The Southern Party (SP) was a minor political party in the United States that operated exclusively in the South. The party supported states' rights and increased Southern cultural and regionalist activism. The party was formed by the League of the South in 1999 and experienced moderate success following the framing of the Asheville Declaration, which was touted by the party as a second Declaration of Independence. Despite its initial success, the Southern Party was disbanded in 2003 following internal factionalism; all that exists of the Southern Party today are the remnants of its state chapters in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and Mississippi. History The merits of a political party representing the regional interests of the Southern United States and border states were first discussed in December 1998 by James Lancaster, George Kalas (both of whom have since renounced and left the Southern movement) and Michael Hill at a League of the South conference held in Monroe, Louisiana. The League authorized the formation of a Southern Party Exploratory Committee (SPEC), which was organized at a later meeting in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, which was held in January 1999. During this meeting Kalas was elected to chair the committee. The Southern Party achieved its first electoral victory on August 22, 2000 when party member Wayne Willingham was elected to the nonpartisan office of Mayor of West Point, Alabama. The SPEC operated until May 1999, when internal disagreements over ideology and strategy, exacerbated by personal animosities among some members of the committee, led to the fracture of the SPEC into two competing factions. One faction, which continued to operate under the name SPEC, remained loosely affiliated with the League, while the other faction, led by Kalas, Jerry Baxley, and Thomas Reed, among others, formed the Southern National Committee (SNC). Its purpose was to launch the Southern Party as soon as possible. Continued disagreements between the SNC-led faction and the League of the South prompted the SNC to vote for a formal break with the League in May 1999. While the decision to break with the League was influenced by many factors, the leadership of the SNC faction also had become increasingly concerned about the League of the South's apparent unwillingness to purge elements from its ranks that had become more vocal and seemingly more influential within the previous few months before the break. The SPEC and SNC factions continued to compete for the allegiance of