Melissa J. Nixon
VP candidate for Unaffiliated (aka Operation Restoration) (2020)
Running mate with nominee: Jade S. Simmons (b. 1977)
Popular vote: 181 (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538
The campaign:
Jade Simmons, based in Kingwood, Tex., filed as an Unaffiliated candidate for President with the FEC on Feb. 21, 2020.
Simmons' varied career included being a concert pianist, motivational speaker, author, and Miss Illinois (1999).
Dubbing her campaign "Operation Restoration," Simmons took a centrist leaning Left approach and felt that as an outsider with communication skills she could end the hyper-partisanship that was dominating public discussion of all things political and cultural. She told one reporter, "I feel like what we're watching is the nation, especially culturally, spiritually and racially, being ripped to shreds. So I feel like what we're restoring is our original identity. I look back at the concept of us really being one nation, under God and indivisible."
One press release summarized the platform: "Operation Restoration - The mission of Operation Restoration, the campaign of Jade Simmons, is to 1) to restore the United States of America to its' God-given identity of being a unified nation, that honors God and serves ALL people, 2) to strip away the dysfunctional practices of divisive politics and bring forth a new lane of leadership that prioritizes people over profit, political games, and personal agendas and 3) to give voice to the voiceless and the "muted middle" – those individuals that don't fully agree with the left side or the right side but believe there is a place in the middle where we can honorably meet and find common ground on the issues that matter to our country."
Claudeliah J. Roze was announced as the running-mate on Sept. 20, 2020. However in Florida, perhaps as a stand-in VP, Melissa Nixon was the running-mate. Nixon was something of a professional colleague in the field of motivational speakers, operating out of Charlotte, N.C.
Simmons/Roze finished 11th in the national election, at the top of what I would consider the third tier of third party results, actually outpolling the Socialist Workers Party. They were on the ballot in Oklahoma (0.23%) and Louisiana (0.08%). They were also registered write-ins in over two dozen additional states. In Florida, where they were write-ins, the Simmons/Nixon ticket garnered 181 votes.
Election history: none
Other occupations: business coach, motivational speaker, author, founder of Courageous Life Academy
Notes:
“I’m not afraid of failure, I’m afraid of regret”--Melissa Nixon
