Nancy Elaine Blair Flint, September 12, 1921 (Oregon) -
VP candidate for Independent (1980)
Running mate with nominee: John Bayard Anderson (1922-2017)
Popular vote: 21,431 (0.02%)
Electoral vote: 0/538
The campaign:
John B. Anderson had been a US Representative from Illinois for nearly two decades when he ran in the Republican primaries for President in 1980. Initially a very conservative member of the Illinois delegation in the 1960s he shifted to the Left and by the 1970s was considered an animal that is nearly extinct today-- a liberal Republican.
Finding himself out of step with his own party and with no hope of winning the nomination he decided to run as an independent candidate. Basically a centrist, he was more conservative than the Democrats on fiscal matters and more liberal than the Republicans on environment, women's issues, and civil rights. His articulate, direct delivery and opposition to draft registration made him particularly popular with many college and university students.
In two states he was forced to keep surrogate running-mates in order to qualify for early filing. In Texas he selected Milton Eisenhower, in South Dakota it was Nancy B. Flint.
Nancy B. Flint was an Anderson volunteer from Rapid City and the wife of retired Army Colonel Brilsford P. Flint. "I've never been in politics before," she told the press, "but I've been for John Anderson since he first started to run. I have voted Republican, but it's worth helping him against them because he's right on all the issues. It's exciting."
The Anderson/Flint ticket finished with 6.54% of the South Dakota vote, just a fraction below Anderson's national result of 6.61%
Election history: none
Other occupations: clerk
Notes:
The Flints moved around a lot. Col. Flint, veteran of WWII, Korea, and Vietnam died in Las Vegas in 2006, survived by Nancy.
Northwest trivia alert!!! Born in Oregon, lived in Clatsop County. Her father was born in Washington, her mother in Oregon.
