws are a little more lenient at the top of the ticket.
WINGER: But when they write the law on how a new party or an independent gets on the ballot for district office - in other words, U.S. House and state legislature - that affects them directly. So the laws are much tougher for those offices.
LOPEZ: So third-party candidates have to spend a lot of time and money gathering signatures for voters in their district to petition to appear on a ballot. And in the last few years, Winger says, some state legislatures have decided to make their rules even tougher. If you look at the history of ballot access laws, this tends to happen during tense political times.
WINGER: When the country is happy, when we have prosperity and general contentment, the ballot access laws get easier. They especially got easier in the 1990s, especially the late '90s. We made huge progress. Every time the country's in trouble, like in the '30s and the '60s, they get harder.
LOPEZ: Depending on state laws, some congressional races might be easier for third-party candidates to qualify for. But overall, Winger says, creating a viable third party with real influence in Congress will not be easy.
Ashley Lopez, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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