Levi

 

Levi, 2014 (Jonestown, Penn.) -

VP candidate for Independent (2016, 2020)

Running mate with nominee (2016, 2020): Jacob the Amish Weatherman (b. 2014)
Popular vote (2016, 2020): ? (0.00%)
Electoral vote (2016, 2020): 0/538

The campaign (2016):

Ethnic humor is always a risky proposition and can quickly become dated and cross over to the wrong side of history in a nanosecond. Pennsylvania comedian and rodeo clown Dave "Showtime" Meyer has a cast of characters he portrays including Jacob the Amish Weatherman. My first exposure to this gig was a Youtube where he mentions in front of a live crowd that some people were offended by his act and he mock apologized. Meyer has been in Facebook jail at least 5 times (much to the indignation of his fans) and it seems the interpretation of the Jacob character has had something to do with that.

The Jacob for President campaign occupied only a small portion of Meyer's busy career in 2016. However he did have a running-mate, another faux Amish named Levi, who appeared to be something of a comic sidekick.

This was not the first time a fictitious Amish man ran for President. In 2012 the Josiah for President campaign, based on a novel, ran a social media project and was even presented as a play. They also had a running-mate, the equally fictitious Mark Stedman.

In the 2008 election there was a ticket with an Amish connection. The Florida-based Real Food Party of the United States of America ran farmers James Harlin Carter and Dennis Eugene Stoltzfoos as the President and VP. Raised in Lancaster County, Penn. as an Amish Mennonite, Stoltzfoos went out on his own both spiritually and physically, moving to Florida in 1989. After working in the alternative health field and an EMT for a time he eventually started his own farm. Citing the writings of Weston Price as a major influence, Stoltzfoos shared Carter's enthusiasm for non-pasteurized dairy and natural foods.

Meyer is probably the second rodeo clown involved in a Presidential election (after Flint Rasmussen, who announced in 2013) but other sorts of real clown tickets (I know, I know. Tempting, but no cracks now) have run the past such as Bozo the Clown/Milton Rice Polland (1984, Big Whig Party), Theodore "Twinky" Dee Star/Harry Butz (2012, Independent), and Hezekiah Jones/Pa McDagen (2016, Independent).

Occasionally in the comment sections of Meyer's social media his fans expressed concern that Jacob would take votes away from Trump.

The campaign (2020):

In between the Presidential elections, Jacob ran for Governor of Pennsylvania in 2018.

The 2020 Jacob campaign included corporate sponsors such as Equi-lete Premium Horse Products and Kimes Ranch Jeans. There were also yard signs and t-shirts available in this round. Once again his VP was Levi, according to a comment made by Meyer on Facebook, "Jacob's running mate is his buddy Levi, he just doesn't know it yet."

Election history: none

Other occupations: fictitious character

Notes:
I attended plenty of rodeos and horse/pony shows as a kid and always thought the rodeo clowns were the guys in there with the most guts, and the craziest!

Pa McDagen

 

Pa McDagen

VP candidate for Independent (2016)

Running mate with nominee: Hezekiah Jones
Popular vote: ? (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

"Why choose the lesser of two evils when you can choose PURE EVIL!" was the 2016 Presidential campaign slogan of Hezekiah "Hangman" Jones and Pa McDagen, two theatrical characters designed as part of the entertainment at Hangman's House of Horrors, a haunted house attraction in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

The ticket was announced on Youtube, Sept. 5, 2016. The truly creepy and hooded Hezekiah Jones apparently does not speak in public, so he would whisper his statements to Pa McDagen, who served as the team's spokesman. Among others things they advocated a pro clown policy and declared the dead are more important than the living and as such don't need healthcare.

The McDagen character is portrayed by Fred Patterson. The stage name is no doubt an inside joke derived from the founder of the House, D’Ann Dagen.

On a Facebook post Oct. 9, 2012, McDagen indicated he was running for President, in that short-lived campaign no running-mate was mentioned.

The House webpage describes the Jones story--

They say it was a brisk October night back in 1882 when an angry lynch mob finally put an end to the murderous rampage of Hezekiah Jones, a man known simply as the Hangman. When the sun fell, he would stalk his victims along the banks of the Trinity River and hang them until dead. By his rope, one hundred twenty people died.

Then one October night, he was strung up by the neck with his own bloodstained rope. The mob watched as he gasped for breath through the blackened bag covering his face. They left him hanging there in the damp night air to die. But when the gravedigger came back in the morning, all he found was a broken rope dangling from the limb of a rotting oak tree down by the river's edge.

As legend tells it, the Hangman won't die until the souls of those 120 victims are gone. Every year he takes a soul from his rope to continue his horrible existence. But when they're used up, he will die. Unless of course, he kills again.

Last year over 30,000 people claimed to have seen the Hangman stalking victims throughout the city of Fort Worth in search of new souls to fuel his immortality allowing him to carry on his murderous wrath.

No one knows for sure how many new souls he has claimed. But there are telltale signs that he's looking for victims once again. The sound of jingling spurs, creaking rope and his growling, maniacal laughter have been heard in the area.

Needless to say, there would have been several conflicts with the US Constitution in the event of Jones/McDagen victory.

Election history:
2012 - US President (Independent) - defeated

Other occupations: henchman

Notes:
"I am Pa Mc Dagen, the Leader of the Mc Dagen Family. I am the meanest SOB in the DFW Haunting Community. I say what I want, & I do what I want."