Washington State Voters Pamphlet: 1980 (above), 1984 (below)
Angela Yvonne Davis, January 26, 1944 (Birmingham, Ala.) -
VP candidate for Communist Party USA (aka People Before Profits Party aka Independent) (1980, 1984)
Running mate with nominee (1980, 1984): Gus Hall (1910-2000)
Popular vote (1980): 44,933 (0.05%)
Popular vote (1984): 36,386 (0.04%)
Electoral vote (1980, 1984): 0/538
The campaign (1980):
In the course of gathering the story of the typical third party Vice-Presidential candidate I usually have to scrape and dig to find even the most meager nuggets of data and information. But in the case of Angela Davis my challenge will be to sift through mountains of history and try to focus on her two runs as VP for the CPUSA.
Among the third party VPs for 1980 and 1984 Davis was easily the one who arrived as the most widely recognized national figure, and among the most controversial. It was a rare instance of the running-mate being better known than the Presidential nominee, in this case Gus Hall. She had been identified with the Black Panther Party, anti-war activity, Communist groups and countries, feminism, and prison reform. In a highly publicized criminal case, she had been held in prison 1970-1972 on three felony charges regarding her purchase of firearms that were later used in a Marin County, Calif. courtroom takeover that resulted in four deaths, including the judge. For a brief time Davis was on the Ten Most Wanted List when she became a fugitive. After her capture and subsequent trial she was eventually found not guilty.
The 1980 CPUSA platform included support of the ERA, transfer of money from the military to schools and hospitals and mass transit, outlawing the KKK and the Nazis, opposition to the draft, not allowing American companies to close plants and move out of the country, six-hour workday with 8-hour wages, and ratification of SALT II.
On the ballot in close to 30 states, the Hall/Davis ticket placed 6th nationally. Davis helped the Party gain a little more publicity than usual. It always amazes me how the CPUSA really outdid other third parties in terms of campaign buttons, stickers, and pamphlets. The major source of their electioneering funds was assumed to originally be in the form of rubles but we'll never know the exact amount or percentage of contributions from the CCCP because the CPUSA has hardly been transparent about these sort of things.
Strongest popular results were in: District of Columbia 0.21%, Illinois 0.20%, Arkansas and Hawaii 0.15% each, Alabama and New York 0.12% each.
The campaign (1984):
Four years later the CPUSA offered the same Hall/Davis team. In this Orwellian year they spent more energy campaigning against President Reagan than they did in promoting their own agenda. In some ways they were giving a backhanded endorsement to the Mondale/Ferraro Democratic ticket.
Describing Reagan as a "nuclear madman," Davis told the press, "We understand millions of people are not going to vote for the Communist Party this time around. We are working primarily to defeat Reagan, a mouthpiece for the military-industrial complex that is willing to risk the sake of our planet for profits."
Hall added, "As the election approaches, Reagan's now calling for peace. He used to be a lousy actor, but now he's getting good at it." Davis said, "We do have problems with Mondale, who vacillates and thinks the way to win is by courting people who ordinarily would be in the Republican constituency. But if we do not defeat Reaganism this year, there is a possibility of nuclear holocaust."
This would be the final Presidential campaign for the CPUSA. Davis' star power presence on the ballot probably helped slow the rate of decline, but the popular votes were diminishing. More importantly, changes taking place in the soon to be former Soviet Union would shake the philosophical foundation of the American party and cut off financial support. Also, many of the idealistic young Leftists of the 1970s had become materialistic Yuppies of the 1980s. For a second time, Reagan won in a landslide.
The CPUSA finished in 8th place nationally. On the ballot in almost a dozen states they finished strongest in: Alabama 0.32%, Hawaii 0.24%, Maine 0.23%, Arkansas 0.17%, and District of Columbia 0.12%.
Election history: none
Other occupations: teacher, lecturer, author
Notes:
When skyjacker Garrett Brock Trapnell took control of a jet in 1972 he not only demanded money, he wanted Angela Davis released from prison and he wanted a pardon from President Nixon among other things. Instead he was made an involuntary guest of the Crowbar Hotel. During the 1980 election he was incarcerated in Marion and ran for President with VP and fellow convicted skyjacker Martin Joseph McNally under the Nationalist Christian Democratic Party.
