Arrin T. Hawkins, July 25, 1975 -
VP candidate for Socialist Workers Party (2004)
Running mate with nominee: Róger Calero (b. 1969)
Popular vote: 3,689 (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538
The campaign:
Martin Koppel, who had been the Socialist Workers Party provisional Presidential nominee in 2004, was suddenly shifted into running for the US Senate in New York. I say sudden because campaign buttons for Koppel and his running-mate Arrin Hawkins had already been manufactured. In 2002 Koppel and Hawkins had run as a team for Governor and Lt. Governor of New York.
A new Presidential nominee was substituted and made official at the convention but the SWP ticket faced a double whammy as far the Constitution was concerned. The Presidential nominee was Róger Calero, who was born in Nicaragua, and the VP was still Arrin Hawkins, who was 29-- little details that made both of them ineligible to hold the offices they sought. Many states would not allow the duo to be listed on their ballots, so the Harris/Trowe ticket of 2000 returned as stand-ins. As it turned out there were more states with the substitute team for this Castroist party on their ballots than there were with the official 2004 nominees.
Calero was not only not born a US citizen, but he had nearly been deported stemming from an arrest back in 1988 concerning a felony-level sale of marijuana. This case came up in 2002 when Calero attempted to re-enter the US after a journalistic trip to Cuba.
The SWP said Hawkins was 28 or 29 years old, but some sources claimed she was actually two or three years older-- still too young to serve as VP in either case. Records indicate she was born on July 25, 1975.
This double ticket situation takes some figuring, and it doesn't help that several trusted sources have conflicting information. From what I can sort out Harris/Trowe were on the ballot in Colorado, District of Columbia, Florida, Iowa, Louisiana, Mississippi, Utah, Washington, and Wisconsin. They were write-ins in Delaware and Ohio. Calero/Hawkins were on the ballot in Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, and Vermont. They were write-ins in Connecticut. Math is not my strongest subject but I count 7108 votes for Harris/Trowe, 3689 for Calero/Hawkins.
The Calero/Hawkins ticket finished with 0.08% in Vermont, 0.03% in New York, and 0.01% in Minnesota, Nebraska, and New Jersey.
Election history:
2002 - Lt. Governor of New York (Socialist Workers Party) - defeated
2005 - Manhattan Borough President (NY) (Socialist Workers Party) - defeated
Other occupations: airline baggage handler, meat packer, garment worker
Notes:
In the 2002 election she was apparently a write-in candidate.
