Michael Pennington Lacy, February 7, 1952 (Radford, Va.) -
VP candidate for American Party of South Carolina (2016)
Running mate with nominee: Peter Alan Skewes (b. 1957)
Popular vote: 3,250 (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538
The campaign:
The American Party of South Carolina was a centrist political group founded in 2014. In May 2016 the Party nominated Clemson University faculty Peter Skewes for President. Skewes had initially filed with the FEC in Aug. 2015 as a Democrat, changing his party designation to "UNI" and then "UN" in Sept. 2015, then finally to the American Party in Mar. 2016.
Their platform--
Ensuring Our Future
The central focus of the American Party is to increase the economic global competitiveness of our states and our country, by focusing on the implementation of common ground solutions. We advocate the following approaches:
Decrease the National debt while ensuring a strong national defense and essential social programs through a deliberate, balanced, and comprehensive approach that will not do damage to our economic recovery
Create a strong, choice-driven public school system that encourages innovation, rigor, and success for all children with an increased emphasis on early childhood education
Create an efficient, effective health care system that emphasizes preventative care and encourages healthy lifestyles for all Americans
Reform Campaign Funding by doing away with the effects of recent Supreme Court rulings by legislation and/or amendment; requiring immediate and total transparency and posting all donors and amounts regardless of source within five business days of receipt
Reform Ethics Legislation by requiring the annual disclosure of all sources of income from elected officials. Have stand-alone ethics commissions at state and federal levels to investigate, enforce, and discipline
Provide strong, unequivocal support for the Second Amendment - coupled with universal background checks and strengthened mental health programs
Initiate comprehensive tax reform to acquire a simpler, fairer tax system that supports economic growth and encourages work, savings, and investment
Implement a comprehensive immigration policy that provides a responsible pathway to citizenship, encouragement of high skill and high knowledge immigration, employer accountability, and a strengthened national border
The Party also supported term limits and eliminating the Electoral College.
Part of Skewes' campaign technique involved walking across the state of South Carolina, garnering him more press coverage than usual for a candidate in his tier.
The chronology of Skewes' selection of a running-mate Michael Lacy of Athens, Ga. is something of a mystery. On Oct. 6, 2016 he told the Independent Political Report: "Mike is a dear friend from my graduate student days at Virginia Tech. He is as solid and trustworthy as anyone I have ever met. I would trust him with my or any member of my family’s life." Like Skewes, Lacy was an academic in the animal sciences. He had recently retired as head of the University of Georgia's Department of Poultry Science. Lacy did not appear to be active in the electioneering.
The Skewes/Lacy ticket were on the ballot in South Carolina, where they placed 7th out of 7 with 0.15% of the vote. They were also registered write-ins in Connecticut with a result of 4 votes.
The American Party of South Carolina became one of the entities to help for the Alliance Party in 2018.
Election history: none
Other occupations: teacher
Notes:
Not to be confused with "American Party" organizations usually associated with the extreme Right wing.
