Retraction of our Endorsement of the TN-04 Race

 August 9th

 During a rushed July 26th meeting, the Pirate National Committee had voted 4-3 to endorse Jacob Anders in his campaign for Tennessee’s 4th congressional district for the United States House of Representatives.

 Historically speaking, this has been no issue. The process in which a candidate is endorsed has been the same prior to now; a candidate reaches out to us, we have been fairly loose with the process.

 The process has been: join us on Talk the Plank! and pitch your campaign, then join us for a Pirate National Committee meeting for questions before taking it to a vote.

 And historically, that has been enough.

 However, that has proven to be a flawed method.

 The United States Pirate Party has never had the amount of candidates and endorsements that we do for the 2026 election cycle. It has been largely a blessing to have so many candidates seeking our endorsement, and it’s been a pleasure to support candidates from all walks, both independents and members of other minor parties.

 Minor party unity is essential to defeating the duopoly, but endorsements still must be carefully considered.

 This endorsement was not.

 After more details have come to surface about our endorsed candidate in the TN-04 race, the board felt it was inappropriate and unbecoming of the United States Pirate Party to maintain the endorsement.

 While unprecedented, as of August 9th, the United States Pirate Party has retracted our endorsement of any candidate in the TN-04 race, a decision made following a unanimous vote.

 Following this misstep, we have committed to forming a Vetting Committee, meant to properly vet any candidates for both public office and the board of the Pirate National Committee.

 We will not take lightly the weight of an endorsement from the United States Pirate Party, and we will not give it to candidates without more proper time and energy dispensed into knowing who it is we are endorsing.