By Janice Sina
(June 10, 2025) — Yet, there he was. Peter Sonski, long-time resident of Haddam, found himself running for U.S. President in 2024 on the American Solidarity Party ticket. How did it all happen? If you believe in the butterfly effect, or the old adage that one thing leads to another, you might understand how it could happen. I met with Peter Sonski recently to go back to the beginnings of his adventure and to look to the future of politics, his thoughts on running for President, and his belief that everyone has the ability to make a difference.
A New England native raised in Somers, Connecticut, Peter’s curiosity in political history and government began in high school. Though his post-secondary education focused on business, this interest in politics led him to pursue election to local offices in Somers, becoming Chairman of the Board of Finance and a member of the Board of Selectmen and, as a Haddam resident, a member of the Regional School District 17 Board of Education.
In the late 1990’s through 2006, he moved to Washington D.C. with his family and loved his time there. He notes that his “favorite city” is a city of history, culture, learning and opportunity, and these days, “a lot of friction and chaos.” His party affiliation changed through the 1980’s as he found that though he could identify with certain policies on both sides, he couldn’t find what he felt was the proper amalgamation of the things that were valuable to him. By 2016, he couldn’t bring himself to vote for either candidate and began looking for a third party. He found the American Solidarity Party whose principles more closely aligned with his own.
The ASP, as Peter describes it, is an American manifestation of Christian democracy, a popular movement in Europe especially post-World War II, and also growing in Latin America, but it hadn’t existed here until about 2011. By the 2020 election, Peter was actively engaged with party leaders and he supported their candidate. In 2023, the party reached out to him to consider running in the primary. They were looking for someone who had an understanding of campaigns and the actual aspects involved with going through a true effort to win support. As an elected official with respect for the political process and an understanding of public policy, Peter fit the bill. He won the primary on the first ballot and was launched into a national campaign.
Third party candidates don’t have it easy; the two major parties make sure of this. Candidates are not invited to national debates, they must raise their own funds, and don’t get attention from mainstream media. “You’re basically doing what you can through grass roots and social media,” Peter says. He was officially on the ballot in only seven states; the rest were as a write-in. “I never expected to win,” he said. But the chance of sharing with voters that there are alternatives was what fueled his efforts. Believing in the principles of the ASP, it was easy for him to support its positions, so he came across as being real and authentic. “This was appealing to voters,” he said. “There’s a lot of posturing in politics these days and I think that’s one of the laments that most people have about politics. Lawmakers are unwilling to work across the aisle, and put their own interests first before those of their constituents.” He found working with the ASP refreshing.
We talked some more about the two-party paradigm and its limitations. It’s a power struggle. When a new party gains the majority, a lot of time is wasted undoing whatever the previous party has accomplished, so it takes time to move forward. “Today there’s a feeling that, ‘if you’re not in lockstep with me, I don’t want anything to do with you,’ and that’s not the way this country moves forward.” He feels we need to find ways to get along, engage with our opponents and be positive in enacting laws and regulations that benefit the country.
(Photo above: Peter Sonski, with his running mate, Lauren Onak)
The premise of Peter’s campaign was human dignity. According to him, every piece of public policy is directed at human beings. “Whether it’s interstate commerce or universal health care, national defense or environmental issues, ultimately it all benefits people and I firmly believe that if we keep people first and foremost, that everything comes together.” he said. “What a wonderful nation we have that people come from different cultures and different experiences and they all come together and have so much to offer. And yet if we’re constantly looking at our differences as measures of acceptance, we fail to see the value that each person has.”
As we know, Peter Sonski is not our 47th President. But he was just pleased to have the opportunity to say he was a candidate. Really though, “local government is where it’s at for me,” he says. He describes local officials as understanding their fellow community members best because they are part of that community as well. With each ascending level of governance, officials become one layer removed from that knowledge and that regular interaction with their constituency. He believes that governing at the local level is the most effective because “you can really understand and craft solutions that are in the best interest of your community.”
I asked Peter if we may have outgrown our Constitution as it was written, given the increase in America’s population and therefore the necessary division of labor and longer chains of command that come with organizing such a complicated country. “No,” he said. “I think the principle still applies.” Originally established to provide national defense, look after foreign affairs, regulate interstate commerce and provide for the national interior, the federal government has developed into much more and “has its tentacles into virtually everything.” Its power has a substantial amount of influence on our daily lives. This is true at the state level, too. Local governance at least helps to give citizens a sense of autonomy and control.
The political atmosphere these days is sobering to say the least. But he is optimistic. “The thing that gave me the most optimism was that the message I had resonated most among the younger voters. Young people feel disenfranchised by our two-party system. They feel as though they are not able to connect with the leadership and are open to different voices and ideas. I was really encouraged by that. And that’s the next generation of voters.”
“That was my ambition, really,” he said. “I knew I wasn’t going to be moving to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, but I felt like I could offer an alternative and I could invite people to think that there is something that we can look for beyond our present-day political experience, that we can either reclaim from times past or maybe a younger generation can move beyond the polarization that we see today to a system that really invites a multitude of views and a lot of cooperation and sharing of ideas. We have to believe that everyone has the ability to make a difference.”
Photos provided by Peter Sonski
