VP candidate for Independent Republican (2012)
Running mate with nominee: Ronald Ernest Paul (b. 1935)
Popular vote: 2,035 (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538
The campaign:
Rep. Ron Paul of Texas announced in May 2011 he was going to run for the Republican nomination for President. Along with Jesse Ventura and Ralph Nader, Paul has long been one of the contemporary voices outside the mainstream of politics that can excite a base. After he basically dropped out of the running many of his followers refused to give up the fight and ran him as a write-in candidate in several states.
In Maine, Paul's name was registered on Sept. 24, 2012 by an Elector named Patrick Eisenhart. Mark Willis, who had been a Paul delegate and a member of the Republican National Committee from Maine, was listed as the running-mate. "Neither had any prior knowledge or had given their consent," Eisenhart told a columnist.
Willis said he had "nothing to do with it" and "I made the judgment call to just not do anything, keep it quiet, don't talk about it, don't draw attention to it."
In May 2012 Willis had been elected to the Republican National Committee and he also attended the national convention as a delegate for Ron Paul. The RNC disqualified the Paul delegates from Maine on technicalities and as a result most of the delegates from the Pine Tree State walked out of the convention.
The Paul/Willis ticket finished with 0.28% of the vote in Maine. Nationwide Paul had an impressive 26,204 (0.02%) votes as a write-in in states where his followers had him registered. Maine was his highest percentage. Other Paul write-in results were: Vermont 0.24%, New Hampshire 0.19%, California 0.16% (where his running-mate was Andrew Napolitano), and Rhode Island 0.14%.
In Jan. 2013 Willis made an unsuccessful longshot bid to unseat and replace RNC Chair Reince Priebus. Although the Paul/Willis ticket was an involuntary one, mainstream Republicans pointed to it in an effort to paint Willis as disloyal. The Republican Liberty Caucus endorsed Willis, who was also a member of the RLC himself.
Another anti-Priebus group endorsed Willis and included a little more about his politics--
Mark Willis is a strong proponent of restoring personal and economic liberty and freedom. He also advocates a limited federal government, and to that end, elimination of the TSA, the Departments of Education and Interior as well as the Environmental Protection Agency at the federal end and the Internal Revenue Service.
In Aug. 2013 Willis and a dozen others left the Republican Party stating in a letter, "We can no longer associate ourselves with a political party that goes out of its way to continually restrict our freedoms and liberties as well as reaching deeper and deeper into our wallets."
Election history:
20-- - Dennysville, Me. School Board
20-- - Dennysville, Me. Board of Selectmen
Other occupations: U.S. Army Counterintelligence Agent, computer security, farmer, attorney,
Notes:
Fun factoid: I have a cousin in the Nashville area named Paul Willis.
