Personal Choice Party
Encyclopedia
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
political party
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...
whose presidential candidate for 2004 qualified for the ballot in the state of Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
.
The first State Convention of the Personal Choice Party of Utah was held May 22, 2004, at Fairmont Park in Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC. With a population of 186,440 as of the 2010 Census, the city lies in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which has a total population of 1,124,197...
. The Personal Choice Party dates back to approximately 1997, and was organized by Dr. Ken Larsen
Ken Larsen
Ken Larsen was the Personal Choice Party candidate for governor of Utah in 2004, receiving 8,399 votes for 0.9%. He is a medical researcher in Salt Lake City and has a Ph.D. in Zoology from Brigham Young University...
, an ex-Mormon
Mormon
The term Mormon most commonly denotes an adherent, practitioner, follower, or constituent of Mormonism, which is the largest branch of the Latter Day Saint movement in restorationist Christianity...
from Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
with a Ph.D.
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
in Zoology
Zoology
Zoology |zoölogy]]), is the branch of biology that relates to the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct...
from Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University is a private university located in Provo, Utah. It is owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , and is the United States' largest religious university and third-largest private university.Approximately 98% of the university's 34,000 students...
.
Prior to forming the Personal Choice Party, Ken Larsen was well known as a political activist and frequent candidate for numerous political offices in Utah under the ballot lines of several minor parties including the Libertarian Party
Libertarian Party (United States)
The Libertarian Party is the third largest and fastest growing political party in the United States. The political platform of the Libertarian Party reflects its brand of libertarianism, favoring minimally regulated, laissez-faire markets, strong civil liberties, minimally regulated migration...
and the Independent American Party
Independent American Party
The Independent American Party officially started in 1998. It began as the Utah Independent American Party. The founders claim to have been inspired by a speech given by Ezra Taft Benson, former United States Secretary of Agriculture, entitled “The Proper Role of Government”. The initial party...
.
Philosophy
Personal Choice asserts that everyone has free agency and individual rightsIndividual rights
Group rights are rights held by a group rather than by its members separately, or rights held only by individuals within the specified group; in contrast, individual rights are rights held by individual people regardless of their group membership or lack thereof...
. Personal Choice expresses the philosophy of "live and let live." Personal Choice demands that, "as long as I am not hurting anyone else, only I have the right to choose how I spend my time, my wealth, my life, my honor." It could be considered a libertarian
Libertarianism
Libertarianism, in the strictest sense, is the political philosophy that holds individual liberty as the basic moral principle of society. In the broadest sense, it is any political philosophy which approximates this view...
party.
The preamble of the party's constitution - which specifies that it is the personal opinion of the party's founders - states:
- The purpose of government is to prevent us from harming others and to prevent others from harming us. That is all we should expect or allow government to do. It is not the job of government to stop us from harming ourselves, or to make us help others. That is our responsibility as individuals.
Issues
PCP supports drastic reductions in government. Many other positions have been attributed to PCP; however, PCP emphasizes that these positions are those of individual PCP members and not those of the party as a whole.Principal figures
- Charles JayCharles JayCharles Jay was the Presidential nominee of the United States Boston Tea Party in the 2008 United States presidential election. He was the presidential nominee of the Personal Choice Party in the 2004 election, achieving ballot status in Utah, and received 946 votes in the general election, coming...
, 2004 Presidential nominee, and former candidate for 2004 Libertarian PartyLibertarian Party (United States)The Libertarian Party is the third largest and fastest growing political party in the United States. The political platform of the Libertarian Party reflects its brand of libertarianism, favoring minimally regulated, laissez-faire markets, strong civil liberties, minimally regulated migration...
Vice President - Marilyn Chambers TaylorMarilyn ChambersMarilyn Chambers was an American pornographic actress, exotic dancer, model, actress and vice-presidential candidate...
, 2004 Vice-Presidential Nominee - Dr. Ken LarsenKen LarsenKen Larsen was the Personal Choice Party candidate for governor of Utah in 2004, receiving 8,399 votes for 0.9%. He is a medical researcher in Salt Lake City and has a Ph.D. in Zoology from Brigham Young University...
, Moderator (as opposed to Chairman) of the Personal Choice Party, Utah Gubernatorial Candidate (8,399 votes 0.9%)
Other election campaigns
The Personal Choice candidates also ran candidates in the Utah 2004 senate elections and two of Utah’s three 2004 house elections. In these races, Republican incumbents were all easily reelected. Personal Choice candidates Joe Labonte (United States Senate), Richard Soderberg (Utah United States House First District) and Curtis James (Utah United States House Third District) each received 1% of the vote, coming in last place.The Personal Choice Party also ran candidates in some Utah elections in 2006. Its most notable candidate, Roger Ira Price, who ran for the United States Senate in 2006, received 1.6% of the vote. The party also ran candidates in some state legislature races. The most any candidate received was 4% of the vote. Some controversy was caused when it was alleged that some voters were confused by the party's positive name, including its smiley-face logo, which appeared on voting machines which, in Utah, give the option for voters to vote for all candidates in one political party at the same time. The party received 14% of the single-party votes in Salt Lake County, which some believe was caused by this confusion. However, many of these voters apparently voted for other candidates before officially submitting their vote. Party founder Ken Larsen said that there was no confusion, mentioning that in 2004 and 2005 12% of Utah taxpayers agreed to donate $2 to the Personal Choice Party on their tax forms, though the party did not accept the funds.