Robert Ornelas

 

                                             Above and below, Robert Ornelas and Wiley Drake

Robert Ornelas, ca1972 (California) -

VP candidate for American Independent Party (2012)

Running mate with nominee: Thomas Conrad Hoefling (b. 1960)
Popular vote: 38,372 (0.03%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

OK, this one is a bit tangled to sort out, so here goes--

In 2008 Wiley Drake had run for VP in the American Independent Party in California with Alan Keyes. The controversial minister Drake's name had already been in the news several times. On the humanitarian side, he had provided a place for the homeless on his church parking lots and legal assistance for illegal immigrants. On the homophobic side, he called for a ban on Disney for recognizing Gay partnerships as the same as straight marriages in terms of employee benefits. Drake loudly opposed the appointment of an American ambassador strictly based on sexuality.

In 2007 Drake's name was in a letter of support for James Kopp, convicted sniper, terrorist, and murderer with his targets being abortion doctors. Drake claims he did not authorize the use of his name.

Drake campaigned partly from his pulpit. At first for Gov. Huckabee in the Republican primaries but then for Keyes later in the season. The Americans United for Separation of Church and State advocated for an IRS investigation of Drake. Drake's response was to pray for the death of his enemies.

After the 2008 election Drake went on to, in a very public way, pray for the death of President Obama and of anyone else who displeased him as he urged God to be his hit man. Keyes, Drake and AIP Elector Markham Robinson filed a petition with the Superior Court in California at Sacramento challenging the right of Obama to assume the office of President based on spurious "birther" claims. The action was filed by Gary Kreep of the United States Justice Foundation, an organization characterized by the Southern Poverty Law Center as an anti-Muslim hate group.

Drake filed with the FEC in March 2012 with no party affiliation for his own run for President. He sought the nomination of the California-based American Independent Party and had already selected Christian hip-hopper Robert Ornelas as his running-mate. Ornelas, also known as "Battle Ax," or Robert SOG Ornelas [SOG = Son of God] had been inspired to become an evangelist by Drake's work with the homeless.

Meanwhile, 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. Ornelas communicated with the group via phone that he wanted the VP spot but was hoping 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.

The 2012 AIP platform was very centered on their interpretation of God's place in the workings of government--

Platform of the American Independent Party

Introduction
We Acknowledge the Creator's Gracious Gifts
The American Independent Party gratefully acknowledges God as the Creator of all and appeals to Him for help in protecting all He has graciously given us. With all these gifts comes the right to use them justly. Hence all such rights are the gifts of God as affirmed in our Declaration of Independence. These include the right to life and liberty.

Declaration of Independence Rights are God-Given
All rights are unalienable in that none have a right to take them unjustly. Liberty includes the pursuit of happiness, which is the possession and exercise of virtue. Liberty includes the right to use and claim as an individual possession any unclaimed thing received from the hand of God, in or upon or above the Earth. This right to any possession includes its entire use, that is, its exchange, control, protection, and entire disposition. And the first and greatest of these possessions is our life.

God-Given Duties to Individuals
God gave Man this earth to make of it a well-tended Garden, not to leave it an uninhabited wilderness. He gave us our lives, not to be lived to ourselves alone, but in love to one another. And the duty to love certainly includes the duty not to act hatefully towards others. Therefore, we have a duty to be at peace with each other. Our duty to love one another includes a duty to protect each other from unjust harm. We have further a duty to cooperate with each other in the fulfillment of these duties. Such duties are the basis for just government.

As the only creature made in God's image and likeness, all men have an equal duty to love themselves and others to honor that image of the God they are commanded to love. To obliterate that image by unjustly taking a life is the highest crime that one may do to another. To take a life justly is the most somber obligation God ever imposes.

Our Constitution Enables Us to Protect Our Rights and Fulfill Our Duties
To secure and fulfill all God-given rights and duties, governments are instituted among men. To fulfill those duties and protect those rights, We the People of the United States of America ordained and established a Constitution for ourselves.

Rights and Duties of Association, Including that Forceful Association, Government
God created Man with two great dimensions, individual and social. In so doing He gave us the right to associate with each other to take advantage of our rights and to fulfill our duties. The right to associate includes the right to choose one's associates, but does not include the right to force others to associate.

God has imposed on men a duty to associate in governments to put a justified fear into the hearts of evildoers. These duties are given for the good of all, but not to deprive any of the rights they are designed to protect! Governments should never commit the crimes they are created to prevent!

No association of men has any rights of itself, but only by reason of the rights contributed to it according to the covenant established among its members. That fundamental limit on associations includes the greatest and most forceful of all human associations, government. However, among all our rights we find those derived from our duties, for we all have a right to justly pursue our duties.

Therefore:

The Constitution: the Original Contract that America has with Itself
The American Independent Party is the party of ordered liberty in a nation under God. We believe in strict adherence to written law. We believe the Constitution is the contract America has with itself. Its willful distortion has led to the violation of our Tenth Amendment guaranteed right to limited government, which inevitably requires oppressive taxation. Its faithful application will lift that awful burden.

Freedom from "Liberalism"
Freed from the lawless oppression of Liberal rule, we may then compassionately and justly use our energy and ingenuity to provide for ourselves and our families. We will then establish truly free and responsible enterprise and reassert the basic human right to property.

The Protection of Life, and the Duties and Rights of Families
We believe in protecting all human life however weak, defenseless, or disheartened; we endorse the family as the essential bulwark of liberty, compassion, responsibility, and industry; and declare the family's right and responsibility to nurture, discipline, and educate its children. We maintain that all humans are persons from the beginning of their biological development and especially deserve our love and nurture when they are weakest and most dependent.

Marriage Between a Man and a Woman
We insist that marriage is between a man and a woman and assert the role of the law in establishing and reinforcing the mutual rights and obligations of that God-ordained contract.

The Individual and Common Defense
We assert the absolute, concurrent Second Amendment guaranteed individual right to self defense against impositions by other citizens or our government, coupled with a strong common defense, a common defense which requires a national sovereignty not damaged by imprudent or un-Constitutional treaties.

Opposition to Illegal Immigration and Support of Secure Borders
We oppose all illegal immigration. We support secure borders and immigration policies inviting the best of the world to join us in freedom. We emphatically demand that our borders be protected against intrusions by that most straight-forward and practical means, a fence, reinforced by all the necessary manpower and electronic surveillance. We also insist that those who violate our immigration laws, be they illegal immigrants or their employer, be punished for their crime in a way that will deter them from future offenses.

Our Great Pro-Life Constitution
The Republic established by our Constitution is the greatest of all pro-life institutions. In the first place, it protects our lives from the impositions of foreign nations and internal disorder. Our Constitution in its Fifth Amendment also forbids the government to take life, or liberty, or property unjustly. The Fourteenth amendment requires all States to apply all the protections they provide for life equally to all visitors or citizens, and to all born or unborn persons within the territories governed by their laws.

Public Servants, Not Public Masters! All Governments Under God
We believe that all those who govern are the servants of God for the good of citizens. Therefore all governments are under God whether they like it or not! This is why we call those who rule in our nation, Public Servants. We will resist by all political means at our disposal the increasing inclination of our Public employees and representatives to become, ever more, Public Masters.

In consequence whereof, we call upon all men who value their God-given liberty to join us in pursuit of these political convictions.

The Ornelas publicity campaign included this (the "Dr." prefix is an honorary or pastoral title, it is not clear which)--

Dr. Ornelas was selected by the delegates for his support of Israel and current activism throughout the country. This is the first time in the history of the United States that a hip-hop artist and Latino with Mexican descent is running for the office of the U.S. Vice President. And it is the second time in history a person who has Native American ancestry has vied for this office. He is the second after Herbert Hoover’s Vice President, Charles Curtis, to have a Native American ancestry. Dr. Ornelas is the great-great-great-grandson of Chief Cristobal Osuna from a tribe in the San Diego Mountains circa the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo (1848).

The American Independent Party of California seeks to uphold the God given gifts asserted by the Declaration of Independence which include the rights to life and liberty for all people including the unborn.

Ornelas said in an interview with Huffington Post in 2016 that, "My great grandmother was from the Cocopah Nation out of the Yuma Arizona area."

It needs to be pointed out that although not a musician by trade, the first Hip Hop activist to be on a Presidential ticket was probably Rosa Clemente, VP for the Green Party in 2008. Pinning down the first Latino of Mexican descent to be a VP is more difficult as there were more than a few before 2012, perhaps starting in 1968 with Adelicio Moya of the People's Constitutional Party, or Rodolfo "Corky" Gonzales of the Peace and Freedom Party. Before Ornelas there other VPs with closer ties to Indian Country, both genetically and from life experience-- 1964 Ramona Frances Crowell (Independent), 1976 Austin Marion Burton (Independent) [Burton could have been a Pretendian], 1980 LaDonna Vita Tabbytite Harris (Citizens Party), 1988 Wynonia Brewington Burke (New Alliance Party), 1992 Asiba D. Tupahache (Campaign for a New Tomorrow), and the most prominent of all 1996, 2000 Winona LaDuke (Green Party).
   
On May 29, 2012 Ornelas on Facebook helped spread the "Obama Admits He is a Muslim" Youtube, which has been exposed by Snopes and others as a pernicious effort at deliberate disinformation.

On Aug. 30, 2012 Ornelas posted on Facebook, "I am believing for an economic revelation from God to help our nation. This plan will help generations to come after we are long gone. Jesus, we honor you!!!!!!"

If the Drake/Ornelas ticket had survived until Election Day, in the event of their victory the fact they were residents of the same state would have posed a Constitutional problem.

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.

All three of the 2012 principals mentioned here ran for the American Independent Party primary for President in California in 2016, finishing with Ornelas 3rd, Drake 4th, and Hoefling 7th. In the end the AIP not merely endorsed but nominated Trump/Pence in 2016.   

Election history:
2014 - Governor of California (American Independent Party) - withdrew
2016 - American Independent Party nomination for President - defeated
2018 - US House of Representatives (Calif.) (American Independent Party) - defeated

Other occupations: community activist, Christian Hip Hop artist, evangelist, missionary, Elite TV producer, American Independent Party chair, founder of SOG Crew,

Notes:
Ran as a write-in in 2018.
Mother was born in Mexico.

Jonathan David Ellis

 

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.

Steven Bernard Schulin

 

Steven Bernard Schulin, June 20, 1954 (Pennsylvania) -

VP candidate for America's Independent Party (2008)
VP candidate for America's Party (aka Non-affiliated aka Independent aka Life Family Constitution aka American Party) (2016)

Running mate with nominee (2008): Alan Lee Keyes (b. 1950)
Running mate with nominee (2016): Thomas Conrad Hoefling (b. 1960)
Popular vote (2008): 38 (0.00%)
Popular vote (2016): 4,762 (0.00%)
Electoral vote (2008, 2016): 0/538

The campaign (2008):

As an African American Republican Christian Conservative, Alan Keyes was something of an anomaly on the political landscape. Sometimes referred to as a "Theocratic Neocon," the Harvard-educated Dr. Keyes had served as a diplomat in various capacities starting in 1979. In the Reagan years he was Ambassador to the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations and later Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs from 1985 to 1987. He was subsequently known as former Ambassador Keyes in the media.

By 2008 he had also become known as a perennial candidate. He had made three attempts for the US Senate, 1988, 1992, and 2004 (losing to Obama in that last one), and for US President in the Republican primaries 1996 and 2000. 2008 was his third try.

When Keyes' Republican prospects evaporated he announced on Apr. 15, 2008 he was switching parties and was now a candidate for the Constitution Party Presidential nomination. He said, "I believe people deserve a choice. They certainly deserve a conservative choice — something neither John McCain, Hillary Clinton, nor Barack Obama can offer voters. All they can offer is empty promises based on liberal track records." Constitution Party stalwarts were wary of Keyes' late conversion. He certainly had the evangelical Christian credentials but also a Neocon foreign policy track record was out of step with them. Besides, 2004 VP nominee Chuck Baldwin was already on track to gain the nomination.

Although Baldwin did win the national CP nomination, the American Independent Party which had been affiliate since 1991 was torn apart over the selection. The pro-Constitution Party faction nominated Baldwin, and the anti-Constitution Party faction nominated Keyes. Both held their own conventions regarding the other as an invalid gathering. The California Secretary of State and later the court sided with the Keyes faction and thus the era of the AIP's association with the CP came to an end. Instead, the AIP became an affiliate of the newly invented America's Independent Party which also nominated Keyes. By the time the dust settled it was really too late for Baldwin to gain access to the printed ballot in California but he did register as a write-in.

This chapter of AIP history was interpreted by the victors on their webpage--

History repeated itself after the death of our revered founder, William Shearer in early 2007. Once again outside forces sought to determine the AIP's future, but this time it was the Constitution Party that sought to dominate the American Independent Party of California through surrogates, a misguided rump faction that came to be known as "The Gang that Couldn't Shoot Straight." Defeating this assault on the independence of the AIP also took three long and costly years from 2008 to 2011. After illegitimate attempts to eject Edward Noonan from the Chairmanship by the daughter of the late founder William Shearer failed, the rump faction she led sought aid from the founder of the Constitution Party, Howard Phillips, to deny the American Independent Party its rightful voice at the Presidential nominating Convention in 2008 by a series of dastardly tricks. After successfully maintaining its right to vote on the Presidential nomination, the AIP was subjected to a further attack when the rump group held its own "Convention" and elected its own officers, entirely without authorization and contrary to both AIP Bylaws and the California Election Code. A legal battle for control of the Party ensued, which was finally resolved in favor of the legitimate party leadership on August 29, 2011.

The curious fact the party of segregationist George Wallace now had an African American standard bearer was not lost on politicos of all stripes.

The Keyes faction of the AIP was viewed as "pro-war" within the ranks of critics on the Right. The platform of America's Independent Party was pretty much the same as the American Independent Party of years past, except perhaps for the America's military plank--

Peace through Strength
We believe in a supremely strong, prepared, and well-equipped civilian-controlled United States military, and a bold, visionary and intelligent program of principled constructive engagement with the rest of the world. For us, "peace through strength" is not a mere slogan. It is the means of survival for our country in a very dangerous and often hostile world. Our friendship should be a sought-after possession of all men and women of good will everywhere in the world. Our enmity should be something that all rightfully fear.

As Ronald Reagan opposed and defeated the designs and desire of the Soviet Union to dominate the world and place it under the tyranny of their Evil Empire, we stand unalterably opposed to all who approve of, plan or commit terrorist acts. Since the first principle of America is the protection of innocent human life, any who would use acts of terrorism targeted at innocent civilians to forward their political, ideological or religious aims incur our effective and determined enmity.

In Virginia, where Keye's was a write-in candidate, his running-mate was Steve Schulin who was also one of the early organizers of America's Independent Party and the Maryland Independent Party affiliate. In Sept. 2010, Schulin provided a political autobiographical summary on the freerepublic.com boards that included the following--

Sept 2010 update

After Bill Clinton left the White House, my blood pressure went back to normal. I supported Alan Keyes for President in 2000 (and he continues to represent my views better than any other presidential candidate in my lifetime). When McCain had won enough delegates to capture the GOP nomination in 2008, I decided to look elsewhere for a political party home. I still consider myself a libertarian, but the Libertarian Party doesn't reflect my view that there are serious implications of the wonderful American perspective that our liberties are God-given. There's other things I disagree with many libertarians about, too -- I'm in favor of strict control of who's entering our national borders, for example. I urge all God-fearing, liberty-loving, sovereignty-conserving Freepers to check out America's Party.

Keyes national vote was 47,941 (0.04%). 38 (0.00%) of those came from the write-in ticket with Schulin. Keyes' other VPs were Wiley Drake in California, Brian Rohrbough the official America's Independent Party VP nationally, and Marvin Sprouse Jr. in Texas. Write-in votes for Keyes were reported in 12 more states where no running-mate was included.

Schulin, who had been an Elector for America's Independent Party, also supported the Obama "birther" challenge launched by Keyes following the election.

The campaign (2016):

In 2016 Tom Hoefling was making his second consecutive run for President under the banner of America's Party. In 2011 the Party had shortened their name from the original America's Independent Party. Hoefling's running-mate was Steve Schulin.

Hoefling had briefly rejoined the Republican Party between the elections in order to run for Governor of Iowa. He lost the primary. Upon returning to the world of third parties for the 2016 election he sought the Presidential nomination of the Constitution and American Independent parties without success, but did gain the nomination of the American Party and America's Party.

The campaign webpage included Hoefling's platform in a nutshell--

Tom Hoefling's Ten Keys to Saving the American Republic

1. Remind the American people that the source of their rights is God, not men, and that those rights are therefore unalienable.

2. Restore governmental protection for the equal right of all innocent persons, including unborn persons, to live.

3. Restore and protect the most fundamental and important civilizing institution of our society, the God-created, God-defined institution of marriage and the natural family.

4. Restore and protect our God-given right to keep and bear arms.

5. Defend the sovereignty, security, and borders of the United States.

6. Restore and protect our republican form of self-government, which is of the people, by the people, and for the people.

7. Restore respect for all of the sacred obligations of the solemn oath of office to support and defend the Constitution of the United States.

8. Bring about fundamental tax, regulatory, and governmental reforms.

9. Dismantle all governmental programs, agencies or laws which are either immoral, unconstitutional, or unnecessary.

10. Rein in our out-of-control, usurping judiciary.

If you share in these commitments, you should support my efforts, for the sake of our Posterity.

The Hoefling/Schulin ticket could be found on the ballots in Colorado (0.03%), and under the Life, Family, Constitution banner in Louisiana (0.08%). They were also registered write-ins in 25 states, with their best percentages (0.01%) in Indiana, Tennessee, and Texas.

Election history:
2008 - US House of Representatives (Md.) (Independent) - special election - defeated
2008 - US House of Representatives (Md.) (Unaffiliated) - defeated
2013 - North Myrtle Beach City Council, S.C. - defeated

Other occupations: nuclear power industry technician, Dean of Admissions of Cryptocurrency.academy, Nerium International mulitilevel marketing representative, ecommerce

Notes:
Ran as a write-in in the 2008 congressional elections.

Derrick Christopher Johnson

 Above: Johnson / Below: Bellis

Derrick Christopher Johnson, July 1, 1965 -

VP candidate for America's Party (2000)

Running mate with nominee: Joseph Kidd Bellis III (b. 1955)
Popular vote: ? (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

Joe Bellis, a former evangelical minister who worked in the computer software business in Kansas, started America's Party around 1998. The Party was considerably to the Right of the Republicans, which is the political camp where Bellis had previously resided.

With his slogan being: "Not a Lawyer! Not a Washington Insider! Not a Politician! Just an American, like you," Bellis invested $60,000 of his own dollars into the campaign.

Bellis' running-mate was Derrick Johnson, a graduate student at George Fox University in Oregon although apparently he was considered a resident of Vancouver, Wash. (Washington State trivia alert!!!). Johnson had initially aimed for the Republican Presidential nomination prior to joining America's Party in Dec. 1999.

Johnson's campaign webpage was headed with: Congressional Liberty Heroes-- Congressman Bob Barr, Congressman Ron Paul, Congressman James Traficant.

The following part of Johnson's introduction was filled with hot links that are no longer operable, but it does spell out his political platform and agenda:

Fellow Americans,

I encourage you to visit the news sites listed to the right (and the links below) and take time to get informed and ACTIVE about the issues that affect all of us.  Particularly those issues that have to do with recent defense issues, federal land grabs, campaign financing scandals committed by BOTH parties, the unconstitutional “federalization” of law enforcement, enviromental “takings” of private land,  judicial activism and the various confiscatory & ILLEGAL actions of our beloved federal bureaucrats. And, beware of the NRST (national retail sales tax) issue... see our “News & Info” page for more on this tax issue--we need tax reform or preferrably elimination, but the NRST is NOT the way to resolve this problem--UNLESS you wish to pay an unconstitutional 23 cents in taxes on every dollar you spend!!!!!

Reality dictates that THIS ROUND of elections will likely see one of the two major party candidates becoming President of the United States... but, I have not and will not back off until I have reached that office. How will that happen??? “Where God guides He provides” as someone close to me recently said, so perhaps now is not my time but sometime in the future it will be “my time” and I will take action on the things that other candidates & officeholders will not tackle. From crime (not gun-control) and the 2nd Amendment to government waste to “glo-bull warming” to family and defense issues, I will be “on the job” and doing the RIGHT THING for not only these issues, but also every thing else that I encounter as President (or VP).  You can count on that... this much I can promise and deliver on.

So, take heart, keep praying for America and stay involved & informed. Do not give up hope, for hope and a vision for the future are what we need to see us through these uncertain and tempestuous times. The Constitution is STILL the supreme law of the land, defend it and prize it, for it is OUR only protection against bureaucratic and political tyranny--something we are perilously close to experiencing.

                                           Derrick C. Johnson
                                           Candidate for President of the United States

Please Support Political Unity In A
Culturally Diverse America...

The Bellis campaign came to an abrupt halt after it appeared Pat Buchanan would secure the Reform Party nomination. Said Bellis in a press release: "In January 1999, I made a promise to the American people regarding this goal. I stated that if Pat Buchanan or Alan Keyes achieved ballot access for the November 2000 election, I would end my campaign. I am an honorable man." Bellis endorsed Buchanan for the general election in Aug. 2000.

Bellis later ran for US Congress and the US Senate variously in the Libertarian and Reform parties.
   
Election history:
1994 - US House of Representatives (Ore.) (Republican) - primary - defeated
2000 - Republican nomination for US President - withdrew

Other occupations: US Army, marriage and family therapist

Notes:
Currently in Nevada.