VP candidate for Independent (2016)
Running mate with nominee: Christopher Michael Farrenholz (b. 1981)
Popular vote: 0 (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538
The campaign:
Christopher Farrenholz of Brunswick, Ohio filed with the FEC as an Independent for President on July 20, 2016. Apparently, his only other action in terms of making an effort to gain the Presidency was a single post on Facebook--
July 28, 2016
Farrenholz for President 2016 This makes it official at last....feel free to donate to my campaign with ideas, cash, or anything else you may have...like a vote!
In the comment section regarding a running-mate, Farrenholz wrote, "I am hoping for Kasich."
Now, I will grant you that this is a very tenuous factoid on which to base a third party Vice Presidential profile, but there it is.
In 2016 Gov. John Kasich of Ohio was one of many Republicans seeking the Party's nomination for President. At the time Farrenholz expressed a desire to have the Governor as VP, Kasich had already dropped out of contention as the Republican nominee.
Although painted by the media as a moderate, Kasich actually had a very traditional conservative record. In previous elections he would have been portrayed as a far Right candidate, but compared to the other hopefuls in 2016 he came across as almost centrist. The New York Times said he was "the only plausible choice for Republicans tired of the extremism and inexperience on display in this race." Others called him "the adult in the Republican playpen" and "the only grown up on the debate stage." However, the same was said about Romney in 2012 and that didn't turn out so well for the Republicans. The Party was choosing a more visceral path in 2016.
A career politician, Kasich placed second in the New Hampshire primary and won his home state primary in March before dropping out. Horrified by what he saw as Trump's unprofessionalism, chronic lying, racism, disrespect for women, and willingness to engage in toxic demagoguery, Kasich became one of the more prominent Republicans willing to criticize the Party's nominee. As a result he was subsequently cast into the political wilderness like many other mainstream Republicans who refused to engage in a case of situational ethics (e.g. Lindsey Graham) that would make even Machiavelli raise his eyebrows.
A Farrenholz/Kasich victory would have potentially run into the Constitutional snag of both candidates being residents of the same state.
Election history:
1979-1983 - Ohio State Senate (Republican)
1983-2001 - US House of Representatives (Ohio) (Republican)
2000 - Republican nomination for US President - defeated
2011-2019 - Governor of Ohio (Republican)
2016 - Republican nomination for US President - defeated
Other occupations: Fox News infotainer, managing director of Lehman Brothers office (Columbus, Ohio), author, CNN talking head
Notes:
Endorsed Biden in 2020.
