Jonathan David Ellis, August 31, 1975 (Boyle County, Ky.) -
VP candidate for America's Party (aka American Independent Party aka Independent) (2012)
Running mate with nominee: Thomas Conrad Hoefling (b. 1960)
Popular vote: 2,277 (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538
The campaign:
Thomas Hoefling, who had been one of the people behind Keye's 2008 campaign with his America's Independent Party had shortened the name to America's Party in 2011 and began his first Presidential run under the new banner. His VP was Jonathan D. "J.D." Ellis of Savannah, Tenn. He was running a self-described "front porch campaign" from Iowa and had managed to make the ballot in three states and was a registered write-in for more than a dozen others. One of those states where he was a printed option was California, where he gained access by winning the nomination of the American Independent Party which had come under the control of the Keyes faction due to a decision by the California Secretary of State in 2008. Hoefling's presence extended that influence.
Hoefling was selected by the AIP Aug. 11, 2012 in a very small convention with 7 in-person votes and 13 proxy votes. Robert Ornelas communicated with the group via phone that he wanted the VP spot but was hoping Wiley Drake (who was an in-person delegate) would be the one getting the Presidential nomination. Instead, Drake was selected as Chairman of the AIP and it seems Hoefling was able to co-opt and absorb Drake's campaign, including acquiring Ornelas as his running-mate. So Ornelas in 2012 filled the AIP position his mentor Drake had occupied in 2008. Hoefling ended up with two running-mates.
America's Party VP Ellis shared his God-centered government views in the last two questions of an interview on Oct. 2012--
What role has your religion played on your personal views of Abortion?
If the Romney-Ryan [Hoefling-Ellis] ticket is elected, should those who believe abortion should be legal be worried?
The word of God tells me that life begins at conception, and that hands that shed innocent blood are an abomination before the Lord. Science, which is simply man’s attempt to better understand the physical laws set in place by the same God Who reveals Himself to us in His written word, undeniably confirms that a new and unique human life is created at the point of fertilization.
Although God and His word are the ultimate authority and law on this, we are blessed in America, to have been Founded by men who understood these principles, and incorporated them into our Founding documents. The Declaration--our national charter--is based on the premise that all men are Created equal, and endowed by our Creator with an unalienable right to life. If life begins at fertilization, then the unborn are human persons, intrinsically endowed with the same inherent worth, dignity, and rights as all other human persons. And if those rights are given by God, then only God has the right to take them away. It is not in our authority to create laws, regulations, or conditions upon which the right to life will be either acknowledged or ignored. An unalienable right to life cannot be denied by human courts, or by a “democratic process” at either the federal or state level.
Like the Declaration, our Constitution also contains protections for the unborn. In fact, the crowning purpose of that Document is to “secure the Blessings of Liberty to…our Posterity”, which quite obviously precludes murdering them in the womb. The Fifth Amendment, too, is very clear: “No person shall be…deprived of life…without due process of law.” The Fourteenth Amendment further clarifies that abortion is not an issue for the states to decide: “…nor shall any State deprive any person of life…without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” If the states are required to provide equal protection, then Constitutionally, it is just as illegal, and just as punishable to murder an unborn person as to murder any other person. The states are Constitutionally obligated to provide that level of protection.
This is all part of a Document that Mr. Hoefling and I would be required to take an oath to defend. We would take that oath very seriously, as a solemn obligation before God and the American people.
Closing Statement.
Thank you to Examiner.com for publishing my answers to these questions, and to their readers for taking the time to consider them.
We, the American people, must reject dependence on a money- and major-media-driven political process, and remember that elections are meant to represent us--not the political parties or the corrupting influence of wealth. In the age of the internet, we need not rely on biased and exclusive media outlets for our election coverage, when there are thousands of citizen news sites and blogs willing to give a fuller picture. We must change the way we do politics, putting the power back in the hands of the people, where it belongs.
We must stop giving our votes to people who do not represent us, simply because the major media and major parties tell us that we have no other choice. Such coercion and manipulation is un-American--it is Soviet-style politics, in which we are free to vote for anyone, as long as our choice has the approval of a cadre of elites. We will never have a representative government as long as we lack the simple faith and courage to vote our convictions.
We must refocus on an understanding that Almighty God is the Disposer of nations, and that America cannot be blessed by His generous hand while we continue to flaunt His will. He has told us what makes nations great, and what makes nations fall. America was Founded on those principles, and prospered as long as we remembered them. As we have forgotten them, we have paid the price. Our only hope for saving America is to remember them once again.
God’s institution of government can be what it was intended to be, only when His other institutions of the church and the family are what they ought to be. We must protect religious liberty, and the traditional family. Killing our children through abortion; ripping apart the two-parent home through homosexuality, divorce, and pornography; and otherwise marring God’s design for the family have proven destructive to America, and must be opposed if we are to maintain our place in the world.
If you agree with the principles defended in these answers, please consider Tom Hoefling for President. Visit the following websites, or look us up on facebook, for more information. Thank you.
The Hoefling/Ornelas ticket finished 6th out of 6 of those on the California ballot, 0.29% of the popular vote in the Golden State. Hoefling's national total was 40,649, and 38,372 of those came from California, accounting for more than 94% of his poll. The Hoefling/Ellis ticket was on the ballot in Colorado (0.03%) as America's Party and in Florida (0.01%) as American Independent Party. They were also write-ins in 15 states.
Election history:
2014 - Governor of Tennessee (Independent) - disqualified from ballot
Other occupations: Chairman of the National Citizen Constitutional Review Board, retail home improvement sales
Notes:
Moved to Bowling Green, Ky.
