Communist

Website: http://www.cpusa.org

Members of the Legislature: 0
Highest Office Won: None
Founded: August 31, 1919 in Chicago, Illinois

The Communist Party ran run 66 candidates for partisan office between 1932 and 1942. Shortly after the beginning of World War II, the California State Legislature established an Investigating Committee on UnAmerican Activities to look into social organizations controlled (or heavily influenced by) foreign powers. As a result of these investigations, it was determined that the goal of the Communist Party was to overthrow the government of the United States, and a bill (AB4X1 of 1940) was introduced to outlaw the party. In 1940, Governor Culbert L. Olson signed the bill into law*.

Since the Communist Party lost ballot status following the 1942 election, only four candidates (all for the Presidency) have received votes in California.

* The bill, when chaptered (as Ch. 6 of the 4th Ex. Session of 1940), stated "No party shall be recognized or qualified to participate in any primary election which uses or adopts as any part of its party designation the word "communist" or any derivative of the word "communist".