The California National Party (CNP; ) is a progressive and secessionist political party in the United States. CNP operates within California and supports Californian sovereignty. CNP formed in 2015.
CNP's name and purpose are partly inspired by the Scottish National Party, a social democratic, civic nationalist, center-left party that advocates independence for Scotland.
CNP was registered with the California Fair Political Practices Commission, California's equivalent of the Federal Election Commission, in 2019 but not in 2021 or 2023.
Membership In January 2022, CNP had 413 registered voters in California. After April 2022, the Secretary of State no longer listed the CNP in its voter tallies. To achieve qualified party status, the CNP would need 0.33% of total registered voters, or about 73,000. In May 2022, CNP claimed "a few thousand people" on its email list.
History CNP was created in August 2015, with the intent of creating a political platform centered on California's needs and Californian identity. CNP filed intent to qualify as a political party on December 7, 2015. The Secretary of State approved this, assigned the code "CNP", and notified county offices of this on January 6, 2016.
CNP held its first convention in June 2016 in Sacramento, California. CNP elected Theo Slater as chair, Andria Franco as Vice Chair, and Jed Wheeler (founder of Californians for Independence) as Secretary. In September 2016, CNP merged with Californians for Independence (CfI) and adopted a new platform, based on the CfI platform.
CNP has distanced itself from Yes California and its founder Louis J. Marinelli and its "Calexit", for its ideology and for its alleged connections to Russia. Jed Wheeler, CNP Secretary, stated to Politico that "Yes California is a movement whose optics are all designed for a Russian audience to reinforce Putin" and stressed that CNP is a progressive party.
Ideology CNP's "core values" are "building and defending California", "fact-based, compassionate policy", "individual rights and social responsibility", "locally-focused political empowerment", and "prosperity for all Californians" CNP supports greater powers and funding control for local government in California.
Election results CNP has fielded electoral candidates for local and state offices. CNP candidates run on the CNP ballot line, rather than as independents or on the Green ballot line.
No CNP candidate has yet won an election.
Statewide elections Year Candidate Office State District Votes % Result Notes Ref 2021 Michael Loebs Governor California At-Large 25,468 Lost recall election 2018 Gayle McLaughlin Lieutenant Governor California At-Large 263,364 Lost ran as No Party Preference (NPP) candidate; founder of Richmond Progressive Alliance (RPA); endorsed by CNP, DSA, GPCA, OR, PFP, PP, and RPA
Local elections Year Candidate Office City District Votes % Result Notes Ref 2024 Ash Seiter Board of Supervisors Inyo County 5th 159 Lost nonpartisan election 2022 Aaron Reveles School Board Montebello At-Large 7,020 Lost nonpartisan election 2022 Carlos Ovalle City Council Long Beach 7 1,770 Lost nonpartisan election 2022 Steven Estrada City Council Long Beach 1 441 Lost nonpartisan election 2020 Scott Schmidt Los Rios Community College District Trustee Sacramento 7th 37,476 Lost nonpartisan election 2018 Micheál O’Leary Board of Equalization Los Angeles 3rd 43,084 Lost all-party blanket primary, did not advance to general; ran as Independent
See also Secession in the United States Partition and secession in California California Freedom Coalition Yes California American Left History of the socialist movement in the United States Democratic Socialists of America Green Party of the United States
References
External links
Archived older website 2020 bylaws