VP candidate for Independent (2000)
Running mate with nominee: Fred Cunningham Cook (1942-2016)
Popular vote: 0 (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538
The campaign:
Fred Cook, a teacher in Georgia, made a run for President in 2000, the same year he retired from the classroom. In what I believe is a first, he chose his father-in-law, Emmett N. Ezell of Cairo, Ga., as his running-mate.
Cook's prior politics appear to have been connected with the Republican Party and also an ultra-obscure group called the Christian Alliance Party. He explained he was running because, "nearly 50 people showed up at my front door ... [and] urged me to run for political office."
According to politics1, Cook's platform included: supports tax cuts, an end to Affirmative Action programs, educational system improvements and increased military spending.
From what I can piece together, Cook was not registered as a write-in in any state and thus no votes for the Cook/Ezell ticket were reported. But after the election, Cook claimed to have earned at least 4,217 popular votes:
* Notable Fred Cook election returns
Georgia 1,921
Alabama 1,212
Florida 724
North Carolina 120
South Carolina 112
New York 89
California 39
* Due to the fact that in many states write-in candidates who do not register with the state are automatically disqualified, many of our returns may conflict with other sources. We know this to be true in Georgia and California.
As it was, in the event of a Cook/Ezell victory there would have been an issue with the Constitution since they were residents of the same state.
Cook on his campaign webpage, post-election, also announced he was going to run again in 2004:
Dear America,
When I first entered this race for President I knew that it would not be easy. We had little money and virtually no media attention. However, our hopes of throwing the election into the Congress nearly became a reality. But in the end it fell short. I would like to thank everyone who helped my campaign in anyway. I can never repay the thousands of volunteers that helped with my crusade. I will never forget all the great Americans that I met along the way. I promise that I will never give up the fight to form a principled third party that will give the people a real choice other than Republican and Democrat. We as third parties must come together. Parties such as the Reform Party, Constitution Party, American Party, and many more should come together. So we can join together to take our government back and give it back to the people. Futhermore, I will never stop the fight for campaign finance reform. Until something is done special interests will continue to run our country. That is why today I am announcing my candidacy for the Presidency in 2004. An Exploratory Committee will be formed. My crusade will start early this time. We will already begin collecting signatures to get my name of the ballot. This time the American people will hear our message. I ask every American to join with me and fight the same old two party system. STAY TUNED AMERICA!!
Thank you for your support,
Fred Cook
Election history: none
Other occupations: US Army (Korean War), pickle processing supervisor
Notes:
One source spells his name: Emmit Ezell
