Editing Paper candidate (section)

== United States ==

Paper candidates may be local party members, or [[Carpetbagging|members from neighbouring areas or from central office]] depending on the laws of the jurisdiction; most U.S. states, for example, require all candidates for state and local office to reside in the district they intend on representing for a certain length of time. The main purpose of fielding paper candidates is to maintain or improve the profile of a political party and, in two-party systems, to provide at least nominal opposition to a seemingly unassailable incumbent. Another potential use for paper candidacy is to allow a candidate who wants off the ballot of another race to do so by running for something else, a race they cannot possibly win (such as [[Rick Lazio]], who lost a Republican primary for [[2010 New York gubernatorial election|New York Governor in 2010]] but still had a third-party ballot line; in order to disqualify himself from the gubernatorial election Lazio was nominated for a judicial seat in the Bronx that was so heavily Democratic that he could not have possibly won if he wanted to, and he did not).<ref>Paybarah, Azi (28 September 2010). [http://www.wnyc.org/story/195556-judge-lazio/ Judge Lazio]. ''WNYC''. Retrieved 18 May 2014.</ref> The paper candidates themselves typically do little or no campaigning and neither incur nor claim any expenses.

There are circumstances where a paper candidate can win an election, often when the opposing candidate is unexpectedly embroiled in scandal; for example, then-27-year-old American [[Chris Smith (New Jersey politician)|Chris Smith]], who ran as a token opponent to New Jersey congressman [[Frank Thompson]] in 1978 and 1980, won the latter contest after Thompson was embroiled in the [[Abscam]] scandal.<ref name=NYTimes>Gruson, Lindsey (10 August 1991). [https://www.nytimes.com/1991/08/10/nyregion/decade-of-rep-smith-fluke-to-tactician.html "Decade of Rep. Smith: Fluke to Tactician"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', 10 August 1991. Accessed 28 March 2008. "He switched parties but lost in 1978 as the token opposition to Frank Thompson, a veteran Democrat who was chairman of the House Administration Committee. But he won in 1980, when Mr. Thompson was convicted of bribery and conspiracy in the Abscam scandal and later served two years in prison."</ref> Another example is [[Michael Patrick Flanagan]], a little-known Republican attorney who defeated longtime Democratic incumbent [[Dan Rostenkowski]], the onetime powerful Chair of the [[House Ways and Means Committee]], in a heavily Democratic Chicago-based district after Rostenkowski was indicted on charges of mail fraud. The victory occurred in 1994 as part of a [[Republican Revolution|national Republican wave]].<ref>{{cite news |author=Mary Schmich |date=9 November 2014 |title=20 years later, a talk with Chicago's 'accidental congressman' |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/columns/mary-schmich/ct-michael-flanagan-schmich-met-1109-20141109-column.html}}</ref>

In jurisdictions with strict [[campaign finance]] and spending laws governing elections, it is often a legal necessity to run the maximum number candidates permitted (or close thereto) in order to spend the maximum amount of money otherwise permitted by law. In such cases, parties will run paper candidates, but will usually endeavour to use the extra spending allowance afforded (at least to the extent that it may be permitted in the jurisdiction) to campaign in districts where they have a realistic chance of winning.

In [[Puerto Rico]], every party has to run candidates thus paper candidates can occur when parties form alliances.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.primerahora.com/noticias/gobierno-politica/notas/dalmau-cataloga-candidatura-de-medico-a-comisionado-residente-como-un-acto-de-generosidad-y-desprendimiento/|title=Dalmau cataloga candidatura de médico a comisionado residente como "un acto de generosidad y desprendimiento" |lang=es-PR|author= Osman Pérez Méndez|date=2 January 2024|access-date=26 July 2024|work=[[Primera Hora (Puerto Rico)|Primera Hora]]}}</ref>