Richard Edward Wendt, July 20, 1958 -
VP candidate for Independent (1992)
Running mate with nominee: Delbert Leonard Ehlers (1953-2001)
Popular vote: 1,149 (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538
The campaign:
The media described independent Presidential candidate Delbert Ehlers of Ute, Iowa as a large man with a long beard. He was a former farmer who in 1992 was now a fence builder. His running-mate was Richard "Rick" Wendt, a farmer in the area of Mapleton, Iowa. The ticket filed by petition with the required 1,100 signatures in Iowa just hours before the deadline in Aug. 1992.
Ehlers said his platform included eliminating the federal deficit, wiping out the drug problem, ending exploitation of women, bringing factory jobs back to the US, holding a convention for farmers to improve agricultural policy, and firing most of the law enforcement officers and rehire the positions with a strict filter.
It was a low-budget effort and mostly ignored by the media. They broadcast their campaign via blurbs in the newspaper classified ads section. Ehlers attempted to crash two of the major network Presidential debates but was rebuffed. Wendt said he wasn't sure if he was going to vote for their ticket.
There were two Constitutional problems in the event of their victory. Wendt was below age 35, and both candidates were residents of the same state.
Impressively, the Ehlers/Wendt ticket placed 6th out of 14 with 0.08% of the vote in Iowa, even placing higher than the Libertarians. They were not registered write-ins in any other state.
On Election Day, Ehlers told a reporter, "I can promise you one thing, no matter how I do today, ol' Delb will be back in 1996." But he wasn't.
Election history: none
Other occupations: farmer
Notes:
More info most welcome.
