Perot Ally Given Control of Reform Party

A federal judge ruled Monday that a longtime ally of Ross Perot is the legitimate head of the Reform Party, settling a contentious dispute that had threatened to destroy the organization in recent months.

Economist Pat Choate, who ran as the party’s 1996 vice presidential candidate with Perot, claimed undisputed control over the party as a result of the ruling by U.S. District Judge Norman K. Moon in Virginia.

Choate, whose leadership was challenged by garrulous Florida businessman Jack Gargan, hailed the decision as the start of a newly invigorated Reform Party.

“It gives us clear authority now to mount a [presidential] campaign for the election and to get about with party building,” Choate said. “We will get this party pulled together.”

The most significant effect of the ruling is to give Choate’s faction of the party control over $2.5 million in federal money to hold a convention Aug. 10-13 in Long Beach, immediately before the Democratic convention in Los Angeles. The party’s eventual presidential nominee will also get $12.6 million in federal funds for the campaign.

That could be conservative Pat Buchanan, considered the Reform Party’s front-runner. Buchanan, a former Republican who has many supporters among Choate’s wing of the Reform Party, could not be reached Monday.

But the larger question of the party’s long-term viability remained unclear Monday. Gargan, a supporter of Minnesota’s Gov. Jesse Ventura, formerly of the Reform Party, said he planned to leave the party he has worked to build over the last decade, describing its future as “bleak.”

He vowed not to appeal the judge’s ruling, though he said others in the party may do so. Tracey Lenox, attorney for Gargan and others in his group, said a decision on whether to appeal probably would be made by the end of this week.

“I think you’ll see a mass exodus” of people, Gargan said Monday from his home in Cedar Key, Fla. “It’s been a nightmare.”

Ross Perot’s Reform Party movement burst into existence in 1992, a time of deep economic uncertainty. The self-made Texas billionaire’s mix of down-home wit and free trade jeremiads won him 19% of the vote for the presidency that year.

But the party has been on a steady decline since, winning only 8% of the vote during the 1996 election and suffering an embarrassing public feud over its leadership. Ventura, who was the party’s highest-ranking elected official, left the organization in disgust earlier this year, calling it “hopelessly dysfunctional.”

Gargan’s and Choate’s factions began quarreling last fall over a host of issues, including selection of the convention site in Long Beach. Gargan argued it was too expensive a locale for the party’s blue-collar constituency. Choate’s faction said it would bring the party visibility, coming the same month as the Democratic convention.

The rift turned heated during a February meeting in Nashville, where members of the two factions came close to exchanging blows. Choate declared himself head of the party after a vote by top party officials. Gargan refused to accept the vote, calling it illegal.

Since then, the two men have run parallel campaigns, with dueling Web sites and campaign headquarters. But Monday’s ruling, which essentially declared valid the results of the Nashville voting, returns full control of the party’s name and funds to Choate’s group.

Choate said he plans to reach out to those disaffected by the recent feuding. Gargan flatly ruled out any reconciliation with Choate but said he hadn’t yet decided whether to begin another political party.

“I’ll leave my options open,” Gargan said. “I’m not going to leave the fight for better government.”

Choate said he planned to announce today initiatives to strengthen the party, including a revamped outreach via the Internet and new committee heads.

He said the party will concentrate on building membership, while candidates for the Reform Party’s presidential nomination work to gather support over the next few months. He dismissed any long-term effects of the recent feud.

“It set us back a little bit, but we have more than enough time to make up for it,” Choate said.