page_title: Third-party and independent candidates for the 1996 United States presidential election
section_title: Reform Party nomination
hierarchical_section_title: Third-party and independent candidates for the 1996 United States presidential election / Ballot access to all 538 electoral votes / Reform Party nomination
context_page_description: "Third party" is a term commonly used in the United States in reference to political parties other than the two major parties, the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. An independent candidate is one who runs for office with no formal party affiliation.
  Parties with ballot access in states holding 270 or more electoral votes are listed first in this article because 270 electoral votes represent a majority of the 538 electoral votes in the Electoral College.
context_section_description: Reform candidates
  Ross Perot – party founder and businessman from Texas
  Richard Lamm – former Governor of Colorado
  David L. Boren – former Senator from and former Governor of Oklahoma (declined)
  Lowell P. Weicker, Jr. – former Senator from and former Governor of Connecticut (declined)
  Tim Penny – former Representative from Minnesota (declined)
  The United States Reform Party had great difficulty in finding a candidate willing to run in the general election. Lowell Weicker, Tim Penny, David Boren and Richard Lamm were among those who toyed with the notion of seeking its presidential nomination, though all but Lamm decided against it; Lamm had himself come close to withdrawing his name from consideration.
  Ultimately, the Reform Party nominated its founder Ross Perot of Texas in its first election as an official political party. Although Perot easily won the nomination, his victory at the party's national convention led to a schism as supporters of Lamm accused him of rigging the vote to prevent them from casting their ballots. This faction walked out of the national convention and eventually formed their own group, the American Reform Party, and attempted to convince Lamm to run as an Independent in the general election; Lamm declined, pointing out a promise he made before running that he would respect the Party's final decision.
  Economist Pat Choate was nominated for Vice President.
caption: Ross Perot was on the ballot in every state.