Alfreda and Shirley Masters. Alfreda was Isabell's VP in 2000
Shirley Jean Masters, February 6, 1942 (Oklahoma City, Okla.) - March 7, 2014 (Pasadena, Calif.)
VP candidate for Looking Back Party (1996)
Running mate with nominee: Isabell Masters (1913-2011)
Popular vote: 752 (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538
The campaign:
As she had before, perennial candidate Isabell Masters began the campaign season as a candidate in the Republican primaries but shifted to an independent bid as the season went on. In 1996 she continued her Looking Back Party. This would be her fourth run in a row for the Presidency.
Her running-mate was her daughter, "Viva," also known as Shirley Jean Masters Stevenson or Shirley Jean Masters-Stevenson, but listed on the ballot simply as Shirley Jean Masters. I believe this might the first instance of a mother-daughter team running for the Presidency. In 1992 Isabell Masters' VP was her son, Walter. In 2000 it would be another daughter, Alfreda Dean Masters.
In the previous year, 1995, Walter had become embroiled in a political controversy involving his brother-in-law, DC Mayor Marion Barry. The Mayor had married Cora Masters in 1993. The notoriety spilled over into Isabell's 1996 campaign. The media seemed more interested in the fact Mayor Barry was her son-in-law than in any of her platform issues, which they didn't really cover.
The Masters/Masters ticket made it to the Arkansas ballot, where they placed 9th out of 13 with 0.08% of the vote. They also had a tiny number of write-in votes in California and Maryland. Arkansas was also the only state where Isabell Masters made the ballot in 1992, but in 1996 she more than doubled her popular vote result.
Election history: none
Other occupations: ?
Buried: Mount Hope Cemetery (Topeka, Kan.)
Notes:
Cremated ashes buried with her mother.
Buried in the same cemetery as Alf Landon.
