Mike Maturen carries the banner for ‘Christian-focused’ American Solidarity Party

Harrisville — In many respects, Mike Maturen is very much like the typical American voter, disenchanted with both major political parties.

The difference is, he can validly vote for himself come Nov. 8.

Considered a conservative Republican living in Harrisville, Mich., in the northern part of the Lower Peninsula in the Diocese of Gaylord, Maturen felt the Republican Party was moving in a direction that left him behind, and the Democratic Party wasn’t doing much better in attracting his support.

Suffering from political homelessness, the Harrisville St. Anne’s parishioner and Knights of Columbus member discovered a new political party, the American Solidarity Party.

And in Maturen, the American Solidarity Party discovered its presidential candidate for the 2016 election.

“I’ve been thinking a long time about my political beliefs and how they match up with my religious beliefs,” Maturen said in a phone interview with The Michigan Catholic. “I began looking at what I believe and how my life matches with my political beliefs. Because my faith life is so important to me, I began to realize my political beliefs needed to change.”

Changing political affiliation led him to the upstart American Solidarity Party, described as a Christian center party modeled after Christian Democratic parties popular in Europe.

“We’re a secular party informed by faith,” Maturen said. “We include people of all faiths or no faith, Catholics, Protestants, Muslims, people that really don’t have a faith. They only have to sign up to the belief that life is sanctified and dignified, from conception to natural death.”

As the official candidate for the American Solidarity Party, Maturen is the first Catholic candidate in the general presidential election to hail from Michigan.

Maturen’s political searching mirrors his own faith life. Raised as an adopted child in a Catholic family, Maturen said he was lured away from the Church while in college, becoming an evangelical Protestant, wandering around from different denominations.

His foray into the Episcopal Church, however, lasted only two years, before he said he was called back to the Catholic Church.

Since rejoining the Church, Maturen said he examined other areas of his life and what it meant to be a Catholic, coming to the conclusion that faith should play an important role in everyday decisions.

“I think your political decisions can be informed by faith,” Maturen said. “I think any person of faith that holds public office can and should be based on the faith they hold. Based on voting, what Catholics and Christians should keep in my mind is, what are the tenants of their faith, and what kinds of values they want upheld by the government for the next four years.

Maturen, married with three adult children and a full-time job in sales while running as his party’s nominee, has said the American Solidarity Party is trying to build for the future, capturing the interest of disenchanted Republicans and Democrats and people of faith who want to see Christian principles applied to government.

“Faith seems to be a thread that holds us together,” Maturen said. “We have folks that are lifelong Democrats, lifelong Republicans. We want to talk the best of both parties, blend them, and create another option where people can be comfortable voting their values on the ballot.”

“On the ballot” is a tricky part for Mautren and the American Solidarity Party, however. He won’t appear on the Michigan ballot, but he is an official write-in candidate. Maturen’s name will only be featured on Colorado’s ballot, where in 17 other states he is registered as a write-in candidate.

With such logistics, and the country’s longstanding two-party political system, Maturen is doubtful of his chances to score a single electoral vote. Instead, he’s limited the goal to building the party base and perhaps shifting the course of the two leading political parties.

“We’re looking to lay the foundation for the future, for the local and state level,” Maturen said. “These are the future goals we need to look for. People ask why we’re running a national campaign, instead of getting people elected to dog catcher or city council. But we figured running a presidential campaign is the best way for people to get to know the American Solidarity Party.”

It’s explicitly the policy of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Michigan Catholic Conference not to formally endorse a candidate or party, so Maturen knows he isn’t trying to create the “catch all” option for Christians.

Instead, Maturen hopes his candidacy creates an opportunity for Catholics and people of faith to shape what he believes has become a partisan, venomous political climate.

“Part of people voting for me is a protest vote, part of it is building for the future,” Maturen said. “We’re going to lay a foundation to send a message. Maybe if we take enough votes from the major parties, the major parties will take notice and change their policies. But we offer an opportunity to have a small role in changing the face of American politics.”