American Solidarity Party

The American Solidarity Party (ASP) is a Christian democratic political party in the United States. It was founded in 2011 and officially incorporated in 2016. The party has a Solidarity National Committee (SNC) and has numerous active state and local chapters. Peter Sonski is the party's nominee in the 2024 United States presidential election.

The American Solidarity Party has been characterized as socially conservative while supporting government intervention in economic matters. The ASP encourages social development along the lines of subsidiarity and sphere sovereignty, with a stated emphasis on "the importance of strong families, local communities, and voluntary associations". It favors fiscally progressive policies and a social market economy with a distributist character,  that seeks "widespread economic participation and ownership" and providing a social safety net program.

Names and symbols
The party's original name was inspired by its European counterparts, the Polish trade union Solidarity, and the current one reflects its more developed ideology and focus in the years since.

The ASP mascot is the pelican, a traditional symbol of charity. The party's political color is orange, like other Christian-democratic political parties.

On social media, ASP members use the orange heart emoji to denote their "whole-life ethic" and Christian democratic influences.

Members of the American Solidarity Party use the demonym 'Solidarist' to refer to themselves.

History
The ASP was founded in 2011 as the Christian Democratic Party USA (CDPUSA). In 2012, the CDPUSA endorsed the independent candidacy of Joe Schriner for president. In December 2020, the American Solidarity Party joined the board of the Coalition for Free and Open Elections (COFOE).

Ideology
The American Solidarity Party largely adheres to the ideology of Christian democracy, which has been influenced by Catholic social teaching, Neo-Calvinist theology and the social teachings espoused by other traditions of Christianity in various parts of the world. As such, the ASP looks to the Christian democratic movements in Europe and the Americas.

The American Solidarity Party has been characterized as conservative on social issues while supporting government intervention in economic matters, making it communitarian.

Social issues
The American Solidarity Party opposes abortion, euthanasia, and capital punishment on the basis of the sanctity of human life. It views the traditional, heterosexual family as being central to society.

The American Solidarity Party advocates for a sympathetic approach to immigration. They believe in balancing the need for secure borders with a commitment to human dignity. This involves addressing the root causes of migration, such as the impact of the country's military, political, and economic power abroad.

Economic issues
The American Solidarity Party supports a universal healthcare system as well as an economy containing widespread distribution of productive property, in particular increased worker ownership and management of their production.

Foreign policy issues
The American Solidarity Party is non-interventionist in its foreign policy, using peace as its guiding principle. It supports foreign aid and nonviolent diplomacy, while opposing violent military action as a means to resolve conflicts.

Electoral reform
The American Solidarity Party advocates for electoral reform, aiming to combat what they call a "political oligarchy" and gridlock. They propose proportional representation for the House of Representatives, endorse ranked-choice voting or approval voting in all elections, and support easy voter registration. The party also emphasizes fair access for independent candidates, access to impartial information, and pilot programs for electronic voting with consideration for security concerns.

Influences
Daniel Silliman writes that the American Solidarity Party, as with other Christian-democratic political parties, draws from Catholic social teaching and Neo-Calvinist theology. In the same vein, David McPherson says that the American Solidarity Party "affirm[s] ... the full spectrum of Catholic social teaching (namely, the teachings regarding the sanctity of human life, the common good, subsidiarity, religious freedom, solidarity, etc.)," contrasting the ASP to both the Republican Party and the Democratic Party, each of which recognizes only some of these items. Its strongest support is in California and Texas, according to the Madera Tribune (of Madera, California).

Presidential election
During the 2016 presidential election season, the American Solidarity Party held an online convention on July 9, 2016, which nominated Amir Azarvan of Georgia for president and Mike Maturen of Michigan for vice-president. However, Azarvan subsequently withdrew, and in response the ticket was revised, with Maturen running for president and Juan Muñoz of Texas running for vice-president.

For the 2016 election, the American Solidarity Party was listed on the ballot in Colorado. It was a certified write-in option in Alabama, California, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Vermont, and Washington. Maturen received 6,697 reported votes, not including states that did not report votes for him.

2017
For the November 2017 off-year elections, the American Solidarity Party ran a candidate for New Jersey legislature, Monica Sohler, in the 6th district. She received 821 votes.

2018
Desmond Silveira, a software engineer, was a national committee member of the American Solidarity Party, served as the campaign manager for the Maturen-Muñoz 2016 campaign, the vice chair of the ASP, and the director of operations for the party. In 2018, he ran for governor, receiving 4,633 votes in the primary election.

Brian T. Carroll ran against Devin Nunes for California's 22nd congressional district receiving 1,591 votes in the primary election.

2020
Shane Ian Hoffman ran as the ASP's candidate in Ohio's 15th Congressional District. He did not make the ballot and was a write-in candidate.

Presidential election
In the 2020 U.S. presidential election, Brian Carroll, Joe Schriner, and Joshua Perkins announced their candidacies for the ASP nomination. Carroll was declared the winner of the nomination on September 9, 2019.

For the 2020 election, the American Solidarity Party was on the ballot in Arkansas, Colorado, Guam, Illinois, Louisiana, Mississippi, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin.

It was a certified write-in option in Alabama, Alaska, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and Wyoming.

2021
Benjamin Schmitz ran for state senate in the Wisconsin 13th state senate district in the April 6th legislative special election. Stephen Hollenberg ran for a state house seat in the Merrimack, New Hampshire special election on April 13, 2021.

California gubernatorial recall election
Dr. James G Hanink was endorsed by the American Solidarity Party for the 2021 California gubernatorial recall election. He hosts the Open Door podcast and is the president of the American Maritain Association. Dr. Hanink is a frequent contributor to the New Oxford Review and spent four decades dedicated to teaching at Loyola Marymount University and published papers in the areas of metaphysics, epistemology, and social thought. Hanink received 7,193 votes, 0.01% of all votes, an increase in both raw votes and percentage from Silveira's 2018 gubernatorial run.

2022
Dr. James G. Hanink ran again for governor of California in 2022. He received 10,110 votes.

Dr. Mark A. Ruzon ran as a write-in candidate for U.S. Senate in California, receiving 206 votes.

Desmond A. Silveira ran as a write-in candidate for California Secretary of State, receiving 235 votes.

Erskine L. Levi ran for U.S. Congress as a write-in candidate in California's 31st congressional district, receiving 17 votes.

Dr. Jacqueline Abernathy ran for governor of Texas as a write-in candidate, receiving 1,326 votes.

Solidarity National Committee member Dr. Tyler Martin ran for governor of Nebraska. Nebraska does not report write-in votes separately.

Oliver Black ran for U.S. Congress in Washington's 3rd congressional district, receiving 451 votes.

The party endorsed Democratic candidate and And Campaign co-founder Pastor Chris Butler for U.S. Congress in Illinois's 1st congressional district. He was eliminated in the Democratic primary, receiving 3,707 votes.

Presidential election
On June 2, 2023, Peter Sonski won the nomination of the party for President of the United States. The primary was conducted by an online members' vote. The vice presidential nominee, Lauren Onak, was selected by Sonski before the national convention in early July in Plano, Texas, and she was formally nominated there. The party will be on the ballot in Arkansas and Hawaii.

U.S. Senate election
Dr. Mark Ruzon ran for the 2024 United States Senate elections in California. Statewide polling indicated that he is an underdog in the race. In California's blanket primary system, all candidates regardless of party affiliation run together, and the top two proceed to the November election. On the Super Tuesday primary election, Ruzon received 13,429 votes, equal to 0.2%, placing 23rd out of 27 candidates on the ballot.

U.S. House of Representatives District 31 in California
Erskine Levi, Jr. ran for Congressional District 31 in California, participating in a candidate forum to discuss housing, climate, war and peace. He did not proceed past the first round of the blanket primary, placing 9th out of 10 candidates with 1,166 votes, or 1.2%.

Notable party supporters

 * Stephen Bainbridge, UCLA law professor
 * Charles A. Coulombe, Catholic author, historian, and lecturer
 * Patrick Deneen, author of Why Liberalism Failed, member of ASP board of advisors
 * Rod Dreher, senior editor and blogger at The American Conservative and author of several books, including How Dante Can Save Your Life and The Benedict Option
 * Dan Lipinski, former US representative
 * Terry Mattingly, journalist, author, and professor
 * Brian Carroll, former ASP presidential candidate
 * Mike Maturen, former ASP presidential candidate
 * Joe Schriner, former ASP presidential candidate
 * George Yancey, sociologist and professor of sociology at Baylor University
 * Howard Ahmanson Jr., philanthropist and writer