Darlington Hoopes

 

James Hudson Maurer, 1928-1932 SPA VP nominee and Hoopes (left) in 1932

Darlington Hoopes, September 11, 1896 (Vale, Md.) – September 25, 1989 (Sinking Spring, Penn.)

VP candidate for Socialist Party of America (1944)

Running mate with nominee: Norman M. Thomas (1884-1968)

Popular vote: 79,017 (0.16%)

Electoral vote: 0/531

The campaign:

Norman Thomas, who had already run for President four times, was wanting to hand the torch to a younger generation and that hope rested on the 1940 VP nominee and second in command Maynard Kreuger. But Kreuger did not want it. So once again Thomas accepted the Presidential nomination in what was becoming a personality-driven rather than process-driven political party. Darlington Hoopes, much more of a centrist than Kreuger, was selected as the running mate. Hoopes was from the Socialist hotbed of Reading, Penn. and had experience as an elected SPA public servant passing legislation on child labor.

It was during this campaign Thomas supposedly said in a speech: "The American people will never knowingly adopt socialism. But, under the name of 'liberalism,' they will adopt every fragment of the socialist program, until one day America will be a socialist nation, without knowing how it happened ... I no longer need to run as a Presidential Candidate for the Socialist Party. The Democratic Party has adopted our platform." According to Snopes this is a bogus quote but it is repeated frequently by those on the Right as a form of confirmation bias without giving any source of the utterance. However, it is true that many of the Socialist ideas were co-opted by both of the major parties, but the capitalist system remained essentially intact and dominant, even under FDR.

After initially opposing America's entry into WWII, Thomas and the SPA supported the war effort but had fears of the USA entering a period of endless militarism and he anticipated the Cold War. "Sooner or later the USSR ... is bound to forget its present alliance and to aid native revolt against white-predominately British-supremacy. If we fight again with and for Britain ... it will be a terrible and unsuccessful [third world] war. That war, or long sustained preparation for it, will doom our democracy."

Thomas was one of the very few people (along with J. Edgar Hoover!!) to speak out against the internment of Japanese Americans.

The resulting national vote was the worst in the history of the SPA. With votes recorded from 29 states, including some where they were only write-ins, they didn't crack 1% in any of them-- although in Wisconsin, once a SPA stronghold, they finished with 0.99%.

Election history:
1929 - Judge, Berks County, Penn. - defeated
1931-1936 - Pennsylvania House of Representatives (Socialist Party of America)
1936-1940 - City Solicitor (Reading, Penn.)
1936 - Pennsylvania House of Representatives (Socialist Party of America) - defeated
1938 - Pennsylvania House of Representatives (Socialist Party of America) - defeated
1940 - Pennsylvania House of Representatives (Socialist Party of America) - defeated
1942 - Pennsylvania House of Representatives (Socialist Party of America) - defeated
1944 - Pennsylvania House of Representatives (Socialist Party of America) - defeated
1950 - Pennsylvania State Senate (Socialist Party of America) - defeated
1950 - US House of Representatives (Penn.) (Socialist Party of America) - defeated
1952 - US House of Representatives (Penn.) (Socialist Party of America) - defeated
1952 - US President (Socialist Party of America) - defeated
1956 - US President (Socialist Party of America) - defeated
1958 - US House of Representatives (Penn.) (Socialist Party of America) - defeated

Other occupations: attorney

Buried: Maidencreek Friends Meeting Burial Ground (Berks County, Penn.)

Notes:
Attended Quaker school.
Joined the Socialist Party of America in 1914.
Was part of the "Old Guard" that split from the SPA in 1936-1937 and formed the Social Democratic
 Federation. He later returned.
A member of the Darlington-Butler political dynasty in Pennsylvania, including 5 members of US Congress.

James Hudson Maurer

James Hudson Maurer, April 15, 1864 (Reading, Penn.) - March 16, 1944 (Pottstown, Penn.)

VP candidate for Socialist Party of America (1928, 1932)

Running mate with nominee (1928, 1932): Norman M. Thomas (1884-1968)
Popular vote (1928): 267,478 (0.73%)
Popular vote (1932): 884,885 (2.23%)
Electoral vote (1928): 0/531
Electoral vote (1932): 0/531

The campaign (1928):

Five time SPA Presidential candidate Eugene Debs died in 1926, and this was the first national election for what would be six time nominee Norman Thomas. It was also the SPA's first time back on the Presidential ballot after they took a little detour in 1924 by endorsing La Follete and his Progressive Party bid.

This was a very low period for the SPA, with less than 8000 dues paying members.

The 1928 platform was a long and detailed document including a wordy preamble. It was divided into sections covering: Constructive Program Public Ownership and Conservation -- Unemployment Relief -- Labor Legislation -- Taxation -- Civil Liberties -- Anti-Lynching -- Political Democracy -- Credit and Banking -- Farm Relief -- International Relations.

Although platforms from other third parties in the past both radical Left and populist Right had expressed many of the same ideas, the timing of this one with such specifics on the eve of America's worst economic collapse makes it fascinating reading in hindsight as portions of it seem to accurately anticipate the sort of issues the USA would be facing in the 1930s. 

This election was particularly hard for third parties. The SPA was on the ballot in 40 states, generally placing in a feeble third spot. Their best four states were New York (2.44%), Wisconsin (1.79%), Florida (1.59%), and California (1.46%). They polled less than 1% in the remaining states.   

The campaign (1932):

The number of SPA dues paying members more than doubled since 1928, thanks in part to the hard economic times coupled with the charisma and energy of Norman Thomas, now running again with Maurer. But with growth came problems, and the generational split between the Old Guard and the young militants turned into a power struggle that would only worsen after the election.

Their 2.23% overall national finish would be the last time the SPA would crack over 1% in a national election result. With recorded votes in 45 states their strongest finish was in Wisconsin (4.79%), Oregon (4.19%) New York (3.78%), Montana (3.65%), Connecticut (3.45%), and Pennsylvania (3.19%). Not that Roosevelt needed it anyway in his massive landslide, but the Thomas/Maurer ticket acted as the spoiler in Connecticut, tossing that state to Hoover.

Election history:
1906 - Governor of Pennsylvania (Socialist Party of America) - defeated
1911-1912 - Pennsylvania House of Representatives (Socialist Party of America)
1912 - Pennsylvania House of Representatives (Socialist Party of America) - defeated
1915-1918 - Pennsylvania House of Representatives (Socialist Party of America)
1916 - Socialist Party of America nomination for US President - defeated
1918 - Pennsylvania House of Representatives (Socialist Party of America) - defeated
1927-1930 - City Council (Reading, Penn.) (Socialist Party of America)
1930 - Governor of Pennsylvania (Socialist Party of America) - defeated
1934 - US Senate (Penn.) (Socialist Party of America) - defeated

Other occupations: trade unionist, author, newsboy, machinist, Vaudeville actor, plumber, newspaper editor, Chairman of Pennsylvania Old Age Pension Commission, President of Pennsylvania Federation of Labor 1911-1928, hat sizer

Buried: Pottstown Cemetery (Pottstown, Penn.)

Notes:
Winner of the 1930 race for PA Governor was Gifford Pinchot.
Started his political career with the People's Party in the 1890s, joined the Socialist Labor Party in
 1899, moved to the SPA in 1901.
Met with Woodrow Wilson in 1916 and Joseph Stalin in 1927.
In 1936 Maurer resigned from the SPA but apparently returned to the Pennsylvania chapter. His issue
 was what he viewed as growing unwelcome Communist influence in the SPA.
Knowing that the union workers would cease wartime production if Maurer was arrested the Federal
 authorities decided not to incarcerate him for what they viewed as seditious opinions.