2020 Constitution Party presidential primaries explained

Election Name:	2020 Constitution Party presidential primaries
Country:	United States
Type:	primary
Ongoing:	no
Party Name:	no
Candidate1:	Don Blankenship
Color1:	0B406B
Home State1:	West Virginia
States Carried1:	2
Popular Vote1:	641
Percentage1:	33.25%
Candidate2:	Uncommitted
Color2:	000000
States Carried2:	1
Popular Vote2:	397
Percentage2:	20.59%
Candidate3:	Don J. Grundmann
Color3:	DFCF7E
Home State3:	California
States Carried3:	0
Popular Vote3:	256
Percentage3:	13.28%
Candidate4:	Samm Tittle
Color4:	fb9bc2
Home State4:	Texas
States Carried4:	1
Popular Vote4:	199
Percentage4:	10.32%
Candidate5:	Charles Kraut
Color5:	800000
Home State5:	Virginia
States Carried5:	0
Popular Vote5:	186
Percentage5:	9.65%
Previous Election:	2016 Constitution Party presidential primaries
Previous Year:	2016
Election Date:	March 3–10, 2020
Next Year:	2024
Votes For Election:	339½ delegates to the Constitution Party National Convention
Constitution Party nominee
Before Election:	Darrell Castle
After Election:	Don Blankenship

The 2020 Constitution Party presidential primaries were a series of primary elections determining the allocation of delegates in the selection of the Constitution Party's presidential nominee in the 2020 United States presidential election. On May 2, 2020, the Constitution Party nominated Don Blankenship for president and William Mohr for vice-president. Several state parties split from the national Constitution Party to nominate their own candidates.

Background

Constitution Party nominees for president historically have received around 0.1% of the General Election vote. In 2016 with attorney Darrell Castle as its nominee, the party reached a milestone, receiving over 200,000 votes for president for the first time.^[1] During the early months of 2019, there was some consternation among Constitution Party members over a perceived lack of candidates for the nomination.^[2]

State affiliate disputes

After the Constitution Party chose Blankenship as its presidential nominee, there was substantial tension among several state affiliates of the Constitution Party over nominating Blankenship, who has been convicted of conspiring to willfully violate mine safety and health standards in relation to the Upper Big Branch Mine disaster.^[3] The same day that Blankenship was chosen as the nominee, the Constitution Party of Virginia broke with the national party, instead choosing to back Libertarian Justin Amash for the presidency.^[3]

On May 13, 2020, the Constitution Party of New Mexico also broke with the national CP, giving Blankenship's fellow candidate Samm Tittle their ballot line.^[4] Tittle was also endorsed by the Virginia Party after Amash withdrew from the presidential race.^[5] The Constitution Party of Idaho was reportedly considering not nominating William Mohr For Vice-President, and instead choosing their own vice-presidential nominee, but they eventually acquiesced and nominated him for vice-president.^{[6] [7]}

Candidates

Nominee

2020 Constitution Party ticket^[8]
for President	for Vice President
Coal executive	Chairman of the U.S. Taxpayers Party of Michigan
641 votes 2 states won (ID, MO)
Campaign

Defeated at convention

The following candidates received at least 5% of the vote at the 2020 Constitution Party national convention.^[8]

Name		Born	Experience	Home state	Campaign	Popular vote	Contests won	Ref
Don J. Grundmann		(age) Oakland, California	Chiropractor Chairman of the Constitution Party of California	California	FEC filing^[9]	data-sort-value="256"	256	0	^[10]
Samm Tittle		El Paso, Texas	Independent Candidate for President in 2012 and 2016	Texas	FEC filing^[11]	data-sort-value="1"	199	1 (NM)	^[12]
Charles Kraut		New York	Financial adviser and author	Virginia	FEC filing^[13]	data-sort-value="186"	186	0	^[14]

Debates

No.	Date	Time (ET)	Place	Sponsor(s)	Moderators	Ref
1	February 25, 2020	TBD	Online		Scott Copeland Ricardo Davis Randy Stufflebeam
2	February 29, 2020	TBD			TBD
3	March 4, 2020	TBD			Christina Tobin
4	April 1, 2020	TBD	Online	Vision 20/20	Randy Stufflebeam

Debates among candidates for the 2020 Constitution Party U.S. presidential nomination

Date	State	Host	Participants
Participant. Absent. Out of race (exploring, suspended, or not yet entered)			Blankenship	Cummings	Grundmann	Myers	Kraut	Tittle	Others
February 25, 2020^[15]	Online	Constitution Party of Texas							none
February 29, 2020^[16]	Boise, Idaho	Constitution Party of Idaho							none
March 4, 2020^[17]	Chicago, Illinois	Free & Equal Elections Foundation							none
April 1, 2020^[18]	Online	Vision 20/20							none

Timeline

	Active campaigns
	Withdrawn campaigns
	Midterm elections
	North Carolina primary
	National emergency declared due to COVID-19
	Constitution National Convention
	General election

2019

• August 30: Don J. Grundmann announced his campaign and filed his candidacy with the FEC.^[9]
• September 11: Don Blankenship announced his campaign.
• October 29: Charles Kraut announced his campaign and filed his candidacy with the FEC.^[13]
• October 31: Don Blankenship filed his candidacy with the FEC.

2020

• February 25: The first Constitution Party debate took place online, held by Constitution Party of Texas.^[15]
• February 29: The second Constitution Party debate took place in Boise, Idaho.^[16]
• March 3: The North Carolina primary took place. Uncommitted delegates win a majority.
• March 4: Two Constitution Party candidates took part in the Free & Equal elections debate that took place in Chicago.^[17]
• March 10: Blankenship won Idaho and Missouri.
• April 1: The third Constitution Party debate took place online.^[18]
• May 13: Tittle won New Mexico.

Primary and caucus calendar

!Date!Primaries/Caucuses/Conventions

March 3	North Carolina primary
March 10	Idaho primary Missouri primary
March 20	Wyoming primary
April 18	South Carolina primary
April 25	Utah primary
May 13	New Mexico primary

Ballot access

Filing for the primaries began in August 2019. indicates that the candidate was on the ballot for the upcoming primary contest and indicates that the candidate did not appear on the ballot in that state's contest.

Primaries and Caucuses

State/ Territory	Date							Ref
NC
ID
MO
UT								^[19]
NM								^[20]

Results

Date	Contest	Popular vote							Source<	--This is table is used on multiple articles, citations should be tied to the table.-->
		Don Blankenship	Don J. Grundmann	Sheila “Samm” Tittle	Charles Kraut	Daniel Clyde Cummings	J. R. Myers
March 3	North Carolina	102			62
March 10	Idaho	250	88	195	124	133	116
	Missouri	287	168					280
May 15	New Mexico	2		4
Popular vote (Percentage)		641 (33.25%)	256 (13.28%)	199 (10.32%)	186 (9.65%)	133 (6.90%)	116 (6.02%)	397 (20.59%)

North Carolina

North Carolina Constitution Party presidential primary, March 3, 2020^[21]
Candidate	Popular vote
	Count	Percentage
Uncommitted	117	41.64%
Don Blankenship	102	36.30%
Charles Kraut	62	22.06%
Total:	281	100%

Idaho

Idaho Constitution Party presidential primary, March 10, 2020^[22]
Candidate	Popular vote
	Count	Percentage
Don Blankenship	250	27.59%
Sheila “Samm” Tittle	195	21.52%
Daniel Clyde Cummings	133	14.68%
Charles Kraut	124	13.69%
J. R. Myers	116	12.80%
Don J. Grundmann	88	9.71%
Total:	906	100%

Missouri

Missouri Constitution Party presidential primary, March 10, 2020^[23]
Candidate	Popular vote
	Count	Percentage
Don Blankenship	287	39.05%
Uncommitted	280	38.10%
Don J. Grundmann	168	22.86%
Total:	735	100%

New Mexico

New Mexico Constitution Party presidential primary, May 15, 2020^[24]
Candidate	Popular vote
	Count	Percentage
Sheila “Samm” Tittle	4	66.67%
Don Blankenship	2	33.33%
Total:	6	100%

See also

• 2020 United States presidential election

National Conventions:

• 2020 Constitution Party National Convention
• 2020 Republican National Convention
• 2020 Democratic National Convention
• 2020 Libertarian National Convention
• 2020 Green National Convention

Presidential primaries

• 2020 Republican Party presidential primaries
• 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries
• 2020 Libertarian Party presidential primaries
• 2020 Green Party presidential primaries

Notes and References

1. Web site: 2016 National Results - Constitution Party. Constitution Party. May 29, 2013. February 25, 2020.
2. Web site: JR Myers: Where Are The Constitution Party 2020 POTUS Candidates?. Independent Political Report. Myers. J.R.. March 15, 2020. May 1, 2020.
3. Web site: Virginia Constitution Party Rejects Nomination of Blankenship, Wants Libertarian Justin Amash To Be Its Presidential Candidate. American Third Party Report. May 2, 2020. May 3, 2020.
4. Web site: New Mexico Constitution Party Rejects National CP Nominee. American Third Party Report. May 13, 2020. May 14, 2020.
5. Web site: Virginia Constitution Party Nominates Sheila Tittle for President. Ballot Access News. Winger. Richard. July 26, 2020. July 27, 2020.
6. Web site: CP-Idaho will still choose our own VP candidate.. American Third Party Report. Whitley. Floyd W.. May 14, 2020. May 14, 2020.
7. Web site: Idaho Constitution Party Nominates Don Blankenship for President. Ballot Access News. Winger. Richard. August 1, 2020. August 2, 2020.
8. Web site: Constitution Party Nominates Don Blankenship for President on Second Ballot. Ballot Access News. Winger. Richard. May 2, 2020. May 2, 2020.
9. Web site: GRUNDMANN FOR PRESIDENT. FEC.gov. August 30, 2019. February 27, 2020.
10. Web site: Fight the Power: The official site of Don J. Grundmann for President. Fightthepower.org.
11. Web site: TITTLE, SHEILA "SAMM". Federal Electoral Commission. January 28, 2020. May 2, 2020.
12. Web site: Samm Tittle's Biography. Vote Smart. May 2, 2020.
13. Web site: Statement of Candidacy. docquery.fec.gov. 2019.
14. Web site: About Charles Kraut. February 26, 2020. Charles W. Kraut 2020.
15. Web site: Texas Constitution Party 2020 Presidential Debate. YouTube. Constitution Party of Texas. Stufflebeam. Randall. February 25, 2020. April 17, 2020.
16. Web site: Idaho Constitution Party sets presidential debate in Boise on Feb. 29. Idaho County Free Press. February 26, 2020. February 27, 2020.
17. Web site: FREE & EQUAL ELECTIONS' OPEN PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE. Free & Equal. February 26, 2020. September 13, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200913031923/https://freeandequal.org/presidential-debate-2020/. dead.
18. Web site: Debate 1 - The Constitution - Part 1. YouTube. Vision 20/20. Stufflebeam. Randall. April 1, 2020. April 17, 2020.
19. Web site: Constitution Party of Utah Fails to Attract Any Presidential Candidates.
20. Web site: New Mexico Constitution Party Rejects National CP Nominee.
21. Web site: North Carolina State Board of Elections . 03/03/2020 Unofficial Local Election Results - Statewide . March 4, 2020.
22. Web site: State of Idaho Elections Department . Election Night Results. March 10, 2020.
23. Web site: Missouri Secretary of State . State of Missouri - Election Night. March 10, 2020.
24. Web site: New Mexico Constitution Party Rejects National CP Nominee.

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