John Loy Rocker, October 17, 1974 (Statesboro, Ga.) -
VP candidate for Populist Democratic Viking Party (2000)
Running mate with nominee: Clay Oliver Hill (b. 1953)
Popular vote: 0 (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538
The campaign:
Clay O. Hill of Kissimmee, Fla. had run for US Congress as a write-in in 1998 and was making a second try in 2000. At the same he was also making a run for President of the United States.
One newspaper account described Hill as "the self-described conspiracy theorist says he's trying to give people another choice. And the 47-year old said he wants to fight widespread global corruption that has involved everyone from Yoko Ono to Napoleon to the CIA." Another report said "he was worried about the international terrorist rings that he believed had headquarters near his house."
"I doubt I'll be invited to the debates," Hill observed.
Hill's choice of a running-mate was controversial Atlanta Braves baseball pitcher John Rocker. He was frequently in the news due to his unapologetic statements widely considered racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, anti-single mothers, and anti-NYC. Here's a sample statement from his 1999 Sports Illustrated interview when he was asked if he would ever play for the Mets or the Yankees:
I would retire first. It’s the most hectic, nerve-racking city. Imagine having to take the [Number] 7 train to the ballpark, looking like you're [riding through] Beirut next to some kid with purple hair next to some queer with AIDS right next to some dude who just got out of jail for the fourth time right next to some 20-year-old mom with four kids. It's depressing.
... The biggest thing I don't like about New York are the foreigners. I'm not a very big fan of foreigners. You can walk an entire block in Times Square and not hear anybody speaking English. Asians and Koreans and Vietnamese and Indians and Russians and Spanish people and everything up there. How the hell did they get in this country?
Rocker characterized himself as a conservative Republican. He ridiculed the sensitivity courses he was required to attend and years later admitted he used steroids. I have not found if he had an opinion about or if he even knew Hill had selected him as his VP choice.
Hill won six popular votes in his independent write-in bid for Congress in 2000. The Hill/Rocker ticket had zero reported votes for President/VP. In any event, their victory would have faced the Constitutional roadblock of the VP nominee being 26 years old, nine years younger than the legally required age to hold that office.
Hill would go on to run for public office again, including for US Congress as of this year (June 2020), becoming known as a perennial candidate.
Election history: none
Other occupations: baseball player, actor, author, columnist
Notes:
Endorsed Trump in 2016.
Rocker threw left and batted right, and I thought I was the only one who did that.
