Minnesota held its primary on August 10.  Minnesota does not have registration by party, and any voter is free to vote in any party’s primary.  According to unofficial results, 3.0% of the voters chose the Independence Party’s primary ballot.  That is a better primary showing for that party than in 1998, when 2.6% of the voters voted in the party’s primary (at the time, it was named the Reform Party).  Of course, 1998 is the year that party won the gubernatorial election.  Its nominee, Jesse Ventura, was elected in November 1998 with 37.0% of the total vote.

At the 2010 primary, Tom Horner won the Independence Party’s gubernatorial nomination, with 64.2% of the vote in a 5-candidate field.