Thursday, March 19, 2020

Jim Plunkett


Jim Plunkett

VP candidate for Independent (1988)

Running mate with nominee: Robert Arnold Locke (b. 1948)
Popular vote: less than 270 (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

The independent ticket of Bobby Locke and Jim Plunkett were certified write-ins on the Texas ballot. I'll take a guess that Bobby Locke was not the golfer or baseball player (two sports figures of the general era with the same name) but instead a perennial candidate in Texas with the full name of Robert Arnold Locke. He is still active today and also known as Robert "Star" Locke.

Locke's political affiliations have changed a lot over the years = Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, and apparently in this election, Independent. In 1988 he filed with the FEC as a Democrat. It appears he falls into the very conservative side of the political spectrum.

Since the media failed to really cover Locke's campaign I cannot ascertain if his running mate Jim Plunkett is the same as the legendary football player, or, like Locke himself, there is some guy in Texas who shares a name with a famous athlete.

Texas recorded 270 write-in votes for President in 1988, so the Locke/Plunkett ticket could be found somewhere in that figure.

Election history: ?

Other occupations: ?

Notes:
Locke lived in Austin at the time he filed with the FEC.