Benjamin Hanford, 1861 (Cleveland, Ohio) – January 24, 1910 (Brooklyn, NY)
VP candidate for Socialist Party of America (1904, 1908)
Running mate with nominee (1904, 1908): Eugene V. Debs (1855-1926)
Popular vote (1904): 402,810 (2.98%)
Popular vote (1908): 420,852 (2.83%)
Electoral vote (1904): 0/476
Electoral vote (1908): 0/483
The campaign (1904):
The Debs/Hanford ticket placed a strong third, on all of the ballots save for South Carolina. They polled from 8.90% in California, 8.81% in Montana, 8.45% in Oregon, and above 5% in seven more states mostly in the West. In one of those contests could they have been considered spoilers.
The campaign (1908):
Hanford, who was considered an effective speaker, was sidelined during a good deal of the campaign by his fragile health while Debs whistle-stopped aboard the Red Special.
Once again the Debs/Hanford ticket did well in the West with their top three states being Nevada (8.57%), Montana (8.51%), and Oklahoma (8.47%), and above 5% in six more states. This time they did act as spoilers giving Taft Montana but it made no difference in the national outcome.
Election history:
1897 - Brooklyn Borough President (NY) (Socialist Labor Party) - defeated
1898 - Governor of New York (Socialist Labor Party) - defeated
1900 - Governor of New York (Social Democratic Party) - defeated
1901 - Mayor of New York (Social Democratic Party) - defeated
Other occupations: printer, author, lecturer
Buried: ?
Notes:
If elected in 1908 he would have died less than two years into his term.
The earliest third party example of running the same ticket two elections in a row.
He was defeated for NY Governor in 1898 by Theodore Roosevelt.
Joined the Socialist Labor Party ca. 1893 but eventually was part of the huge migration to the Social
Democratic Party ca. 1899-1900.
While still in the SLP, once took part in a violent brawl when rival Socialists stormed the SLP HQ.
"Not only do I owe my life to the Socialist Movement. Until I joined that Movement I had never lived."--Ben Hanford Jan. 1909
