Spoiler Warning? Kendall County Party meets threshold to remain established

Following the the 2024 election, pundits are examining third party votes to see if they played a spoiler role. On the local level, members of the Kendall County Party argue they enhance the democratic process by making the two major parties more accountable for their partisan views.

After having two candidates achieve the 5% threshold of all votes cast within their respective races in the Nov. 5 general election, the Kendall County Party gets to remain an officially certified established political party by the county. Parties must reach the threshold every two years to remain certified.

Certification comes with some perks. Candidates running as an independent need to acquire .05% of registered voters’ signatures within a district to qualify for an election, however, if your party is certified, you only need .005% of signatures – often hundreds fewer.

In the race for a Kendall County Board District 1 seat, Todd Milliron received 5.51% of the vote, enough to reach the threshold, but not enough to win one of the three open seats which were all retained by Republican incumbents.

The party fielded one other candidate. Bob Allen received 10.55% of the votes in the race for Kendall County Circuit Clerk. Following the election, Democratic candidate Tiara McCullough, who received 41.16% of the vote, said she thought votes cast for Allen hurt her chances at winning.

Allen said he didn’t think most of his voters, who supported his platform of budgetary constraint, would have supported the Democrat looking to expand the office.

“I think apathy is a major concern for our country right now, people who have become frustrated are less confident about participating in our democracy,” Allen said. “Our democracy needs participation to survive. A lot of voters were double haters of the two major parties, which are seeing so much extremism, it certainly gives people concern.”

While third parties are often seen as spoilers, Rich Kiefer, professor of political science and history at Waubonsee Community College, said it’s not a given how third party voters would have voted without them. He said they might have even refrained from voting.

“In theory, having more choice on the ballot should be more democratic, allowing voters to gravitate towards parties and issues they care more about, motivating them to come to the polls,” Kiefer said. “Statistics show when people go to vote, even if they support a third party, they still gravitate towards the two major parties.”

Allen plans to run again because he believes a third party provides an outlet for voters who are disenchanted with the major parties and who want to focus on local issues from the grassroots level. When asked if he believes third parties prevent the two major parties from being more inclusive, Allen said he believes they return the focus to local accountability and transparency.

“If you look at the power that national parties wield, even at the local level with dark money, it’s frightening to consider how little control Americans have over their politics,” Allen said. “We need more community involvement from people that aren’t under the influence of larger entities that may not want the best for the people who live here. In Kendall County, we have one power that has a certain level of influence where they’re basically untouchable.”

Kiefer said systemic reasons within America’s political framework has favored a dominant two-party system since about 1860.

“If you’re an upstart party or a minority party with limited resources, you just can’t compete with the amount of money seeping into local elections,” Kiefer said. “Also, it’s a winner-take-all system, you don’t get anything for second or third place. Minor parties could gain some seats if we had a multi-party system or proportional representation, but it could lead to politics becoming more fractured with no majority, making the government more fragile.”

Following his race, Milliron said when one political party dominates the levers of power across a county, it diminishes accountability and responsiveness to the people.

“I’m a firm believer if you’re persistent enough the issue will see some sunlight. It doesn’t happen overnight, but the issue gets dealt with, it’s just a matter of how much public opinion or pressure you can bring on the people elected to make our decisions,” he said said.

Kiefer said the true success of third parties in America has not been from their election victories but from their ability to push their narratives forward. While they may not win victories, the major parties will sometimes take on the message of the third parties.

“If the Green Party has a popular environmental issue, Democrats often start talking about it,” he said. “In the past, you had a lot of cannabis legislation parties, once their ideas started gaining traction, the major parties took on the issue.”

Milliron said the party plans to expand, with their candidate Terry Olson running for Oswego trustee in the consolidated elections this spring. He said while he understand’s the Democratic party’s disappointment, he argued ballots for his party were anything but wasted votes. He said each vote was a call for greater transparency with how local tax funds are being spent.

“When you cast your vote for a local election, where every vote matters, it has much more power and influence in comparison to statewide and national elections, Milliron said. “Our officials can do better with transparency and accountability. The longer we run candidates the more people will recognize that we are a party interested only in local issues, local government, and local spending, without a lot of the political drama of culture wars.”