Brian T. Carroll

Brian Thomas Carroll (born December 15, 1949) is an American teacher who was the American Solidarity Party's presidential nominee in the 2020 United States presidential election.[2] He is a proponent of Christian democracy.[1]

Brian T. Carroll
Carroll in 2019
Born (1949-12-15) December 15, 1949
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Alma mater
OccupationTeacher, politician
Political partyAmerican Solidarity
MovementChristian democracy[1]
Websitebriancarroll.life

Life and career

Carroll received his bachelor's degree in history from UCLA and earned a teaching credential at California State University, Los Angeles. He taught junior high history and other subjects in Farmersville, California from 1977 to 1983.[3] During that time, he also wrote for the Valley Voice newspaper, focusing primarily on the local need for public transportation.[3][4] Carroll has taught students in Colombia and China and traveled extensively throughout Europe and Brazil. As an amateur naturalist, his work has been cited in studies on spiders and insects.[5] In 2008, he returned to teaching in Farmersville.[6][7]

2018 California congressional campaign

Carroll ran for California's twenty-second congressional district in 2018, campaigning against Republican incumbent Devin Nunes and Democrat Andrew Janz. This was a contentious election due to Nunes' role in the 2018 Trump–Russia investigation.[8] Carroll received 1,591 votes in the top-two primary, placing fifth in a field of six candidates. During the general election (after Carroll's elimination), Janz claimed that Carroll had endorsed him; Carroll publicly denied this claim.[9]

California's 22nd congressional district election, 2018[10]
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Devin Nunes (incumbent) 70,112 57.6
Democratic Andrew Janz 38,596 31.7
Democratic Bobby Bliatout 6,002 4.9
Democratic Ricardo "Rico" Franco 4,365 3.6
American Solidarity Brian Carroll 1,591 1.3
Libertarian Bill Merryman 1,137 0.9
Total votes 121,803 100.0

2020 presidential campaign
Joe Schriner (right) and Brian T. Carroll (left), who both vied to be the presidential candidate for the American Solidarity Party, participated in a live presidential debate at the 2019 ASP Midwestern Regional Meeting, which was held at Walnut Creek, Ohio.

On April 5, 2019, Carroll declared his candidacy for President of the United States in the 2020 United States presidential election, seeking the nomination of the American Solidarity Party.[11] He won the nomination at the online party convention,[12][13] and chose ASP chair Amar Patel as his running mate.[14]

Carroll notably spoke at the Rehumanize Conference in New Orleans,[15] a speaking engagement at the Presidential Politics Conference of Iowa at Dordt University that was also attended by Republican candidate Joe Walsh and Democratic candidate Tulsi Gabbard.[16][17][18][19][20] He participated in a Free & Equal Elections Foundation presidential debate, alongside minor candidates of various parties.[21][22][23]

Carroll and his running mate Patel were on the ballot in eight states and certified as write-in candidates in 31 states. They received over 35,000 votes nationwide.[24]

Endorsements
List of Brian T. Carroll endorsements (2020)

Individuals
Organizations
  • Leonine Institute for Catholic Social Teaching[32]
  • Italian Community of St Louis[33]

Political positions

Carroll ran on a platform that espouses the political ideology of christian democracy,[1] which emphasizes G. K. Chesterton-style distributism as an alternative to capitalism, a consistent life ethic, universal healthcare, climate and environmental stewardship, social justice and reconciliation, and a more peaceful world.[34][35] His positions are similar to those espoused by other Christian Democratic parties in many European and Latin American countries.

Carroll subscribes to a consistent life ethic which opposes abortion, euthanasia, and the death penalty, while advocating for progressive and social justice issues.[36] He supports Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals,[4] ranked choice voting, the breakup of companies such as Amazon and Google, amnesty for David Daleiden, diverting some police and military funding to community resources, ending private prisons, rehabilitation rather than incarceration for drug possession, and red flag laws.[37] He is anti-abortion, and has said that being pro-life "obviously, is more than abortion" in reference to elderly people endangered by the COVID-19 virus.[38]

Personal life

Carroll has been married for 46 years, and has five children and 14 grandchildren.[34] An elder in the Evangelical Covenant Church,[39] a Pietist denomination, Carroll considers himself an Evangelical Christian.[35]

References
  1. Meyer, Regan (September 3, 2020). "Professor emeritus leaves classroom, enters campaign trail for American Solidarity Party". Hillsdale Collegian. Retrieved October 19, 2020.
  2. Griswold, Lewis (May 28, 2018). "Five challengers want to boot Devin Nunes from his safe seat". The Fresno Bee. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
  3. Hanink, James; Bartko, Matthew (April 5, 2019). "WCAT Radio The Open Door (April 5, 2019)". The Open Door. Spreaker. Retrieved April 15, 2019.
  4. Holman, Ron. "Brian T. Carroll: Candidate for U.S. Congress, District 22". Visalia Times Delta. Retrieved April 14, 2019.
  5. Watt, Alistair (October 15, 2017). Robert Fortune: A Plant Hunter in the Orient. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. p. 187.
  6. Briggs, Mike. "Brian T. Carroll, Candidate for Congress, CA 22, on Mike & Athena". YouTube. Retrieved April 14, 2019.
  7. Steen, Greg. "Brian T. Carroll, Candidate for Congress, CA 22, on Truth 4 Seniors". YouTube. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
  8. Stracqualursi, Veronica. "Rep. Nunes' Democratic opponents capitalizing on memo release". CNN. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
  9. Appleton, Rory (June 27, 2018). "Candidate denies fellow Nunes challenger Janz's claims of support". The Fresno Bee. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
  10. "2018 California primary election results" (PDF). Retrieved June 10, 2019.
  11. Carroll, Brian. "April 5, 2019 Preview". Retrieved March 15, 2020.
  12. Winger, Richard. "American Solidarity Party Chooses Presidential Nominee". Ballot Access News. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
  13. "Another Consistent-Life-Ethic Presidential Candidate". Consistent Life Network. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
  14. "Amar Patel, 2020 VP American Solidarity Party". Third Party Second Bananas. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
  15. Schmidt, Theresa. "American Solidarity Party seeks those frustrated with mainstream parties". KPLC. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
  16. Hayworth, Bret. "Democrat Gabbard, Republican Walsh to speak at Northwest Iowa college event". Sioux City Journal. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
  17. "Presidential Politics event Oct. 24-26". The N'West Iowa REVIEW. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
  18. Wielenga, Renee. "Presidential candidates to be at Dordt". Sioux Center News. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
  19. Randall, Libbie. "Dordt University hosts Presidential Politics Conference". KTIV Television. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
  20. Henderson, O. Kay. "Dordt University hosting conference on presidential politics". Radio Iowa. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
  21. Varine, Patrick. "Lesser-known presidential candidate debate slated for March in Chicago". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
  22. Griffiths, Shawn. "Civility and pleas to be heard mark 'debate' among 18 marginal candidates". The Fulcrum. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
  23. McKeown, Jonah. "He won't win. So why is Brian Carroll running for president?". Catholic News Agency. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
  24. "Brian T. Carroll". Ballotpedia.
  25. The American Conservative
  26. Professor Bainbridge blog hub site
  27. Open Secrets
  28. Camosy, Charles (September 29, 2020). "The Catholic case for Brian Carroll of the American Solidarity Party". Our Sunday Visitor. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
  29. Dreher, Rod. "Rod Dreher". Twitter. Retrieved October 13, 2020.
  30. Marohn, Charles. "Charles Marohn". Twitter. Retrieved October 13, 2020.
  31. Yancey, George. "Throwing Away my Vote". Shattering Paradigms. Patheos. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
  32. "2020 Presidential Voter Guide". Leonine Institute for Catholic Social Teaching. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
  33. "2020 Presidential Elections". Italian Community of St Louis. Retrieved November 3, 2020.
  34. "Pro-life but not Republicans: meet the American Solidarity Party". Catholic Herald. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
  35. Huber, Tim. "Room in the middle". Mennonite World Review. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
  36. Miller, Bailey. "Candidates Running for California's 22nd Congressional Share Views at Forum". YourCentralValley.com. Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc. Retrieved April 14, 2019.
  37. The Free and Equal Election Foundation (October 9, 2020). "Open Presidential Debate 2020 - Full Version". YouTube. Retrieved October 11, 2020.
  38. "American Solidarity Party candidate presses on to 2020 presidential election". Catholic News Agency. Retrieved November 4, 2020.
  39. Silliman, Daniel (June 22, 2020). "For Third-Party Christians, Some Things Are More Important Than Winning". Christianity Today.
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