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Perennial candidate

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File:Mike the Mover RV.jpg
Mike The Mover has run for various offices under various political affiliations on 17 occasions to promote his furniture moving business.

A perennial candidate is a political candidate who frequently runs for elected office and rarely, if ever, wins.<ref name="PoliticoMagazine1">Template:Cite news</ref> Perennial candidates are most common where there is no limit on the number of times that a person can run for office and little cost to register as a candidate.<ref name="CBCPerennialCandidate">Template:Cite news</ref>

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DefinitionEdit

A number of modern articles related to electoral politics or elections have identified those who have run for elected office and lost two to three times, and then decide to mount a campaign again as perennial candidates.<ref name="NPRPerennialCandidate">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> However, some articles have listed a number of notable exceptions.<ref name="CBCPerennialCandidate"/><ref name="PoliticoMagazine2">Template:Cite news</ref>

Some who have had their campaign applications rejected by their country's electoral authority multiple times have also been labelled as perennial candidates.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Reason for runningEdit

It has been noted that some perennial candidates take part in an election with the aim of winning,<ref name="NPRPerennialCandidate"/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and some do have ideas to convey on the campaign trail, regardless of their chance for winning.<ref name="CBCPerennialCandidate"/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Others have names similar to known candidates, and hope that the confusion will lead to success.

Some perennial candidates may mount a run as a way to help strengthen their party's standing in a parliamentary body, in an effort to become kingmaker in the event of a political stalemate.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Some perennial candidates have been accused of running for office continuously as a way to get public election funding.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Some have also been accused of being backed by the government of their country, in an effort to make the government appear more rational in comparison.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Novelty candidates are those who run for office as a form of satire or protest, with no serious policies.

AmericasEdit

ArgentinaEdit

BoliviaEdit

BrazilEdit

Due to the complex and intricate political system in Brazil concerning political parties, there are more than 30 political parties. In this scenario, it is very useful to have hopeless candidates who can make a good number of votes and increase the overall votes count of a party (or coalition). As a consequence, there are thousands of small perennial candidates for local elections around the country, whose sole purpose is helping others get elected, then ask for a job in the elected government cabinet.Template:Original research inline

File:Sessão Ordinária - José Maria Eymael - 18.06.2018 (28015948837) (cropped).jpg
José Maria Eymael
  • José Maria Eymael, a fringe political figure, ran for the Presidency six times (1998, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018 and 2022); he failed to reach 1% of the votes in any of those. He also unsuccessfully ran for mayor of São Paulo in 1985 and 1992, though he won two terms in the lower house of the National Congress of Brazil, from 1987 to 1995.
  • Rui Costa Pimenta, leader and founder of the Trotskyist Workers' Cause Party (PCO), ran for the Presidency in 2002, 2010 and 2014 (his candidacy in 2006 was blocked by the Superior Electoral Court). He was last in all his runs, with his best performance being 0.04% of the votes in 2002.
  • Vera Guasso, labor union leader and member of the Unified Socialist Workers Party (PSTU), ran for the Porto Alegre city assembly, mayor of Porto Alegre, the Brazilian Senate and other positions in a non-stop serial candidacy (every two years) from the early 90s on. In her best results, she had numbers of votes in local Porto Alegre elections similar to those of lesser-voted elected candidates but did not get a seat due to her party's overall voting being small. PSTU traditionally enters elections with no visible chance to, allegedly, "put a leftist set of points in discussion" and "build the party" but has lately achieved some expressive numbers.Template:Citation needed
  • Enéas Carneiro, a cardiologist and founder of the far-right Party of the Reconstruction of the National Order (PRONA), ran for presidency three times, in 1989, 1994 and 1998. He was mostly known for his comical style of speech on political broadcasts (due in part to the reduced TV time his party had) and his distinct beard. He also ran for mayor in São Paulo at the 2000 elections, before finally being elected federal deputy in 2002 with record voting. He was re-elected in 2006 but died in 2007 from myeloid leukemia.
  • José Maria de Almeida, leader of the Trotskyist United Socialist Workers' Party (PSTU), ran for the Presidency on four occasions: 1998, 2002, 2010 and 2014. His best performance was in 2002 when he got 0.47% of the votes.
  • Levy Fidelix, leader and founder of the conservative Brazilian Labour Renewal Party (PRTB), ran for all municipal and general elections held in Brazil from 1996 to 2020. He was twice candidate for the Presidency (in 2010 and 2014), twice candidate for the Governor of São Paulo (in 1998 and 2002) and five times candidate for the Mayor of São Paulo (in 1996, 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2020), never being elected for any position in his political career. He succumbed to COVID-19 on April 23, 2021.

CanadaEdit

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File:John Turmel at Toronto-Danforth 2012 By-Election Meeting.jpg
John Turmel according to the Guinness World Records holds the records for the most elections contested and for the most elections lost, having contested 112 elections and lost 111.

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ChileEdit

ColombiaEdit

  • Horacio Serpa Uribe, three-times Liberal Party's presidential candidate (1998, 2002, 2006).
  • Antanas Mockus, two-times presidential candidate (2006, 2010), one-time vicepresidential candidate (1998).
  • Noemí Sanín, three-times Conservative Party's presidential candidate (1998, 2002, 2010).
  • Álvaro Gómez Hurtado, three times Conservative Party's presidential candidate (1974, 1986, 1990).
  • Enrique Peñalosa, five-times Bogotá's mayor candidate (1994, 1997, 2007, 2011, 2015), one-time senatorial candidate (2006), one-time presidential candidate (2014).
  • Sergio Fajardo, two-times presidential candidate (2018, 2022), one-time vice presidential candidate (2010).
  • Regina 11, three-times presidential candidate (1986, 1990, 1994).

Costa RicaEdit

EcuadorEdit

  • Álvaro Noboa ran unsuccessfully for president in 1998, 2002, 2006, 2009 and 2013; he attempted to run for president in 2021 but his candidacy was suspended by the electoral authorities due to an alleged violation of registration requirements. His son, Daniel, was successfully elected as president in the 2023 election and reelected in 2025.

MexicoEdit

File:Nicolás Zuñiga y Miranda.jpg
Nicolás Zúñiga y Miranda
  • Nicolás Zúñiga y Miranda was a presidential candidate 10 times: 1892, 1896, 1900, 1904, 1910, 1911, 1913, 1917, 1920 and 1924 and also tried to run for a seat in the Congress of Mexico at least twice. The eccentric Zúñiga never got more than a few votes, but always claimed to have been the victim of fraud and considered himself to be the legitimate President.
  • Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas was a presidential candidate three times: 1988, 1994 and 2000, also was elected the first Head of Government of Mexico City in 1997, was the leader of PRD, the left-wing mayor party and was Governor of the state of Michoacan.
  • Andrés Manuel López Obrador ran unsuccessfully for president two times, in 2006 and 2012, before being elected president in 2018. He failed to acknowledge the results of his first presidential loss in 2006, protesting for months in the capital of the country during the aftermath.

NicaraguaEdit

  • Daniel Ortega ran unsuccessfully for president in 1990, 1996 and 2001, before being elected president in 2006.

ParaguayEdit

  • Domingo Laíno ran unsuccessfully for president three times: 1989, 1993, and 1998. His best performance was in 1998, with 43.88% of the votes.
  • Efraín Alegre was a presidential candidate three times: 2013 and 2018, and 2023. His best performance was in 2018, with 45.08% of the votes.

PeruEdit

  • Roger Cáceres, FRENATRACA presidential candidate in 1980 with 2% of the vote, 1985 with 2% of the vote and 1990 with 1.3% of the vote.
  • Ezequiel Ataucusi, FREPAP presidential candidate in 1990 with 1.1% of the vote, in 1995 with 0.8% of votes and in 2000 with 0.75% of votes.
  • Ricardo Noriega, presidential candidate for All for Victory in 2001 with 0.31% of the vote and for Desperate National in 2011 with 0.15% of the vote. He was also a candidate from Independent Civic Union for senator in 1990.
  • Andrés Alcántara, presidential candidate of Direct Democracy in 2021 with 0.29% of the vote. He also was not elected as a congressman in the 2000 elections, 2016 and 2020, and as Mayor of Santiago de Chuco.
  • Ciro Gálvez ran unsuccessfully for president three times in 2001, 2006 and the most recent in 2021 and ran unsuccessfully for Governor twice in 2002 and 2006.
  • Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of former president Alberto Fujimori ran unsuccessfully for president three times in 2011, 2016 and 2021, each time losing in the run-off.
  • Jaime Salinas, candidate for mayor of Lima in 2002 and 2018 and presidential in 2006, without being elected and with low percentages such as 0.53% in the 2006 presidential elections and 3.5% in the 2018 municipal elections.
  • Fernando Olivera ran unsuccessfully for president four times in 2001, 2006, 2016 and 2021 in which in 2006, he withdrew from the race and in 2021, his candidacy was rejected.
  • Máximo San Román ran for the vice presidency four times between 1990, 1995, 2006 and 2011 in which, in 1990, he was successful and ran for the presidency on in 2000.

UruguayEdit

United StatesEdit

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AfricaEdit

BeninEdit

Central African RepublicEdit

GambiaEdit

GhanaEdit

KenyaEdit

MauritaniaEdit

MozambiqueEdit

NamibiaEdit

NigeriaEdit

SenegalEdit

SeychellesEdit

TanzaniaEdit

ZambiaEdit

ZimbabweEdit

AsiaEdit

Hong KongEdit

  • Avery Ng
  • Bull Tsang
  • Frederick Fung, initially gained success in almost every election, including District Council, Urban Council and Legislative Council election since 1983. However, since 2015, Fung faced consecutive failures in every election he participated, including 2015 (District Council), 2016 (Legislative Council), March 2018 (Democratic Primary), November 2018 (Legislative Council By-election) and 2019 (District Council). He lost popularity because of his unwillingness to retire, as the Pro-democracy supporters having negative feelings on gerontocracy.
  • Christine Fong, has run for Legislative elections five times since 2008, but failed every time.

IndiaEdit

IndonesiaEdit

IranEdit

IsraelEdit

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JapanEdit

PhilippinesEdit

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  • Elly Pamatong was disqualified in running for president at least twice (2004 and 2010). After his death in 2021, people asked if he will run in the 2022 presidential election, as his death was not announced to the public.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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SingaporeEdit

TaiwanEdit

TurkeyEdit

EuropeEdit

CyprusEdit

  • Kostas Kyriacou, otherwise known as "Outopos", has been a candidate for every presidential and parliamentary election since 1998 but has never gained more than 1% of the vote.

Czech RepublicEdit

|CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Hannig může kandidovat na Hrad. Pomohli mu i noví poslanci">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He also ran for Czech presidency in 2018 election.,<ref name="Kandidovat na prezidenta může i hudebník Hannig, získal podporu poslanců">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> but failed as well, ending last but one with 0.57% of votes. He also wanted to run in 2023 presidential election but failed to get nomination.<ref name="Kandidáti na prezidenta. Kdo získal podpisy a kdo nakonec souboj vzdal? - Forum24">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

  • Miroslav Sládek ran for the Czechoslovak presidency in 1992. After dissolution of Czechoslovakia he sought the Czech presidency in 1993, 1998 and 2018.<ref name="Miroslav Sládek jde do prezidentské kandidatury">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> He withdrawn from 2018 election due to failure of his party in the 2017 legislative election.<ref name="Z prezidentské volby odstoupil známý kandidát. S ohledem na volby nemá smysl kandidovat, tvrdí EuroZprávy.cz">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

  • Jan Švejnar unsuccessfully ran for the Czech presidency in 2008. He also ran for the position in 2013 but withdrew. He planned to run for the office in 2018 but he did not receive political support. Some politicians noted that Švejnar lives in the United States and "shows up in the Czech Republic only when there is a presidential election."<ref name="O Hrad se opět hlásí Švejnar. Ale není o něj zájem">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • Jiří Paroubek, former Prime Minister of the Czech Republic has repeatedly tried to restart his political career under various political parties since 2010. He ran for Chamber of Deputies in 2013, Senate in 2018 and European Parliament in 2014 and 2024 but was never elected.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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FinlandEdit

FranceEdit

File:Jean-Marie Le Pen 2019 (cropped).jpg
Jean-Marie Le Pen

GermanyEdit

File:2006-12-18GeradstettenPalmerhaus02.jpg
Helmut Palmer's house in Geradstetten boasted some of his German election percentages.
  • Helmut Palmer (1930–2004) stood without any success for about 250 elections as mayor in villages and cities in southwestern Germany and various times as independent candidate for the Bundestag.<ref>Jan Knauer: Bürgerengagement und Protestpolitik. Das politische Wirken des „Remstalrebellen" Helmut Palmer und die Reaktionen seiner Mitmenschen. Dissertation. Tübingen 2012</ref> His son Boris Palmer became mayor of Tübingen.

IcelandEdit

  • Ástþór Magnússon is an Icelandic businessman and politician who unsuccessfully campaigned for the post of President of Iceland six times; in 1996, 2000, 2004, 2012, 2016, and 2024.

IrelandEdit

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  • Charlie Keddy has stood in 19 elections without ever being elected; 12 for Dáil Éireann and 7 for Wicklow County Council, including standing in all four by-elections held in November 2019. He first stood as a Labour candidate in 1991, which was his most successful showing with 5.87% of the vote. He contested all of his subsequent elections as an independent candidate.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> He has contested every election in the Wicklow constituency since the 1995 by-election, with the exception of 2007 when he missed the filing deadline.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In the 2014 Wicklow County Council election, Keddy stood in all five electoral areas, placing last in all of them.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

  • Jim Tallon, who described himself as the president of the "Independent Republic of Glasnost", contested at least 17 elections, including elections to the Dáil, European Parliament and Wicklow County Council.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> Contesting all of his elections as an independent candidate, he ran several times in his home constituency of Wicklow and other times in constituencies such as Wexford in 1987 and Meath in 1997. He was never elected, and his best performance came in the 2014 European Parliament elections, his final election before his death in 2015, where he received 0.64% of the vote (2,244 votes) in the Dublin constituency.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

ItalyEdit

  • Marco Pannella is described by many as a perennial candidate, even though he was actually elected multiple times as a member of the Italian Parliament, the European Parliament, and the municipal councils of a handful of cities.
  • Guglielmo De Santis, a police officer, has been a candidate for the Regional Council of Apulia in the 2015 regional election within the Us with Salvini list. Before and after that, he unsuccessfully attempted several runs in local elections for municipal councils of respectively his birth and home towns Gallipoli and Casarano. However, he became noticed as a perennial candidate when he unsuccessfully ran for mayor in several small towns in Abruzzo, namely Cermignano in 2019, Pietracamela in 2021, Castelguidone in 2022, Pietranico in 2023 and Rocca Santa Maria in 2024, although never leaving Apulia in his entire life.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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MaltaEdit

  • Nazzareno Bonniċi, known more in Malta by the affectionate nickname 'Żaren tal-Ajkla', part of his tongue-in-cheek unregistered Partit tal-Ajkla (en. Eagle Party), has been a perennial candidate in the 2013, 2017<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> and 2022<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=":0">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Maltese general elections, and the 2004, 2009, 2014 and 2019 European Parliament elections in Malta. In a surprise move that later had the Maltese media speculate and overestimate his probable success, thousands showed up for Nazzareno's mass meeting in preparation for the 2013 general election held front of the Parish Church in Żabbar, the town where he resides.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He only received 47 votes, amounting to 0.02% of the Maltese electorate, in the 2013 election. He would receive 71 votes in the 2022 general election, amounting to 0.00019% of the Maltese electorate.<ref name=":0" />

NetherlandsEdit

PolandEdit

File:Janusz Korwin-Mikke Sejm 2016.JPG
Janusz Korwin-Mikke
  • Janusz Korwin-Mikke unsuccessfully ran for President five times (1995, 2000, 2005, 2010 and 2015). He also unsuccessfully ran for Polish parliament nine times (1993, 1997, 2001, 2004 (two times, by-elections for Senate), 2005, 2007, 2013 and 2015), for European Parliament (2004, 2019), four times for regional assemblies (2002, 2006, 2007, 2010) and four times for President of Warsaw (2006, 2010, 2018, 2024). However, in 2014 he was elected for member of European Parliament and, in 2019, after a 26-year break, for member of Sejm, starting from Confederation Liberty and Independence list.
  • Kornel Morawiecki unsuccessfully ran for President three times in 1990, 2010 and 2015, achieving necessary 100,000 signatures to be registered as candidate only in 2010. He also unsuccessfully ran for Sejm in 1991, and for Senate in 2007. Eventually, he succeeded for the first time when he became an MP in 2015.

RomaniaEdit

RussiaEdit

File:Владимир Жириновский (25-09-2021) (cropped).jpg
Vladimir Zhirinovsky

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SlovakiaEdit

United KingdomEdit

File:Official portrait of Nigel Farage MP.jpg
Nigel Farage

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OceaniaEdit

AustraliaEdit

File:Pauline Hanson (438351804) (cropped).jpg
Pauline Hanson

New ZealandEdit

File:Stephen Berry speaking (cropped).png
Stephen Berry

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See alsoEdit

ReferencesEdit

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