When George Wallace returned to the Democratic fold in 1972, many of his supporters were unwilling to follow him, and remained loyal to the party that has formed around his candidacy in 1968. The American Independent, later reorganized as the American Party, nominated John Schmitz, a Republican Congressman from California, and Tom Anderson, a popular conservative author and orator. The ticket polled over a million votes, coming in third nationally (second in Idaho, beating the Democrats).