Emma Wong Mar, September 7, 1926 (New York, NY) – September 16, 2015 (Oakland, Calif.)
VP candidate for Peace and Freedom Party (aka Citizens Party) (1984)
VP candidate for Peace and Freedom Party (aka Internationalist Workers Party) (1988)
Running mate with nominee (1984): Sonia Johnson (b. 1936)
Running mate with nominee (1988): Herbert G. Lewin (1914-2010)
Popular vote (1984): 26,297 (0.03%)
Popular vote (1988) : 219 (0.00%)
Electoral vote (1984, 1988): 0/538
The campaign (1984):
In their second, and final, national election the Citizens Party selected Sonia Johnson as the standard bearer. Johnson had an inner conflict to reconcile-- she was a devout Mormon but also passionate about the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment. Naturally as her ERA activism increased and she became critical of the Church she found herself excommunicated. To some she was a heretic, to others a heroine.
Barry Commoner, the 1980 Presidential nominee, endorsed Rev. Jesse Jackson in the Democratic primaries, a move that many felt took the wind out of the sails of this new third party. Another major hurdle for the 1984 campaign was that the Party was still paying off the debt from the 1980 effort.
There were three running-mates for Johnson in 1984. Richard Walton was the official VP nominee on the ballot or certified write-in in 21 states. In California Johnson had won the primary for the Peace and Freedom Party (which included defeating Dennis Serrette of the New Alliance Party and Gavrielle Holmes of the Workers World Party) and her running-mate there was Emma Wong Mar. In Pennsylvania under the banner of the Consumer Party her VP was Bill Thorn.
Mar has the distinction of being the first Asian American VP on a Presidential ticket.
In addition to the Peace and Freedom Party and the Consumer Party there was another major player. The Socialist Party of the United States of America decided not run a ticket in 1984 and endorsed the Citizens Party.
Although the Citizens Party had a generally progressive platform and was comprised of the largest confederation of Leftist parties in 1984, Johnson's campaign understandably made feminist issues the central focus.
The popular vote was almost evenly split three ways among the VPs. Nationally the Party grossed 72,161 votes (0.08%), a considerable decline from their 1980 performance. Interesting that 2/3 of the result came from California and Pennsylvania where they ran under the names of their host parties.
The Johnson/Mar ticket placed 5th in California with 0.28%, but it was Johnson's highest popular vote (26,297) of any single state and the third largest percentage.
The Citizens Party evaporated shortly after the election. Or did it? In hindsight we see they served as a forerunner of today's Green Party, America's 4th largest political party.
The campaign (1988):
In the 1988 election the Peace and Freedom Party appeared to be in a bit of disarray as it tried to fend off a takeover attempt by the New Alliance Party. The PFP appeared to have been seriously split and a third of the delegates walked out of the convention in Oakland. This was a rare election where the PFP did not appear on the Presidential ballot in California. NAP leader Lenora Fulani and Internationalist Workers Party figure Herb Lewin both claimed the nomination but when they filed with the California Secretary of State the election officials refused to recognize either one as the legitimate Presidential selection.
Lewin claimed victory but Fulani said she was nominated at a "parallel convention" in a nearby hotel.
It seems the PFP party officials made the request not to list either one on the ballot. Party chair and 1980 presidential nominee Maureen Smith told the press the nomination process "never got off on a legal start" since so many delegates were not credentialed.
Old time Trotskyite and retired machinist Herb Lewin of Pennsylvania acted as if he was the PFP nominee anyway. Lewin had lost the Liberty Union Party primary in Vermont, and also the non-binding California primary for the Peace and Freedom Party. He had a history with the Socialist Workers Party but by 1984 had been selected by the ultra-obscure Internationalist Workers Party to be their first President candidate. Their method was to work within existing Leftist political parties.
During the campaign Lewin criticized the New Alliance and Workers World parties for being too cozy with the Democrats.
He was on the ballot in three states as the PFP Presidential candidate: New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Also as a registered write-in in California. Vikki Murdock was his running-mate the first two states, Mar the VP in Vermont and California. It isn't clear between Murdock or Mar who was serving as the official nominee and who was the stand-in, or indeed if that situation even existed. Some news reports did vaguely indicate Mar was the actual Party selection. She described herself to the media as "an independent Socialist."
Nationally Lewin earned 10,367 popular votes (0.01%) mostly from New Jersey. The Lewin/Mar ticket received 58 write-in votes in California and 219 votes (0.07%) on the ballot in Vermont.
Election history:
1982 - California State Assembly (Peace and Freedom Party) - defeated
1986 - California State Assembly (Peace and Freedom Party) - defeated
1990 - Lt. Governor of California (Peace and Freedom Party) - primary - defeated
1992 - California State Assembly (Peace and Freedom Party) - defeated
1994 - US House of Representatives (Calif.) (Peace and Freedom Party) - defeated
Other occupations: medical technologist, Planned Parenthood, State Chair of the Peace and Freedom Party, union activist
Buried: ?
Notes:
Winner in the 1994 race was Ron Dellums.
