Anne E.R. Goeke, January 26, 1955 (Paris, France) -
VP candidate for Green Party (aka Green Coalition) (1996)
Running mate with nominee: Ralph Nader (b. 1934)
Popular vote: 12,135 (0.01%)
Electoral vote: 0/538
The campaign:
Using the term "Green Party" as a national political entity applied to the situation in 1996 is a bit misleading. Rather than a centralized and unified juggernaut, Ralph Nader's Presidential run in this year was not really nationally managed or coordinated in the traditional way. The Green Party of this era consisted of a confederation of local groups, some of them actually in serious conflict with each other including two groups that were in contention for the actual "Green Party" mantle.
Drafted by a confederation of groups, Ralph Nader did not swear to fight for the platform of any specific group and declared himself an independent. But he still showed up on most ballots next to a party name, usually with the word "Green" in it.
He told a Green convention that endorsed him in California in Aug. 1996:
Many Americans who call themselves liberals have so lowered their expectations about what politics can mean to this nation's future that they are settling for diminishing returns. Politics has been corrupted not just by money but by being trivialized out of addressing the great, enduring issues of who controls, who decides, who owns, who pays, who has a voice and access, and why solutions available on the shelf are not applied to the existing and looming crises of our society, both local and global.
One thing politicians do understand is rejection. When voters are deciding how they wish to use their vote, they should ask themselves how best to send a clear message. The Greens and other progressives are in the early building stages of a people-first, democratic political movement for future years. They deserve our attention because they are centering on the basic issues of representative government, one of whose purposes is to strengthen the usable tools of democracy, the other, in Thomas Jefferson's prophetic words, is "to curb the excesses of the monied interests."
Although not quite as confusing as attempting to identify Eugene McCarthy's running-mates in 1976, nailing down Nader's VP in 1996 isn't easy. His own selection was Winona LaDuke and she is generally recognized as the official person in that role. But there were stand-ins as well, such as Anne E.R. Goeke on the ballot in Iowa and Vermont, Madelyn R. Hoffman in New Jersey, and Muriel Tillinghast in New York. In Florida, where Nader was a write-in, Islara Boixados Souto was considered the running-mate.
Richard Walton (1984 Citizens Party VP) was a stand-in in Rhode Island until replaced by LaDuke. Some sources claim other stand-ins were Krista Paradise in Colorado, Bill Boteler in DC, and Deborah Howes in Oregon but I have not found any primary documents confirming those names as VPs. In a few other states Nader did not have a running-mate.
Goeke's father was French, but mother was American. Although born in Paris, she was an American citizen and still would have been eligible to hold office in the event of a Nader/Goeke victory although no doubt there would have been a Constitutional challenge from opponents. At the time of the 1996 election, she was a Green activist in Pennsylvania. Early in the campaign season she was sometimes mentioned as the "official" running-mate.
In terms of election results, Ross Perot's entry in the contest muddies the waters a bit, but Nader still had an impressive 4th place finish with 685,435 popular votes (0.71%). He cracked over 1% in 16 states + DC. The Nader/Goeke ticket earned 2.16% of the popular vote in Vermont, and 0.53% in Iowa.
Election history:
2000 - Pennsylvania Auditor General (Green Party) - defeated
Other occupations: cofounder Women in Black (Lancaster, Penn.), cofounder Earth Rights Institute, poet, artist, activist
Notes:
She was born Anne de la Bouillerie.
Niece of actor Walter Matthau.
