Constance Zimmerman Blomen, June 25, 1929 (Winchester, Mass.) -
VP candidate for Socialist Labor Party (aka Industrial Government Party) (1976)
Running mate with nominee: Julius Levin (1922-1988)
Popular vote: 9,594 (0.01%)
Electoral vote: 0/538
The campaign:
1976 would be the final Presidential race for America's oldest socialist political party. Many New Left recruits felt the Old Guard was too authoritarian and rigid, and although the SLP enjoyed a renewal of interest in the 1960s and early 1970s, the Party was falling to Earth fast in the Age of Disco. Also, the major parties were making it more difficult for third parties to get on the ballot.
The SLP ticket in this round was comprised of a veteran campaigner and a novice. Julius Levin was something of a perennial SLP candidate in New Jersey. He was nominated for President. His running mate was Connie Blomen (pronounced blo-mane) of Ipswich, Mass. who had never run for office before. She was married to Henning Blomen, the SLP's Vice-Presidential nominee in 1964 and Presidential choice in 1968.
She had been a McCarthy supporter in 1968 but discouraged by the dysfunction of the major parties and the violence at the Democratic Party convention in Chicago she joined the SLP in 1969.
The 1976 SLP platform was typically wordy, but Connie Blomen (who turned out to be quite a dynamic campaigner) was able to really sum it up in a just a few sentences:
If we're elected, the first thing we'd do is call a meeting of industrial unions to abolish political government forever. The workers who run the industries under capitalism will run them under socialism. The difference will be that under socialism, production will be carried on to satisfy human needs, instead of sale and profit. The despotic management of capitalism will be replaced by the workers own democratically elected and democratically controlled industrial administrators and representatives.
The 1976 SLP election result was paltry compared to their previous elections. They were on the ballot in 11 states and had write-in votes recorded in 7 more. Their strongest showing was in Levin's home state of New Jersey with 0.12%.
Today in Dec. 2019 SLP no longer has a hardcopy or online newspaper, or national headquarters. They have basically vanished from the political scene for more than a decade. Their last national convention was in 2007. Their online newspaper ceased in 2011. They do have a webpage that was last modified in 2017 so there still might be some spark of life in the old Party yet so I would not totally count them out.
Other occupations: teacher, encyclopedia sales, anti-war activist
Election history: none
Notes:
Continued to be involved with SLP well into the 1990s under the name Connie Furdeck.
Had some connection for a time with the New Union Party.
