Lawrence D. Hochman, October 18, 1929 (Detroit, Mich.) - January 25, 2009 (Livonia, Mich.?)
VP candidate for New Politics Party (1968)
Running mate with nominee: Eldridge Cleaver (1935-1998)
Popular vote: 4,585 (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538
The campaign:
Driven chiefly by Californians, the Peace and Freedom Party was organized in the mid-1960s and went national in an attempt to link together various contingents of the Left. At their Presidential nominating convention Aug. 17-18, 1968 in Ann Arbor, Mich. where Eldridge Cleaver was selected over Dick Gregory, a schism had already become obvious. Gregory would go on to outpoll Cleaver on Election Day.
Cleaver, the author of Soul on Ice and the Minister of Information for the Black Panther Party, had little patience for the serious bickering that took place at the convention. When it came time to nominate a Vice-Presidential candidate, Cleaver suggested Youth International Party activist Jerry Rubin-- an idea that went nowhere as many considered Rubin to be too erratic, uncontrollable, and part of the Far Right of the Far Left. As the convention wrestled over this and other issues, Cleaver walked out in frustration and the matter was eventually left up to each state to select his running mate.
A member of the Socialist Workers Party took notes at this event and concluded:
Some Generalizations 1) The P&F movement is in a state of serious disarray. 2) The "coalition" with the Panthers had been badly shaken. 3) If Cleaver doesn't extricate himself from this mess soon he will rapidly and thoroughly discredit himself in the eyes of black militants inside and outside the BPP.
In April 1968, prior to being nominated, Cleaver was involved in a police shootout. Shortly after the election he felt obliged to jump bail and flee to Cuba.
In Michigan Cleaver was not nominated by the Peace and Freedom but rather the New Politics Party, a very short-lived Michigan group. It is difficult to ascertain if this organization was more closely affiliated with the Peace and Freedom Party, the New Party, or anyone else. For VP they nominated Larry Hochman, an associate professor of physics at Eastern Michigan University.
There was also a New Politics Party in Indiana that found themselves with a blank slate when their proposed Eugene McCarthy/John Lindsay ticket turned them down, so they replaced them with Dick Gregory/Mark Lane. Whether the Indiana and Michigan New Politics parties were related is unclear, like most everything else about the 1968 election!
On a campaign budget of merely $944.09, the Cleaver/Hochman electioneering activity was severely limited.
The national vote for Cleaver was 36,571 (0.04%). Of those votes 4,585 (0.14%) came from the Cleaver/Hochman choice in Michigan where they placed 4th. Hochman expressed disappointment that they did not reach one percent, meaning that next time they would have to achieve ballot status once again by employing the onerous task of gathering petition signatures. He said he doubted he would run again.
Election history: none
Other occupations: physics instructor, attorney, author
Buried: ?
Notes:
Part of the Burdick-Hochman political family in Michigan.
Hochman stated his nomination and other Leftist activity was the reason why Eastern Michigan
University denied him a permanent position. He and two other Leftist professors in the same
situation sued and EMU settled in 1971.
Lived in a Hashomer Hatzair kibbutz in 1951.
