Andrea González, ca1951 (New York, NY) -
VP candidate for Socialist Workers Party (1984)
Running mate with nominee: Melvin T. Mason (b. 1943)
Popular vote: 0 (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538
The campaign:
In 1984 the SWP nominated Melvin T. Mason for president, and in their perpetual act of Constitutional civil disobedience, nominated Andrea González of Jersey City, age 33 on Election Day, as the VP. Matilde Zimmermann (1980 SWP running mate) was selected as the stand-in VP and she was on the ballot in 23 states and DC with Mason. As far as I can ascertain, although González was the official nominee and campaigned hard as if she was, her name did not appear on a single ballot.
In the time period between the 1980-1984 elections the SWP had experienced a major upheaval in leadership and direction. In general terms it was no longer a party advocating Trotsky's permanent revolution. Now it could be more accurately described as a Castroist party. In-house critics, later purged or self-exiled from the Party, accused the SWP of returning to a Stalinist philosophy and embracing personality-driven regimes. Some of them went so far as to label the SWP a cult.
Mason, a former member of the Black Panther Party, told a reporter: "The greatest example of a Socialist government is Cuba, and Nicaragua is right behind, but it's still developing." Zimmermann seemed to have had a low profile in this campaign if news accounts are any reflection, which granted is not an entirely accurate indicator.
The massive loss of SWP membership was reflected in the rapidly diminishing popular vote compared to previous elections. As low as the 1984 returns were, the SWP would never again (as of 2016) equal it.
Election history:
1981 - District of Columbia School Board (Nonpartisan) - defeated
1985 - Mayor of New York City (Socialist Workers Party) - defeated
1991 - St. Louis, Mo. School Board (Nonpartisan) - defeated
Other occupations: transit employee, steel mill worker, aerospace worker
Notes:
Sometimes called Andrea Gonzales
Opponents in 1985 race included Edward Koch (winner), Lenora Fulani, and Jarvis Tyner
Of Puerto Rican heritage
