Jim Gilchrist, the founder of the Minuteman Project, ran for a seat in the United States House of Representatives from California's 48th congressional district in a 2005 special election. He was the nominee of the American Independent Party, when it was affiliated with the Constitution Party, and placed third with 26,507 votes (25.5%). During the campaign Gilchrist had raised more money than all of the Democratic candidates. Gilchrist's 25.5% was the highest percentage of the vote received for a third party candidate in a United States House of Representatives election where both major parties participated since the A Connecticut Party received 26.3% in Connecticut's 1st congressional district in 1994.