Steven Long, February 28, 1956 -
VP candidate for Pirate Party (2016)
Running mate with nominee: Kevin David Deame (b. 1956)
Popular vote: 13 (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538
The campaign:
Kevin Deame of Ellington, Conn., filed with the FEC for President as a candidate of the Pirate Party on, appropriately enough, April Fools Day, 2015. His running-mate was Steven Long of Burlington, Conn.
Deame worked in the field of information systems project management, and had a history of volunteerism in international aid for hard hit nations. In 2016 it appears his platform had a focus on direct democracy as well as cyber security. His Pirate Party seemed inspired by a political group in Iceland with the same name.
Deame, who leaned Left, described his VP as "pretty apolitical" who "wouldn’t know what the Pirate Party is if you asked him."
Among his electioneering plans, "I'm going to New Hampshire to a Trump rally to see if I can convince any of those knuckleheads to vote for me," figuring that he was a better protest vote choice.
On Oct. 29, 2016, Deame instructed his Facebook readers--
I’m a legal write-in candidate for president in 14 states, but many of them are toss-ups, so PLEASE don’t vote for me if your ballot will actually count one way or the other. If you live in a safe state (meaning the outcome is not in doubt for president) Connecticut, Oregon, Vermont, New Jersey or Rhode Island, it’s legit to put me in as a protest vote. From my point of view it’s a goof, of course, but also a test to see if write-in votes are tabulated properly.
Seventeen years ago I was an election observer in East Timor for a referendum on independence. People were literally risking their lives to vote and they had an 85% turnout. Here we will have 50% if we're lucky. Let’s go people! The choices may not be good, but it’s the minimum requirement in a democracy to make the effort.
The Deame/Long ticket earned a reported 13 votes on Election Day in Connecticut.
Election history: none
Other occupations: ?
Notes:
Another mystery VP.
