Jason Matthew Coleman

 

Jason Matthew Coleman, January 14, 1969 -

VP candidate for Independent (2008)

Running mate with nominee: Richard R. Rosenkranz (b. ca1966)
Popular vote: 0 (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

Richard Rosenkranz was a professor of human ecology at Kansas State University when he decided to run for President as a write-in. His running-mate was his brother-in-law, Jason M. Coleman, also a resident of Manhattan, Kansas. Coleman was a librarian at KSU with a newly minted MLS.

Speaking as a former academic faculty librarian myself, I can sort of understand what Rosenkranz said when he outlined Coleman's qualifications, "He's the only one crazy enough I could talk into being my Vice-Presidential pick." The duo became registered write-ins in Kansas.

Rosenkranz appeared to run simply because he could, "I think a lot of us growing up thought it would be neat to run for President, or to be President."

Other brother-in-law tickets included when William Gahres of the Down With Lawyers Party selected his brother-in-law Joseph F. Loughlin as his VP in 1980, also the 2008 independent ticket of William Louis Mills, Jr. with VP David Henry Hinton.

Since both Rosenkranz and Coleman were residents of the same state there would have been a problem according to the Constitution, but as no votes were reported for them a legal crisis was averted.

Election history: none.

Other occupations: librarian

Notes:
MLS, Emporia State University, 2007

David Henry Hinton

 

David Henry Hinton, Feb. 25, 1952 (Indiana) -

VP candidate for Independent (2008)

Running mate with nominee: William Louis Mills, Jr. (b. 1953)
Popular vote: ? (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

The ticket of William Louis "Billy" Mills, Jr. of Morgantown, Ky. and David Hinton of Louisville, Ky. were registered as write-ins in their home state. Mills had filed with the FEC on Nov. 15, 2007.

It appears Mills and Hinton were brothers-in-law. The campaign treasurer was Theresa Mills Hinton, wife of running-mate David Hinton and sister of Billy Mills. It wouldn't be the first time a ticket had this sort of relationship. In 1980 William Gahres of the Down With Lawyers Party selected his brother-in-law Joseph F. Loughlin as his VP.

The Mills/Hinton team ran what I call a stealth campaign as I cannot find any record of their platform. Kentucky did not report the returns for write-ins, so we'll never know how many votes they really earned. In any event, the fact they were residents of the same state would have posed a problem with them assuming office in the event of their victory as far as the Constitution is concerned.

Election history: none

Other occupations: business broker

Notes:
Lived in Indiana prior to Kentucky.

Joseph F. Loughlin

Joseph F. Loughlin, March 26, 1923 (Philadelpha, Penn.) - August 5, 2014 (Pennsylvania?)

VP candidate for Down With Lawyers Party (1980)

Running mate with nominee: William Gahres (1913-2005)
Popular vote: 1,718 (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

"Barefoot Bill" Gahres was a New Jersey electrical contractor and perennial candidate who invented one-issue political parties such as the Right to Die Party as a method of being heard. The Down With Lawyers Party started in 1978 when he ran for the US Senate. In that one he placed 4th in a field of 15, right behind the Politicians are Crooks Party but ahead of the Libertarian Party. 

When he ran as the Down With Lawyers Party candidate for President he filed with the FEC under The Committee to Get Rid of Lawyer Legislators and Bureaucratic Bullshit. His running mate Joseph F. Loughlin of the Philadelphia area was a brother-in-law by marriage. Loughlin did not appear to have an active role in the campaign.

Some Gahres quotes from the 1980 campaign:

I'm not a lawyer-hater per se ... Anybody who had anything to do with lawyers knows they're in it solely for the money. They're in it for the buck and they have a death-grip on you.

They don't have enough brains to get in out of the rain.

I talk in flea markets, at yard sales. I don't go out of my way because I know I can't win. I do it to get my point across.

I don't believe that the two-party system gives voters enough of a choice. It's like the difference between Tweedle-dum and Tweedle-dee. I feel like a trailblazer into changing that system. And this year, I think independent candidates are finally making some inroads. From now on it won't be so easy to ignore us.

My secret is I've got a hide like an elephant and I have the guts to come back after defeat.

I don't hate all lawyers. There are just too many of them in the Legislature and I don't think that's good. I wouldn't keep all lawyers from holding office. I would just try to make it as difficult as possible. I would prohibit lawyer-legislators from the private practice of law, though, because I believe it's a conflict of interest for them to make laws that are so complex that people have to go out and hire other lawyers to get them interpreted and enforced.

Among the other issues on his platform, Gahres was pro-choice, pro capital punishment, and pro right to die.

Only on the ballot in New Jersey they finished with 0.06%, 11th out of 13. The following year Gahres ran for Governor under the banner of the Down With Lawyers Party, finishing 3rd out of 13 with 0.20%, just ahead of the Suffering Majority Party. Gotta love the Garden State when it comes to unique political party names!

Election history: none

Other occupations: soldier (US Army Air Force, WWII), depot superintendent with Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority

Buried: Holy Sepulchre Cemetery (Cheltenham, Penn.)

Notes:
Called "J.F. Loghlin" by several sources.
Buried in the same cemetery as Frank Rizzo.