The Independent American Party of Nevada (IAPN) is a right-wing American political party and the Nevada affiliate of the Constitution Party. The party was founded in 1967 and affiliated with the Constitution Party after its forming in 1999.[1] It was one of four Constitution state parties that did not change their names to "Constitution Party".[2]
History
IAPN's high water mark was the 1974 Nevada gubernatorial election where IAPN's candidate, wealthy silver speculator James R. Houston, split the Republican vote and got 15.52% of the electorate, or 26,285 votes.[3][4]
1990s
The Nevada IAPN achieved some electoral success in the 1990s with the election of Chuck Horne as the mayor of Mesquite in a nonpartisan race.[5]
2010s
In the 2010 elections, three Independent American Party candidates were elected to local offices and one was re-elected.[6] Several IAPN candidates also performed well in various state and legislative elections, including the election for Nevada State Assembly, District 33, where Janine Hansen won 30.81% of the vote and placed second in a three-way race.[7] The IAP candidate for State Attorney General, Joel Hansen, also secured 7.81% of the vote.
At the close of registration in October 2010, the Independent American Party had a total number of 62,724 registered voters in the Party.[8]
On October 25, 2013, the party membership experienced a small split with some members staying with the Independent American Party of Nevada and others forming a new Constitution Party of Nevada.[9]
The party has a stronghold around Elko where the party often runs a full slate of candidates that see more success then compared with other parts of the state. There, state chairman Janine Hansen ran for the Nevada Senate for District 19.[10] There he got 27% of the vote.[11] Since 2012 the 19th District has been contested solely between the Republican and American Independent Party.
The party gained notoriety when Cliven Bundy, of Bundy standoff fame, came out as a registered member of the party, and spoke at a series of party events in 2018. Namely, Bundy was the keynote speaker of the party's convention on February 23, 2018, in Sparks. Prior to the convention 4.5% of registered voters in Nevada were registered with the Independent American Party.[12] At the convention Bundy was hailed as a hero against federal "corruption and tyranny" by the party's chairman[who?] and spoke at length about his armed standoff with the Bureau of Land Management.[13][14]
2020s
The party also consistently competes for Nevada's 2nd congressional district and in 2020 the election was a three-way race with the Republicans, Democrats and the American Independent Party, with Janine Hansen running as the IAPN's candidate and getting 2.7% of the vote.[15]
In the 2022 Reno mayoral election, the IAPN nominated Joaquin Roces, a National Alliance on Mental Illness employee with no prior political experience who ran on a platform of increasing homeless outreach, expanding funding to the fire-department, slashing casino subsidies, and expanding renewable energy in the city.[16] He got 627 votes, or 1.35% of the electorate, in distant 8th place.[17]
