Janice Jordan, 1964 (Ojai, Calif.) -
VP candidate for Peace and Freedom Party (2004)
Running mate with nominee: Leonard Peltier (b. 1944)
Popular vote: 27,607 (0.02%)
Electoral vote: 0/538
The campaign:
In 1998, The Peace and Freedom Party of California lost their status as a ballot qualified party in California after failing to attain the minimum 2% vote requirement for any statewide candidate. But in 2003 after considerable effort they regained their ballot qualification. Having skipped the 2000 Presidential election, in 2004 they passed over independent Ralph Nader and Socialist Walter F. Brown to nominate Leonard Peltier.
Peltier, a Turtle Mountain Chippewa who was previously active in the American Indian Movement (AIM) had been in prison for almost three decades in 2004. He was convicted of aiding and abetting the 1975 shooting at point blank range of a couple of FBI agents at the Pine Ridge Reservation, SD. Peltier became a fugitive but was arrested a couple months later in Alberta. His case quickly drew controversy while gaining supporters contending he is a political prisoner and the "Free Leonard Peltier" movement was born.
Agitation to create a Peltier Freedom Party and run him for President had been around even before the previous election in 2000 and disorganized write-in efforts had been promoted that year. Apparently there was some buzz in 2003 of the Peace and Freedom Party endorsing an all-convict ticket of Mumia Abu Jamal for President and Leonard Peltier for VP. Momentum had been building for Peltier to the point where in Feb. 2004 he selected his attorney Barry Bacharach as his running-mate which was serious enough that a button had even been produced.
In March 2004, the same month Peltier won the PFP Presidential primary, his civil rights lawsuit against the FBI for constructing an "officially sanctioned campaign of misinformation and disinformation" was dismissed.
By the time of the convention on Aug. 1, 2004 Peltier was easily the choice but the Party substituted Bacharach with proven PFP candidate and activist Janice Jordan.
In an interview with Third Party Watch in 2006, Jordan explained how she gravitated to the Peace and Freedom Party--
In 1990, I witnessed the United States Congress declare "Operation Desert Shield" against a poor country, a country of people of color-Iraq. Looking at the sea of wealthy European-American male faces in Washington DC, many of whom were Democrats disgusted me. I grew up in a Democrat stronghold, however at that moment I knew the party wasn't for me anymore. I searched out another political party and I found the Peace & Freedom Party.
Jordan's statement of acceptance as the 2004 VP nominee mirrored the Party platform--
Statement by Janice Jordan
I am honored to be the Vice-Presidential candidate of the Peace and Freedom Party of California, the only socialist and feminist party with ballot status in the most populous state in the United States. I have lived in California all of my life, and been active from a very young age in social justice, human services and environmental issues.
The current situation of international violence and occupation could have been avoided through dialogue and diplomacy, approaches that Leonard Peltier and I take pride in as social justice and human rights advocates. There is only one political party in power (the Republicans and the Democrats) in the United States, and unfortunately diplomacy, justice, civil rights and human rights take a backstage to unregulated military spending, unchecked human rights violations and police crime. The United States is not a leader in democracy or freedom; it has alienated itself from the rest of the world and from many of its own people.
Over the years, I have worked to end the disproportionate incarceration of poor people and people of color; the rise of homelessness among women, men, children and families (especially veterans); rampant military spending; police brutality; and the environmental destruction of reservations. I continue to fight for low-cost housing availability, livable wages, free speech, free healthcare, access to higher education, social security safety for seniors, same-sex marriage rights, and medical marijuana, in coalition with local and national grassroots groups and organizations. Government policies to benefit the working-class and working poor should be a priority not a problem. Healthcare, education, jobs and a livable wage are rights, not privileges.
One or two people cannot cure the ills created over centuries of abuse and neglect. However, Leonard Peltier and I intend to listen to communities that have been overlooked and ignored, and to advocate that each person has the right to live a healthy, productive and safe life in the richest country in the world. Working for effective change will happen by voting your conscience, not your fear.
Only on the ballot in California, the Peltier/Jordan ticket finished with 0.22% of the popular vote in that state.
Election history:
1996 - US House of Representatives (Calif.) (Peace and Freedom Party) - defeated
1998 - US House of Representatives (Calif.) (Peace and Freedom Party) - defeated
2000 - Mayor of San Diego, Calif. (Nonpartisan) - primary - defeated
2001 - San Diego (Calif.) City Council (Nonpartisan) - defeated
2006 - Governor of California (Peace and Freedom Party) - defeated
Other occupations: activist, writer, social worker, physical education teacher
Notes:
Winner of 1996 elections was Duncan Hunter.
Opponents in 2006 were Arnold Schwarzenegger (winner), Peter Camejo, James E. Harris, and Art
Olivier.
Washington State trivia alert!!!-- Peltier was co-owner of an auto body shop in Seattle ca1965-1972.
In July 2000 the Washington State Democratic Party passed a resolution in support of executive
clemency for Peltier.
