In 1998, around 25 percent of the people checking the box designated the Reform Party. But in 1999, only seven percent identified with the new Independence Party. Thirty-three percent chose the DFL while 26 percent expressed a preference for Republican candidates. This loss of party identification says a lot about the state of the third party movement in our state. This leads me to the conclusion that independent voters are interest in candidates that are outside the norm but are not really interested in creating a separate party.
Independent voters are by definition leery of party operations and party officials.
Therefore, third party candidates may fare will in the state, but creating a third party is a different story.