James Arthur Lewis, April 20, 1933 (Old Saybrook, Conn.) - February 22, 1997 (Norwich, Conn.)
VP candidate for Libertarian Party (aka Free Libertarian Party) (1984)
Running mate with nominee: David Peter Bergland (1935–2019)
Popular vote: 228,111 (0.25%)
Electoral vote: 0/538
The campaign:
Until shortly before the Libertarian Party convention in 1983, talk show host Gene Burns was assumed to be the Party nominee for President. But he decided not to run (politically speaking at the last minute) and a power struggle ensued to fill the void. In the process the so-called "Crane Machine," which had run the 1980 campaign, was displaced by the more "ultraist" forces of 1980 VP David Bergland.
Bergland was selected as the standard bearer for the Libertarian Party on the fourth round of voting. The convention voted for Jim Lewis as running-mate on the second ballot. In both cases neither Bergland or Lewis were the first choice on the first round. Once the insurgents had gained the nominations many of the moderates walked out. This included people like 1980 VP nominee David Koch who took his bankroll with him.
Being something of surprise nominees, the Bergland/Lewis ticket had to devise a campaign strategy on the fly. And coordinating a party of diehard individualists to act in a unified manner could not have been easy. It is something of a tribute that they performed as well they did. Better, in fact, than any other third party in 1984.
During the electioneering it was apparent Lewis had a special interest in opposing the concept of income tax. In Massachusetts at an anti-tax protest in April 1984 he told a reporter, "I haven't filed an income tax return in four years and I'm still on the street ... There is nothing in the tax code that makes you subject to criminal prosecution for failing to file an income tax form. The system is in fact voluntary ... I don't expect to file again until they put a gun to my head."
The bad news on Election Day was that the Party suffered a significant drop compared to the 1980 Presidential results. The 1984 0.25% national percentage still stands as their lowest since 1980. But on the bright side, the Libertarians landed in third place for the first time in Presidential elections, a feat they would repeat off and on for the next few decades. At the grassroots level about a dozen Party members were elected to various offices around the country.
On the ballot in 39 states and DC they continued to enjoy their strongest support in the Far West: Alaska 3.07%, Montana 1.35%, Wyoming 1.25%, Arizona 1.03%, New Mexico and Colorado 0.87% each, Nevada 0.80%, Oklahoma 0.72%, Idaho 0.69%.
Lewis, acting as his own attorney, went on to be convicted in a U.S. District Court in 1988 for willful failure to file income tax returns in the 1980s. Rather than considering himself a "tax cheat," Lewis saw his actions as an act of tax protest and attempted to use the trial as a venue for arguing the constitutionality of income tax. Needless to say, he was convicted. He began his sentence at Allenwood, Penn. in April 1988 (about the same time income tax is due) and was released 10 months later.
Election history:
1982 - US Senate (Conn.) (Libertarian Party) - defeated
1987 - Libertarian Party nomination for US President - defeated
Other occupations: salesman for the General Book Binding Company, author
Buried: ?
Notes:
Winner of the 1982 race was Lowell Weicker.
Previously a Republican.
