John Paul Mabry Jr.

 

John Paul Mabry Jr., November 4, 1948 (Grayson, Ky.) - December 10, 2017 (Olive Hill, Ky.?)

VP candidate for Independent (2016)

Running mate with nominee: Timothy Allen Stevens (b. 1968)
Popular vote: 12 (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

Using the slogan "What else ya got," Tim Stevens of Olive Hill, Ky. registered as a write-in for the 2016 Presidential election in Kentucky. His running-mate was his father-in-law Paul Mabry, also of Olive Hill.

That slogan is the full extent of what I can uncover regarding Stevens' platform. I can find one previous case of a son-in-law/father-in-law ticket, Fred Cunningham Cook/Emmett Noah Ezell (Independent, 2000), both of Georgia.

The Stevens/Mabry ticket earned 12 write-in votes from their home state. The fact they were residents of the same commonwealth might have been a problem per the Constitution in the event of their victory.

Stevens ran again in 2020 with Susan Congleton Fletcher as his running-mate.

Election history: none

Other occupations: grocery store manager, custodian

Buried: Mabry-Duncan Cemetery (Grahn, Ky.)

Notes:
4th degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do and a brown belt in Ju-Ju-Tsu.

 

Anthony Brent Cook

Anthony Brent Cook, June 12, 1980 (Brunswick, Ga.) -

VP candidate for Independent (2000)

Running mate with nominee: Lamar Echols III
Popular vote: ? (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

Lamar Echols III of Georgia tossed his hat into the Presidential race and nominated his fishing pal Brent "Snag" Cook as his VP. Brent's brother John "Rad" Cook was promised the Attorney General position.

It was repeated in several sources that: "Independent Lamar Echols III proposes reducing school violence by having parents 'take a vital part out of their children's car' every night so that children won't be able to stay out all night and therefore won't fall under the influences of violence."

In the summer of 1999 Echols ended his campaign and endorsed the independent ticket of Fred Cook and Emmett Ezell. Fred Cook was Brent's father and Ezell was his grandfather.

There were two blockades to the Echols/Cook ticket taking office in the event of their victory. Cook (and probably Echols as well) was much too young at age 20 to legally assume office. Plus, both candidates were residents of the same state which is verboten according to the Constitution.
   
Election history: ?

Other occupations: ?

Notes:
I imagine there were some lively political discussions at the Cook family dinners.

Emmett Noah Ezell

Emmett Noah Ezell, August 29, 1929 (Reno, Ga.) -

VP candidate for Independent (2000)

Running mate with nominee: Fred Cunningham Cook (1942-2016)
Popular vote: 0 (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

Fred Cook, a teacher in Georgia, made a run for President in 2000, the same year he retired from the classroom. In what I believe is a first, he chose his father-in-law, Emmett N. Ezell of Cairo, Ga., as his running-mate.

Cook's prior politics appear to have been connected with the Republican Party and also an ultra-obscure group called the Christian Alliance Party. He explained he was running because, "nearly 50 people showed up at my front door ... [and] urged me to run for political office."

According to politics1, Cook's platform included: supports tax cuts, an end to Affirmative Action programs, educational system improvements and increased military spending.

From what I can piece together, Cook was not registered as a write-in in any state and thus no votes for the Cook/Ezell ticket were reported. But after the election, Cook claimed to have earned at least 4,217 popular votes:

* Notable Fred Cook election returns

Georgia 1,921
Alabama 1,212
Florida 724
North Carolina 120
South Carolina 112
New York 89
California 39

* Due to the fact that in many states write-in candidates who do not register with the state are automatically disqualified, many of our returns may conflict with other sources.  We know this to be true in Georgia and California.

As it was, in the event of a Cook/Ezell victory there would have been an issue with the Constitution since they were residents of the same state.

Cook on his campaign webpage, post-election, also announced he was going to run again in 2004:

Dear America,

When I first entered this race for President I knew that it would not be easy.  We had little money and virtually no media attention.  However, our hopes of throwing the election into the Congress nearly became a reality.  But in the end it fell short.  I would like to thank everyone who helped my campaign in anyway.  I can never repay the thousands of volunteers that helped with my crusade.  I will never forget all the great Americans that I met along the way.  I promise that I will never give up the fight to form a principled third party that will give the people a real choice other than Republican and Democrat.  We as third parties must come together.  Parties such as the Reform Party, Constitution Party, American Party, and many more should come together.  So we can join together to take our government back and give it back to the people.  Futhermore, I will never stop the fight for campaign finance reform.  Until something is done special interests will continue to run our country.  That is why today I am announcing my candidacy for the Presidency in 2004.  An Exploratory Committee will be formed.  My crusade will start early this time.  We will already begin collecting signatures to get my name of the ballot.  This time the American people will hear our message.  I ask every American to join with me and fight the same old two party system.  STAY TUNED AMERICA!!

Thank you for your support,

Fred Cook

Election history: none

Other occupations: US Army (Korean War), pickle processing supervisor

Notes:
One source spells his name: Emmit Ezell