Muriel K. Tillinghast, January 21, 1943 (Washington, DC) -
VP candidate for Green Party (1996)
Running mate with nominee: Ralph Nader (b. 1934)
Popular vote: 75,956 (0.08%)
Electoral vote: 0/538
The campaign:
Using the term "Green Party" as a national political entity applied to the situation in 1996 is a bit misleading. Rather than a centralized and unified juggernaut, Ralph Nader's Presidential run in this year was not really nationally managed or coordinated in the traditional way. The Green Party of this era consisted of a confederation of local groups, some of them actually in serious conflict with each other including two groups that were in contention for the actual "Green Party" mantle.
Drafted by a confederation of groups, Ralph Nader did not swear to fight for the platform of any specific group and declared himself an independent. But he still showed up on most ballots next to a party name, usually with the word "Green" in it.
He told a Green convention that endorsed him in California in Aug. 1996:
Many Americans who call themselves liberals have so lowered their expectations about what politics can mean to this nation's future that they are settling for diminishing returns. Politics has been corrupted not just by money but by being trivialized out of addressing the great, enduring issues of who controls, who decides, who owns, who pays, who has a voice and access, and why solutions available on the shelf are not applied to the existing and looming crises of our society, both local and global.
One thing politicians do understand is rejection. When voters are deciding how they wish to use their vote, they should ask themselves how best to send a clear message. The Greens and other progressives are in the early building stages of a people-first, democratic political movement for future years. They deserve our attention because they are centering on the basic issues of representative government, one of whose purposes is to strengthen the usable tools of democracy, the other, in Thomas Jefferson's prophetic words, is "to curb the excesses of the monied interests."
Although not quite as confusing as attempting to identify Eugene McCarthy's running-mates in 1976, nailing down Nader's VP in 1996 isn't easy. His own selection was Winona LaDuke and she is generally recognized as the official person in that role. But there were stand-ins as well, such as Anne E.R. Goeke on the ballot in Iowa and Vermont, Madelyn R. Hoffman in New Jersey, and Muriel Tillinghast in New York. In Florida, where Nader was a write-in, Islara Boixados Souto was considered the running-mate.
Richard Walton (1984 Citizens Party VP) was a stand-in in Rhode Island until replaced by LaDuke. Some sources claim other stand-ins were Krista Paradise in Colorado, Bill Boteler in DC, and Deborah Howes in Oregon but I have not found any primary documents confirming those names as VPs. In a few other states Nader did not have a running-mate.
Muriel Tillinghast, Nader's VP in New York where she lived, had joined the Greens early in 1996. She had a long history as a civil rights activist dating back to the early 1960s including with SNCC operations in Mississippi. In her career she also worked with prisoners, AIDS victims, and tenants rights.
Late in the campaign she had applied for the position of Superintendent of the Syracuse, NY school system. Apparently the hiring authorities were unaware she was a VP with Nader until right before the interview (she didn't get the job).
In terms of election results, Ross Perot's entry in the contest muddies the waters a bit, but Nader still had an impressive 4th place finish with 685,435 popular votes (0.71%). He cracked over 1% in 16 states + DC. The Nader/Tillinghast ticket won 1.20% of the popular vote in the Empire State.
Election history: none
Other occupations: social activist, operations manager with Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)
Notes:
Lutheran
Supported Obama in 2008 and Sanders in 2016.
