Candidates' positions are categorized as Pro (Yes), Con (No), Not Clearly Pro or Con, or None Found.
Candidates who have changed their positions are listed as Now their most recent position.
(Candidates are listed in alphabetical order by party; black & white photos indicate candidates who have withdrawn or who no longer meet our criteria.)
Chuck Baldwin, Founder and Minister of the Crossroad Baptist Church in Pensacola, FL, issued the following statement through his Communications Director, Mary Starrett, in an Aug. 11, 2008 email to ProCon.org:
"The Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution limits the federal power of eminent domain solely to the purchase of private property with just compensation for public use, such as military reservations and government office buildings - not for public ownership, such as urban renewal, environmental protection, or historic preservation." Aug. 11, 2008 Chuck Baldwin
Bob Barr, former US House Representative (R-GA), stated in a June 23, 2008 press release titled "Protect Private Property, Enforce the Fifth Amendment, Says Bob Barr" on his official candidate website:
"In Kelo [Kelo v. City of New London, 545 US 469 (2005)] the Supreme Court held that government could take private property to give away ...That allows governments across America to ignore the Fifth Amendment's clear requirement that property be taken only for a 'public use'...
The president should direct all federal departments and agencies to avoid the seizure of private property except as a last resort, and for a legitimate public purpose...
Even though the Supreme Court has improperly minimized the scope of the Fifth Amendment, every public official who takes an oath to the Constitution has a responsibility to respect the nation's fundamental law...The president and members of Congress should act only in accordance with the Constitution’s clear guarantee for the right to private property." June 23, Bob Barr
John McCain, US Senator (R-AZ), stated in an Aug. 6, 2007 article titled "John McCain Discusses Private Property Rights in an Address to the Cedar Rapids Rotary Club" on his official candidate website:
"Some local governments have sought to stretch their eminent domain power as a means of augmenting revenue by expanding their tax base. Indeed, the America of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries has witnessed an explosion of government regulations that have jeopardized private ownership of property, often for questionable purposes that have little to do with the limited types of public use envisioned by the framers of our Constitution...
In Kelo [Kelo v. City of New London, 545 US 469 (2005)], the Supreme Court held that held that the Constitution allows governments to seize private property and transfer it from one private land owner to another in the name of economic development. In other words, after the Kelo decision, governments can use their eminent domain power to take homes for potentially more profitable, higher-tax uses...
I have co-sponsored legislation to forbid this kind of government taking...But laws defending private property are only as secure as the judges that defend those laws. Kelo passed narrowly, supported by a five to four majority with a track record of legislating from the bench. As President, I pledge to appoint strict constructionist judges who respect the Constitution and understand the security of private property it provides. If need be, I would seek to amend the Constitution to protect private property rights in America." Aug. 6, 2007 John McCain
Cynthia McKinney, former US House Representative (D-GA), issued the following statement through her Press Secretary, John Judge, in a Nov. 1, 2008 email to ProCon.org:
"If there are critical environmental or social benefits involved, but only with full transparency, public input or referendum and fair compensation. Eminent domain should never be used solely for the benefit of private interests." Nov. 1, 2008 Cynthia McKinney
Ralph Nader, attorney, author, and political activist, stated in a June 21, 2004 The American Conservative article titled "Ralph Nader: Conservatively Speaking":
"New London exercised its authority of eminent domain to seize the homes of ordinary citizens - not for a traditional use such as a highway or railroad, but to transfer the land to private developers. How could five Supreme Court justices (including the supposed progressives) uphold this unconscionable action?...
The Fifth Amendment of the Constitution gives government power to take possession of private property needed for a 'public use' (provided it give 'just compensation' to the owner)...
But it does not follow that most uses of eminent domain to transfer property to a private party are acceptable. A transfer should never be used solely as a means to redistribute wealth - to take from X to give to Y because the government favors Y. Moreover, it makes some difference whose land is taken. For example, seizing a multi-generation family farm is different from seizing an apartment building leased for profit." June 21, 2004 Ralph Nader
Alan Keyes, former Assistant US Secretary of State, stated in an article titled "List of Issues: Property Rights" on his official candidate website (accessed May 13, 2008):
"The right of property has long been threatened not only by unsound schemes of taxation, but by intrusions into the personal control of private property. The result has been a pervasive loss of opportunity in the marketplace for the common man and a disruption of normal principles of supply and demand, those necessary to competition and to the creation of fair prices for such things as housing, undeveloped property, and a broad range of goods and services." May 13, 2008 Alan Keyes
Ron Paul, US Representative (R-TX), stated in a July 4, 2005 article titled "Lessons from the Kelo Decision" on the Ron Paul Library website:
"Now one year removed from the notorious Kelo decision by the Supreme Court [Kelo v. City of New London, 545 US 469 (2005); the majority held that the city's taking of private property to sell for private development qualified as a 'public use' within the meaning of the takings clause.], Americans are still reeling from the shock of having our nation's highest tribunal endorse using government power to condemn private homes to benefit a property developer. The silver lining, however, is that many Americans have been stirred to action and are demanding new state laws to prohibit the Kelo scenario from repeating itself in their cities...
Congress can and should act to prevent the federal government from seizing private property. I've introduced and cosponsored several bills that prohibit or severely limit the power of Washington agencies to seize private property in locations around the nation. But the primary fight against local eminent domain actions must take place at the local level. The people of New London, Connecticut, like the people of Texas, could start by removing from office local officials who have so little respect for property rights." July 4, 2005 Ron Paul