VP candidate for Socialist Party of the United States of America (aka Socialist Party USA aka Natural Law Party) (2016)
VP candidate for Socialist Party of the United States of America (aka Socialist Party USA aka Green Party of the United States aka Legal Marijuana Now Party aka DC Statehood/Green Party aka Green Rainbow Party aka Pacific Green Party aka Independent aka Mountain Party) (2020)
Running mate with nominee (2016): Emidio Soltysik (1974-2020)
Running mate with nominee (2020): Howard Gresham Hawkins (b. 1952)
Popular vote (2016): 2,689 (0.00%)
Popular vote (2020): 405,622 (0.26%)
Electoral vote (2016, 2020): 0/538
The campaign (2016):
The Socialist Party USA nominated Emidio "Mimi" Soltysik of Los Angeles and Angela Nicole Walker of Milwaukee in Oct. 2015 as their Presidential ticket for the 2016 election.
The SPUSA found itself, at least early in the election season, campaigning against Bernie Sanders more than the status quo candidates. Soltysik told the press, "He has had a long history of support for war and he has also had a healthy support for Israel, which we tend to see as an apartheid state. Some things he has done and advocated for are completely incompatible with a responsible socialist program."
The quite lengthy SPUSA 2016 platform had this preamble--
The Socialist Party USA stands for the abolition of every form of domination and exploitation, whether based on social class, gender, race/ethnicity, age, education, sexual orientation, or other characteristics.
We are committed to the transformation of capitalism through the creation of a democratic socialist society based on compassion, empathy, and respect as well as the development of new social structures. Socialism will establish a new social and economic order in which workers and community members will take responsibility for and control of their interpersonal relationships, their neighborhoods, their local government, and the production and distribution of all goods and services.
For these reasons we call for social ownership and democratic control of productive resources, for a guarantee to all of the right to participate in societal production, and to a fair share of society’s product, in accordance with individual needs.
As we pursue a socialist transformation of society, we join with others in making radical demands on the existing system: demands that challenge the basic assumptions of a capitalist market economy while pointing the way to a new society. Although reforms will not in themselves bring about socialism, the fight for them will advance the cause by demonstrating the inherent limitations and injustice of the capitalist system. As we build the socialist movement, we organize around a platform committed to our common and interdependent struggles and aspirations.
When the Los Angeles Times asked Soltysik what he would do if elected he responded, "We would have to fire ourselves on the first day. You can't do that job without becoming a war criminal."
Soltysik/Walker were on the ballot in Colorado (0.01%) and Michigan (0.05%), the latter under the Natural Law Party banner. The were registered as write-ins in 8 additional states. In the event of their victory Walker would have assumed the Presidency upon the death of Soltysik June 28, 2020.
The campaign (2020):
If you followed the activities of national third political parties during the 2020 election, you could not avoid Howie Hawkins. Although his history was with the Green Party, he launched an aggressive effort to unite several progressive organizations and was partially successful. His running-mate in all cases was Angela Walker.
Hawkins, of Syracuse, N.Y., filed with the FEC as a Green Party candidate on May 14, 2019.
Hawkins/Walker won the nomination of the Socialist Party USA in Oct. 2019. On July 11, 2020, Hawkins/Walker received the Green Party nomination in their Age of COVID online convention. In Aug. 2020 Hawkins/Walker were nominated (some sources say "endorsed") by the Legal Marijuana Now Party. In the case of the Legal Marijuana Now Party, Rudy Reyes became the Presidential nominee of the Legal Marijuana Now Party ca. Mar. 2020 when Presidential nominee Mark Elworth Jr stepped down to run for US Congress as a Democrat in Nebraska. After winning the primary Elworth switched back to the LMNP and resumed his top spot on the ticket while Reyes once again became the VP. In August 2020 the LMNP dropped their ticket entirely and backed Hawkins. Socialist Alternative endorsed the Hawkins/Walker campaign later in the season.
Solidarity initially supported Hawkins/Walker, but then rescinded their backing after a poll of their members.
The Green Party nomination process was not without controversy. Dario Hunter, who was a rival for the nomination, decided to continue campaigning to the general election. The Alaska Green Party broke ranks with the national party and nominated a ticket of Jesse Ventura/Cynthia McKinney who were also registered write-ins in California.
The Rhode Island Green Party refused to name a candidate for fear of throwing the election to Trump. Democrats were successful in preventing ballot access for Hawkins/Walker in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Hawkins also attempted, and failed, to gain the nomination of the Peace and Freedom Party creating some political bad blood between himself and winner Gloria La Riva in the process.
Unlike 2016, when the Trump administration was simply a dystopian concept, by 2020 it was a reality that had polarized the country. Many progressive voters felt that Trump's incompetence and impotence in the face of a national emergency, coupled with his authoritarian white nationalist style, made even the most centrist Democrat seem acceptable by comparison. With Sen. Sanders himself putting some energy into the Biden electioneering, Hawkins would find it a difficult task to recruit new voters.
Even so, Hawkins/Walker finished an impressive 4th place nationally. On the ballot in 29 states + DC and registered as write-ins in a dozen more they were within the potential of receiving enough votes from the Electoral College to win. On the printed ballots they were chiefly identified as Green Party candidates. Their strongest results: Maine (1%), Hawaii (0.67%), Maryland (0.52%), Massachusetts and Illinois (0.51% each), Oregon and District of Columbia (0.50% each). The three close states where they could have been potential spoilers-- Georgia, Arizona, and Wisconsin-- were all carried by Biden. In all three Hawkins/Walker were not on the ballot but were registered as write-ins.
On Nov. 9, 2020, Hawkins filed with the FEC for the 2024 Presidential election under the category of "Other."
Election history:
2014 - Milwaukee County Sheriff (Wis.) (Independent) - defeated
Other occupations: bus driver, dump truck driver, union organizer
Notes:
During the 2020 election cycle I had been in contact with Walker and the campaign's PR man, Kevin Zeese. We reached the point where Walker agreed to an interview and she was sent a list of questions. But then Zeese suddenly died and that apparently stopped everything.
