Ralph Milton Raper, January 27, 1917 (Georgia) - October 24, 1988 (Stephens, Ga.)
VP candidate for Front Porch Party (aka Rocking Chair Party) (1960)
Running mate with nominee: Connie N. Watts (1888-1964)
Popular vote: at least 7 (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/537
The campaign:
Mr. Connie N. Watts, a retired 72-year old farmer living five miles south of Baldwin, Ga. was no stranger to publicity. You'll find his name in small down-home newspaper human interest stories long before 1960 regarding topics like remarkable chickens, snake-killing dogs, or predicting the weather. Although a Feb. 1961 article suggested Mr. Watts had been running for President every four years for quite some time, I could find nothing about that prior to 1960.
The Vice-Presidential nomination for this write-in campaign was Ralph Raper, a country music composer and independent producer from Demorest, Ga.
Watts, who ran a literal front porch campaign, was active with bird and wildlife preservation and this was reflected in his statements to the press. He wanted to employ thousands of jobless Americans with the task of boring holes into trees in order to provide more habitat for birds' nests. He also promised to donate the land in order to move the White House only 200 yards away from his front porch. Most famously he made a vow to create "a law to keep them 'vine-ripened' stickers off of them mushy green tomatoes."
Watts would not concede so fast after Election Day: "The trend seems to be running against me as late returns come in ... You may quote me as saying I know I got seven votes-- they just haven't been announced yet. Besides, the absentee ballots from a lot of places haven't been counted. You can't tell what might happen."
Election history: none
Other occupations: country music composer, owner of Gospel Jubilee Records, owner of Ralph's Radio Music
Buried: Yonah Memorial Gardens (Demorest, Ga.)
Notes:
Produced a number of 45 singles in the 1950s-1960s by various artists
