B. Kwaku Duren, April 14, 1943 (Beckley, W. Va.) -
VP candidate for Independent (aka New Alliance Party) (1988)
Running mate with nominee: Lenora Fulani (b. 1950)
Popular vote: 31,180 (0.03%)
Electoral vote: 0/538
The campaign:
In 1988 Lenora Fulani was the nominee for the New Alliance Party. She managed to achieve the nearly impossible task of gaining ballot status in all 50 states + DC. In some cases the NAP worked with already existing third parties such as the Solidarity Party and United Citizens Party. In California they tried but failed to take over the Peace and Freedom Party and in the process temporarily derailed the PFP for that election year.
In the 1988 election the Peace and Freedom Party seemed to be in a bit of disarray as it tried to fend off a takeover attempt by the New Alliance Party. The PFP appeared to have been seriously split and a third of the delegates walked out of the convention in Oakland. This was a rare election where the PFP did not appear on the Presidential ballot in California. NAP leader Lenora Fulani and Internationalist Workers Party figure Herb Lewin both claimed the nomination but when they filed with the California Secretary of State the election officials refused to recognize either one as the legitimate Presidential selection.
Lewin claimed victory but Fulani said she was nominated at a "parallel convention" in a nearby hotel.
It seems the PFP party officials made the request not to list either one on the ballot. Party chair and 1980 presidential nominee Maureen Smith told the press the nomination process "never got off on a legal start" since so many delegates were not credentialed. There had been talk of officially making Eugene McCarthy the PFP choice and it seems some negotiating did take place but consensus was never attained.
Meanwhile, Dennis L. Serrette the New Alliance Party Presidential nominee for 1984, denounced the NAP as a toxic cult during the 1988 election season. This point of view would be shared by several in the cultbusting community.
Fulani had eight running-mates in 1988, stating "If we got elected, we'd figure it out." Her VP who was on the California ballot only was B. Kwaku Duren, one of the few 1988 Fulani ticket-sharers who had already established a prior public political identity independent of the NAP.
In the 1970s Duren was an ex-convict who was already on the path of seeking social change through community action when his sister was shot and killed by a California State Highway Patrol officer during what should have been a normal traffic stop. This seemed to sharpen his resolve as he joined the Black Panther Party and earned a degree in law. Always a controversial figure, Duren was making a second try for a seat in the US House as a member of the Peace and Freedom Party at the same time he was running for Vice-President with the New Alliance Party.
In 1987 Fulani said the NAP was prepared to endorse Jesse Jackson in the event he won the Democratic nomination, but in case he didn't her campaign was forging ahead.
The NAP platform included national health care, support for AIDS victims, recognition of Native American treaty rights, stronger environmental regulations, a freeze on military spending, ending aid to South Africa-Contras in Central America-Israel, support of pro-choice laws, support of public transportation.
Nationally Fulani gained 217,221 votes (0.24%) and placed 4th, a truly impressive and historic finish on many levels-- for openers, Fulani was the first African American woman to be listed on every US ballot. The Fulani/Duren ticket received 0.32% of the popular vote in California, so it was better than Fulani's national average.
Election history:
1986 - US House of Representatives (Calif.) (Peace and Freedom Party) - defeated
1988 - US House of Representatives (Calif.) (Peace and Freedom Party) - defeated
1990 - California Insurance Commissioner (Peace and Freedom Party) - primary - defeated
1992 - US House of Representatives (Calif.) (Peace and Freedom Party) - defeated
2013 - Mayor of Compton, Calif. (Nonpartisan) - primary - defeated
Other occupations: attorney, author, teacher, co-chair of the Coalition Against Police Abuse, Coordinator of the Southern California Chapter of the Black Panther Party, President of the Union of Legal Services Workers of Los Angeles, Executive Director of Community Services Unlimited, founding member and chairman of the New African American Vanguard Movement
Notes:
Winner of the 1986 and 1988 races was Merv Dymally.
One of his fellow candidates in the 2013 race was Rodney Allen Rippy.
Birth name: Robert Donaldson Duren.
