VP candidate for Party for Socialism and Liberation (aka Peace and Freedom Party) (2016)
Running mate with nominee: Gloria Estela La Riva (b. 1954)
Popular vote: 68,139 (0.05%)
Electoral vote: 0/538
The campaign:
The Gloria La Riva/Eugene Puryear ticket for the Party for Socialism and Liberation was nominated again for the 2016 election, and Puryear was still too young to serve if elected. La Riva's substitute running-mates were Dennis Banks (California [Peace and Freedom Party], Colorado, Iowa, New Mexico) and Sarah Sloan (Maryland).
The strength of Bernie Sanders' campaign in the Democratic Party was a mixed issue for the PSL. On their webpage they did not consider him a real socialist--
He does not call for nationalizing the corporations and banks, without which the reorganization of the economy to meet people’s needs rather than maximizing the profits of capitalist investors could not take place … He is clearly seeking to reform the existing capitalist system.
La Riva's capture of the Presidential nomination of the Peace and Freedom Party in California was a major victory. American Indian Movement co-founder Dennis Banks was a longtime household name for activists of all stripes and by selecting him as the PFP running-mate the VP actually had more name recognition than the standard bearer.
Banks campaigned in California with a focus on the oil pipeline protest taking place at Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota. Describing the 2016 choice as "the worst presidential election in U.S. history," Banks elaborated, "We're a sick county, and we're voting in 34 days from now for somebody that is hated ... So if you elect Hillary Clinton, it's because you hated Trump, and if you elect Trump, it's because you hated Hillary. That's not a very good platform to win: 'I won because I was the least hated.' What do you say to your children and grandchildren? ... Of course, I'm not running to accept the vice presidential office. I'm running because there's a forum that has to be made in this country, an ongoing forum and I've decided to use this to get on that forum."
The La Riva/Banks campaign issued a platform-in-brief--
OUR 10 POINT PROGRAM
1. For the earth to live, capitalism must end
2. Make a job, free health care, free education & affordable housing Constitutional rights
3. Shut down all U.S. military bases around the world-bring all the troops, planes and ships home
4. Stop racist police brutality and mass incarceration
5. Defend our unions
6. Equality for women and free, safe, legal abortion on demand
7. Full rights for all immigrants
8. Full federal equality for LGBTQ people
9. Honor Native Treaties-Free Leonard Peltier
10. Seize the banks–Jail Wall Street criminals
Of the impressive 74,405 popular votes (0.05%) gained nationally by La Riva in 2016, the ticket with Banks accounted for 68,139 of them, mostly from California. The La Riva/Banks results: California 0.47%, New Mexico 0.15%, Colorado and Iowa 0.02% each. If elected, Banks would have died in office less than 10 months into his term, aged 80.
Election history: none
Other occupations: US Air Force, co-founder of American Indian Movement, teacher, drug and alcohol counselor, member of the Board of Trustees for Leech Lake Tribal College, actor, composer, musician, author
Buried: Battle Point Cemetery (Federal Dam, Minn.)
Notes:
Banks endorsed Jesse Jackson in the 1988 Presidential primaries and Dennis Kucinich in the 2004 cycle.
