Alejandro Mendoza, April 25, 1977 (Riverside, Calif.) -
VP candidate for Socialist Party of the United States of America (aka Socialist Party USA) (2012)
Running mate with nominee: Stewart Alexis Alexander (b. 1951)
Popular vote: 4,434 (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538
The campaign:
Stewart Alexander, the Socialist Party USA's VP in 2008, was nominated for President in 2012 overcoming a late challenge by Jerry Levy of Vermont's Liberty Union Party on the first ballot. The Party considered selecting antiwar activist Cindy Sheehan as the running-mate but instead turned to Alex Mendoza of Texas on a fresh procedural rule that Sheehan was not actually a Party member. Mendoza was also running for the State House of Representatives in 2012 under the Green Party banner.
2012 was the first election where the SPUSA had a Presidential nominee who was a person of color.
Alexander had made an attempt for the Green Party nomination but withdrew. He also campaigned for the Peace and Freedom Party nomination in California but lost to Roseanne Barr.
The campaign website provided an abridged version of the platform--
CAMPAIGN PLATFORM
The Alexander/Mendoza Campaign
stands for:
Genuine democracy for the 99%
Free speech, press, assembly, association
An end to wars and military occupations
Bring the troops and the money home
Initiate global disarmament
Deploy our troops for disaster relief
Create a democratically-controlled national bank
End Bush-Obama tax cuts to the wealthy
Productive jobs and/or a living wage for all
Single payer universal health care
Free dental, mental, optical and long term care
Decent affordable housing for all
Free or inexpensive reliable public transit
Hire more teachers – Reduce classroom size
Free education through college level
Legalize and tax marijuana – End the drug war
Restore our air, water, land – Protect the environment
Rebuild America’s infrastructure
The Alexander/Mendoza ticket could be found in the ballot in three states Ohio (0.05%), Colorado (0.01%), Florida (0.01%) and were registered write-ins in five others (California, Indiana, Michigan, Montana, Texas). The popular vote was a continuation of the SPUSA election decline since 2004.
Election history:
2012 - Texas House of Representatives (Green Party of the United States) - defeated
2014 - Texas House of Representatives (Democratic) - defeated
2016 - Texas House of Representatives (Democratic) - defeated
Other occupations: US Marine Corps, mobile home and RV manufacturer worker, Information Technology, lawn care business
Notes:
Parents came to US from Mexico.
