Eric D. Decker

 

Eric D. Decker, January 12, 1997 (California) -

VP candidate for Socialist Labor Party (2020)

Running mate with nominee: Mack William Kitchel (b. 1978)
Popular vote: 0 (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

Mack Kitchel of Georgia, or someone claiming to be him, filed with the FEC for US President under the banner of the Socialist Labor Party on Aug. 14, 2019. His Vice-President was listed as Eric Decker of Atlanta.

The SLP apparently still exists but they have not run a Presidential candidate since 1976 and pretty much shut down all operations in 2008-2011. But don't get too excited, the electioneering was a hoax. There exists a video on Youtube by Decker that chronicles the origin of the campaign as a prank.

The Youtube, posted by "Airrack" on Aug. 23, 2019 follows Decker as he initially thought about running for President himself, only to discover he was below the Constitutionally mandated age of 35. So then he decided to file the name of his friend, Mack Kitchel, as a prank. In the following order, Decker took these steps as he rode around on his skateboard--

Invented a slogan: Vote for Mack or Get Your Money Back (Decker exclaimed, "It doesn't even make sense.")
Repaired a brochure rack he found in the trash.
Ordered campaign t-shirts.
Created campaign pamphlets.
Created campaign wristbands.
Registered Kitchel with the FEC.
Hired actors to be an adoring campaign throng.
Create yard signs and placed them around town.
Surprised Kitchel with a rally and faux news reporter (Decker).

When faced with the final step, Kitchel rolled with it seamlessly as he went out on the street offering to buy votes for as low as 5 bucks a head. My favorite quote from Kitchel in these exchanges, "Be careful to balance the trickiness of how tricky it is to balance," clearly demonstrating that he has a future in politics should he decide to follow that path.

As it was the Kitchel/Decker campaigned appeared to have evaporated rather quickly. Decker's age would have been an obstacle in attaining office in the event of their victory.

Election history: none

Other occupations: video creator, comedian, Youtube personality

Notes:
I miss the presence of the Socialist Labor Party. They were still on the ballot in my early years of voting.

Constance Zimmerman Blomen

Constance Zimmerman Blomen, June 25, 1929 (Winchester, Mass.) -

VP candidate for Socialist Labor Party (aka Industrial Government Party) (1976)

Running mate with nominee: Julius Levin (1922-1988)
Popular vote: 9,594 (0.01%)    
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

1976 would be the final Presidential race for America's oldest socialist political party. Many New Left recruits felt the Old Guard was too authoritarian and rigid, and although the SLP enjoyed a renewal of interest in the 1960s and early 1970s, the Party was falling to Earth fast in the Age of Disco. Also, the major parties were making it more difficult for third parties to get on the ballot.

The SLP ticket in this round was comprised of a veteran campaigner and a novice. Julius Levin was something of a perennial SLP candidate in New Jersey. He was nominated for President. His running mate was Connie Blomen (pronounced blo-mane) of Ipswich, Mass. who had never run for office before. She was married to Henning Blomen, the SLP's Vice-Presidential nominee in 1964 and Presidential choice in 1968.

She had been a McCarthy supporter in 1968 but discouraged by the dysfunction of the major parties and the violence at the Democratic Party convention in Chicago she joined the SLP in 1969.

The 1976 SLP platform was typically wordy, but Connie Blomen (who turned out to be quite a dynamic campaigner) was able to really sum it up in a just a few sentences:

If we're elected, the first thing we'd do is call a meeting of industrial unions to abolish political government forever. The workers who run the industries under capitalism will run them under socialism. The difference will be that under socialism, production will be carried on to satisfy human needs, instead of sale and profit. The despotic management of capitalism will be replaced by the workers own democratically elected and democratically controlled industrial administrators and representatives.

The 1976 SLP election result was paltry compared to their previous elections. They were on the ballot in 11 states and had write-in votes recorded in 7 more. Their strongest showing was in Levin's home state of New Jersey with 0.12%.

Today in Dec. 2019 SLP no longer has a hardcopy or online newspaper, or national headquarters. They have basically vanished from the political scene for more than a decade. Their last national convention was in 2007. Their online newspaper ceased in 2011. They do have a webpage that was last modified in 2017 so there still might be some spark of life in the old Party yet so I would not totally count them out.

Other occupations: teacher, encyclopedia sales, anti-war activist

Election history: none

Notes:
Continued to be involved with SLP well into the 1990s under the name Connie Furdeck.
Had some connection for a time with the New Union Party.

Genevieve A. Gunderson

Genevieve A. Gunderson, May 31, 1921 (Kimball, Minn.) - September 25, 2001 (Mountain View?, Calif.)

VP candidate for Socialist Labor Party (aka Industrial Government Party aka Independent) (1972)

Running mate with nominee: Louis Fisher (1913-2001)
Popular vote: 53,814 (0.07%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

The 1972 Socialist Labor Party ticket consisted of Midwesterners Louis Fisher from Illinois and Genevieve Gunderson from Minnesota. They ran a serious and energetic campaign. 

The SLP platform for this election cycle was basically a historical essay on the birth and (as the SLP saw it) soon-to-arrive death of capitalism. The Party regarded their electioneering efforts more as a form of public education rather than an attempt to win office. Long isolated from other parties on the Left, the SLP had the luxury of appearing ideologically pure compared to their progressive competitors but on the other hand the SLP was also regarded as having an inflexible internal structure that members of the New Left found offputting.

Gunderson had been a long-time Party activist and eventually was employed by the Party itself in California. SLP National Secretary Robert Bills delivered her eulogy on Nov. 10, 2001 in Alameda, Calif. The following selection is of interest because I believe Bills is eloquently describing an experience shared by many third party Vice-Presidential candidates of all stripes:

It was there, at Detroit, that she accepted the party's nomination for vice president of the United States. I don't know if you can imagine what a grueling ordeal that can be. It means weeks of constant travel, of living out of suitcases, of  being shuttled to places and engagements about which you have no warning to do things for which you often have no time to prepare. It means being prepared to speak in public at a moment's notice, to have microphones thrust into your face and to be sat down in front of television cameras. It means being challenged and sometimes verbally abused by hostile  and cynical reporters and radio and television personalities. It means having to think on your feet, not only to contend with attacks designed to catch you off your guard, to embarrass you and to cause you to think simply of defending yourself, but to keep your composure, to deflect and counteract antagonism, arrogance and ignorance that distorts your  message before you have a chance to deliver it yourself. Genevieve met and overcame those challenges in ways that made  every SLP man and woman proud that she had been chosen to represent them in that campaign. And she did it repeatedly from the day after Labor Day, when the campaign began, until it ended on Nov. 5. Her success as the party's vice  presidential candidate is a testament to that inner strength that was so much a part of her makeup. Genevieve Gunderson  was a woman of substance.

On the ballot in a dozen states with significant write-ins from several others, the SLP ticket finished strongest in Virginia 0.68%, Colorado 0.46%, Illinois 0.26%, Minnesota 0.24%, Ohio 0.17%, and New Jersey 0.15%.

Although the Fisher/Gunderson 0.07% Election Day result was not even close to being the highest percentage of the popular vote ever received for the SLP, their 53,814 national poll was indeed the highest number of votes the Party would ever earn in a Presidential election. The highest actual percentage for the SLP was in 1900 when the Malloney/Remmel ticket gained 0.29%. 

Election history:
1969 - Mayor of Minneapolis, Minn. (Socialist Labor Party) - defeated
1974 - Governor of Minnesota (Industrial Government Party) - defeated

Other occupations: cereal packer, union organizer, fire department dispatcher, bookkeeper

Buried: ?

Notes:
Fisher died only two months after Gunderson in 2001.
Joined the SLP in 1945.
Moved from Minneapolis to California in 1975
Ran as a write-in in her 1969 mayoral race.
Although the press called her "Miss Gunderson" she was born Genevieve Peterson.
Father and maternal grandparents were Swedish immigrants.
Living with her sister's family in Minneapolis by 1940.

George Sam Taylor

George Sam Taylor, February 4, 1915 (Pennsylvania) - late 2007/early 2008 (Pennsylvania?)

VP candidate for Socialist Labor Party (aka Industrial Government Party) (1968)

Running mate with nominee: Henning A. Blomen (1910-1993)
Popular vote: 52,589 (0.07%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

The Socialist Labor Party enjoyed a spike in voter interest during the unrest of the 1960s and early 1970s. Eric Hass, who had been the SLP Presidential nominee in every election since 1952 decided to retire from running for office and the top nod went instead to Henning Blomen, who had served as the 1964 VP nominee. The 1968 running-mate was Philadelphia SLP stalwart George Sam Taylor. Between Blomen and Taylor they had run for, and lost, a combined total of nearly 40 elections.

There is surprisingly little information available regarding Taylor, so little in fact that it would be easy to mistakenly assume his moniker was a "party name" rather than his birth name. Aside from listing Taylor as a candidate, the newspapers of his day pretty much ignored his campaigns.

The 1968 SLP platform, once again in long essay form, repeated their consistent condemnation of the capitalist system. But this time it included something of an updated summary as they jockeyed for their place in the growing Leftist wave of the era:

Repudiate the Republican and Democratic parties, the political Siamese twins of capitalism-- and reject also the self-styled  "radicals," the so-called New Left and "liberals" whose platforms consist of measures to reform and patch up the poverty-breeding capitalist system, which is past reforming and patching. Study the Socialist Labor Party's Socialist Industrial Union program. Support the Socialist Labor Party's entire ticket at the polls. Unite with us to save humanity from catastrophe-- and to set an example in free nonpolitical self-government for all mankind, in affluence and enduring peace.

On Election Day the Blomen/Taylor ticket finished in 4th place on a very crowded ballot in one the strongest showings in the Party's history. They outpolled all of the other political parties coming from the Left. On the ballot in 13 states their best results were in Colorado 0.37%, Virginia 0.34%, Illinois 0.30%, Massachusetts 0.27% and New Jersey 0.24%.

Election history:
1940 - Pennsylvania Auditor General (Industrial Government Party) - defeated
1944 - Pennsylvania Auditor General (Industrial Government Party) - defeated
1946 - Governor of Pennsylvania (Socialist Labor Party) - defeated
1950 - Governor of Pennsylvania (Industrial Government Party) - defeated
1956 - US Senator (Penn.) (Socialist Labor Party) - defeated
1958 - US Senator (Penn.) (Socialist Labor Party) - defeated
1959 - Mayor of Philadelphia, Penn. (Socialist Labor Party) - defeated
1960 - Pennsylvania Auditor General (Socialist Labor Party) - defeated
1962 - Governor of Pennsylvania (Socialist Labor Party) - defeated
1963 - Mayor of Philadelphia, Penn. (Socialist Labor Party) - defeated
1964 - US Senator (Penn.) (Socialist Labor Party) - defeated
1966 - Governor of Pennsylvania (Socialist Labor Party) - defeated
1967 - Mayor of Philadelphia, Penn. (Socialist Labor Party) - defeated
1970 - Governor of Pennsylvania (Socialist Labor Party) - defeated
1971 - Mayor of Philadelphia, Penn. (Socialist Labor Party) - defeated
1974 - Governor of Pennsylvania (Socialist Labor Party) - defeated
1978 - Governor of Pennsylvania (Socialist Labor Party) - defeated
1980 - US Senator (Penn.) (Socialist Labor Party) - defeated

Other occupations: machinist, assistant production manager, electronics technician

Buried: ?

Notes:
Winner of the 1958 and 1964 races was Hugh Scott.
Winner of the 1962 race was William Scranton.
Winner of the 1970 and 1974 races was Milton Shapp.
Winner of the 1971 race was Frank Rizzo.
Listed by politicalgraveyard.com as one the "Politicians who lost the most elections"
Winner of the 1980 race was Arlen Specter
One of his opponents in the 1959 race was Harold Stassen
1967 election was apparently a write-in effort for Taylor.

Henning Albert Blomen

Henning Albert Blomen,  September 28, 1910 (New Bedford, Mass.) – July 14, 1993 (North Reading, Mass.)

VP candidate for Socialist Labor Party (aka Labor Party aka Industrial Government Party) (1964)

Running mate with nominee: Eric Hass (1905-1980)
Popular vote: 45,189 (0.06%)    
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

Eric Hass was nominated as the Socialist Labor Party choice for President for the fourth and final time in 1964. His running mate was a biennial SLP candidate in Massachusetts, Henning Blomen. Every two years from 1934 to 1970 Blomen was without fail on the ballot as a SLP candidate running for office never attaining even 1% of the popular vote in any of those races.

As usual, the SLP platform was presented in essay form. The 1964 platform is one of the more enduring documents to come from this party, not necessarily locked into the current events of that day. It chiefly addresses the existential disconnect felt by American workers in an industrial society and proposes their brand of socialism as the solution, interestingly without mentioning Marx or De Leon. Their comment on the Constitution can be applied to most of the other third parties using the election process to enact change:

The American Constitution, in effect, legalizes revolution. The right to alter or abolish the social system and form of government is implicit in Article V, the Constitution's amendment clause. The Socialist Labor Party proposes to the American workers that we use our huge majorities at the polls to outlaw capitalist ownership and to make the means of social production the property of all the people collectively.

The SLP placed fourth, after Unpledged Electors, just slightly below their 1960 results but it was still a relatively impressive finish compared with all the other third parties in the 1964 Presidential race. With votes recorded in 19 states they placed best in such varied states as Washington 0.62%, New Mexico 0.37%, Virginia 0.28%, and New Jersey 0.25%.

Election history:
1934 - Massachusetts Auditor (Socialist Labor Party) - defeated
1936 - Lt. Governor of Massachusetts (Socialist Labor Party) - defeated
1938 - Governor of Massachusetts (Socialist Labor Party) - defeated
1940 - Governor of Massachusetts (Socialist Labor Party) - defeated
1942 - Governor of Massachusetts (Socialist Labor Party) - defeated
1944 - Governor of Massachusetts (Socialist Labor Party) - defeated
1946 - US Senate (Mass.) (Socialist Labor Party) - defeated
1948 - US Senate (Mass.) (Socialist Labor Party) - defeated
1950 - Massachusetts Treasurer (Socialist Labor Party) - defeated
1952 - Massachusetts Treasurer (Socialist Labor Party) - defeated
1954 - Massachusetts Treasurer (Socialist Labor Party) - defeated
1956 - Governor of Massachusetts (Socialist Labor Party) - defeated
1958 - Governor of Massachusetts (Socialist Labor Party) - defeated
1960 - Governor of Massachusetts (Socialist Labor Party) - defeated
1962 - Governor of Massachusetts (Socialist Labor Party) - defeated
1966 - Governor of Massachusetts (Socialist Labor Party) - defeated
1968 - US President (Socialist Labor Party) - defeated
1970 - Governor of Massachusetts (Socialist Labor Party) - defeated

Other occupations: stationary store shipper, machine assembler shipper for a coffee importer, chemical plant worker

Buried: ?

Notes:
His wife Constance "Connie" Zimmerman Blomen was the SLP VP nominee in 1976.
Winner of the 1946 race was Henry Cabot Lodge Jr., one of Blomen's other opponents was future
 1964 Prohibition Party VP nominee Mark Revell Shaw.
One of his opponents in the 1956 race was Mark Revell Shaw.
Parents were Swedish immigrants, 1903-1906.

Georgia Olive Cozzini

Georgia Olive Cozzini, February 14, 1915 (Springfield, Mo.) – October 10, 1983 (Milwaukee, Wis.)

VP candidate for Socialist Labor Party (1956, 1960)

Running mate with nominee: Eric Hass (1905-1980)

Popular vote (1956): 44,300 (0.07%)
Popular vote (1960): 47,522 (0.07%)
Electoral vote (1956): 0/531
Electoral vote (1960): 0/537

The campaign (1956)

Eric Hass was nominated for a second time, and for the next two elections his running mate was Socialist Labor Party activist Georgia Cozzini of Milwaukee.

Cozzini's acceptance speech included: "Outside the Socialist Labor Party, there may be surprise over a woman being nominated on the national slate. But it is not as a woman that I accept the nomination! It is as a member of the only political party-- the only organization that represents the interests of the majority-- the working class. For the major economic struggle today recognizes neither division nor difference as to sex or race. This is the struggle between the working class and the capitalist class over the division of the products of labor."

The 1956 SLP platform is yet another long essay, which is the Party's style. The key paragraph that demonstrated the SLP remained the Party of De Leon purists would be this:

The Socialist Labor Party declares that the only alternative to social ruin and possible atomic war is the abolition of capitalism and all forms of class rule and the establishment of Socialism. We must add that bona fide Socialism has nothing in common with the bureaucratic despotism which, despite  the "collective leadership" that has replaced Stalin's one-man rule, masquerades as "Socialism" in Soviet Russia. Nor does Socialism mean "making the politician the boss." Socialism, as Karl Marx conceived it, as Daniel De Leon, the great American Marxist, developed it, and as advocated by the Socialist Labor Party, is a society of industrial democracy in which the factories, mills, mines, railroads and land, etc., are  owned collectively by all the people, where production is carried on for use instead of for sale and profit, and where the industries are operated and administered democratically by the workers themselves, organized in Socialist Industrial Unions.

A government ruling provided equal time for the third parties on television networks, making Corzzini one of the first SLP candidates to be televised. She was well spoken and articulate, although like most politicians of the era had not learned how to effectively play to the camera in this emerging technology. JFK would teach all the others how to do that in 1960.

The SLP had a stronger election result than any other political party of the Left in 1952. On the Ballot in 15 states, they finished with the highest percentages in Washington (0.65%), Colorado (0.50%), New Jersey (0.27%) and Massachusetts (0.24%). In King County, Wash. (i.e. Seattle) they polled 1.37%.

The campaign (1960)

The 1960 SLP platform thesis statement, offering the Party's version of socialism as an alternative to nuclear self-destruction:

The overriding issue of the 1960 campaign is SOCIALISM and SURVIVAL V. CAPITALISM and CATASTROPHE! This conclusion is based on a sober and realistic appraisal of a situation that actually exists and from which no one can hide. The whole human race  is poised on the razor edge of nuclear catastrophe. As each day ends with the missiles resting on their launching pads, the  danger is so much greater that the next will witness the outbreak, by accident or design, of a suicidal nuclear war.

This was not an exaggerated concern. 1960 was the first election I can remember. In school we had three drills each with their own special siren: fire, earthquake, and nuclear war. The Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 only heightened the sense of urgency felt by younger people. As these little Boomers turned voting age, the SLP enjoyed a brief small spike in election results.

The SLP held steady with a similar national finish to the 1956 results. Top states out of 16 with recorded votes for SLP: Washington (0.88%), Colorado (0.38%), and Illinois (0.22%).

Election history:
1942 - Governor of Wisconsin (Independent Socialist Labor) - defeated
1944 - Governor of Wisconsin (Socialist Labor) - defeated
1946 - US Senate (Wis.) (Socialist Labor) - defeated
1948 - Governor of Wisconsin (Socialist Labor) - defeated
1957 - US Senate (Wis.) (Socialist Labor) - defeated
1958 - US Senate (Wis.) (Socialist Labor) - defeated
1962 - US Senate (Wis.) (Socialist Labor) - defeated
1970 - Governor of Wisconsin (Socialist Labor) - defeated
1974 - Governor of Wisconsin (Socialist Labor) - defeated

Other occupations: door-to-door encyclopedia sales, "housewife," community activist

Buried: cremated, ashes spread at a lake in Bayfield County, Wis.

Notes:
Family moved to Milwaukee, Wis. in 1924.
Georgia Olive Purvis married Artemio Cozzini in 1936.
Joined the SLP in 1939.
One of her opponents in the 1944 Governor's race was George Nelson, Socialist Party of America VP
 nominee from 1936.
The winner for the 1946 US Senate race was Joe McCarthy.
The winner for the 1957 and 1958 US Senate races was William Proxmire.
The winner for the 1962 US Senate race was Gaylord Nelson.
The winner for the 1970 and 1974 Governor's race was Patrick Joseph Lucey, later the 1980 National
 Unity Party VP nominee

Stephen Emery

Stephen Emery, August 20, 1908 (Passaic, NJ) - September 4, 1995 (Manassas, Va.)

VP candidate for Socialist Labor Party (aka Industrial Government Party) (1948, 1952)

Running mate with nominee (1948): Edward A. Teichert (1904–1974)
Running mate with nominee (1952): Eric Hass (1905–1980)

Popular vote (1948): 29,244 (0.06%)
Popular vote (1952): 30,406 (0.05%)

Electoral vote (1948, 1952): 0/531

The campaign (1948):

The SLP nominated Edward A. Teichert for a second time, but in this round his running mate was Party stalwart Stephen Emery of New York.

The 1948 platform anticipated the Military-Industrial Complex and never-ending war-based economy that President Eisenhower warned the country against over a decade later. The Party also criticizes the "Gestapo-like" tactics of the government efforts to root out "disloyalty."

Just like the Socialist Workers Party 1948 platform, the SLP took a swipe at some of the other Leftist parties, especially as they saw themselves as the only pure Marxists, and all others, including the Soviet government, as poseurs--

The Socialist Labor Party appeals to you to accept the logic of these facts: WAR, FASCISM, AND POVERTY AMIDST PLENTY ARE THE EVIL BROOD OF CAPITALISM. No worker who reaches this conclusion can, without consciously aligning himself with the forces of  reaction, support the parties that have as their aim the preservation of capitalism. In this category, besides the Republicans  and Democrats, we include the "Third Party Progressives" (who acclaim "progressive capitalism"), and the "Liberal," "Labor," "Socialist" and "Communist" reformers. To speak of "progressive capitalism" today is as nonsensical as it would have been to speak of "progressive slavery" in 1860. And to propose capitalist reforms is to help prolong the capitalist cause of war and fascism. The logic of this is inescapable.

The Socialist Labor Party, therefore, calls upon the American workers, and all other enlightened citizens, to repudiate the parties of capitalism, and to support its program for a Socialist reconstruction of society.

In an election year filled with third parties, the SLP placed 7th. With votes recorded in over 20 states they fared the best in Massachusetts (0.26%) and Minnesota (0.21%).

The campaign (1952):

In 1952 the SLP maintained Emery as the running mate but for President they nominated Eric Hass, who would go on to run in three more elections as the Party standard bearer.

The 1952 SLP platform blasts the Korean War, the Soviets, and the Red Scare in America. Some selections--

The Korean war, a senseless war to all but the capitalist and Russian imperialist interests that profit from it, is a tragic consequence of ruling-class confusion and the military approach in international relations.

---

By means of falsehoods and smears, whipped-up hysteria, witch-hunts and loyalty oaths, the capitalist plutocrats are attacking the very heart of American political democracy. They are imposing a "black silence of fear" on millions of once proudly independent and fearlessly outspoken Americans.

The Socialist Labor Party declares that the real target of this un-American attack is not the Communists, but the fundamental rights and civil liberties of the American people. The Communists are merely a convenient and vulnerable target. It has been said, not without logic, that if there were no Communist party in America, the capitalist reaction would organize one.

Eric Hass' effort to rebuilt the SLP were starting to pay off. Although their national result in 1952 was minuscule, they placed higher than usual (5th) and for the first time outpolled their dying rival, the Socialist Party of America. Best showings: New Jersey (0.24%) and Illinois (0.21%).

Election history:
1950 - US Senate (NY) (Socialist Labor Party) - defeated
1953 - New York City Council President (Industrial Government Party) - defeated
1954 - Lt. Governor of New York (Industrial Government Party) - defeated
1957 - New York City Council President (Socialist Labor Party) - defeated
1958 - US Senate (NY) (Socialist Labor Party) - defeated
1961 - New York City Council President (Socialist Labor Party) - defeated
1962 - US Senate (NY) (Socialist Labor Party) - defeated
1965 - New York City Controller (Socialist Labor Party) - defeated
1970 - Governor of New York (Socialist Labor Party) - defeated
1978 - Governor of California (Socialist Labor Party) - defeated

Other occupations: subway dispatcher

Buried: ?

Notes:
The winner in the 1970 Governor of NY race was Nelson Rockefeller.
The winner in the 1978 Governor of Calif. race was Jerry Brown.
Parents were Hungarians who immigrated in 1904.
Ruled off the ballot in the 1958 US Senate race so ran as a write-in.
Still on record being active with SLP in 1989, when he donated $20,000 to the Party.
Was attacked, beaten and robbed by an Army deserter while fishing near Placerville, Calif. in late
 May 1984. Among other things his jaw was broken and his Honda station wagon stolen. Francis
 James Snyder was captured and entered a guilty plea in court.

Arla Allen Albaugh

Arla Allen Albaugh, Mar. 7, 1906 (Denison, Ohio) - Jan. 15, 2003 (Oakland Park, Fla.)

VP candidate for Socialist Labor Party (1944)

Running mate with nominee: Edward A. Teichert (1903-1981)

Popular vote: 45,188 (0.09%)

Electoral vote: 0/531

The campaign:

The beginning sentences in the Socialist Labor Party's 1944 platform anticipated life after WWII:

Our society stands where the road forks. The signs are plainly marked. One points to a continuation of capitalism. It leads to a postwar world of chronic economic crisis, of idle factories and idle men, of spreading anti-Semitism and racism, of fascist controls and Stateism, and of the perpetual struggle and war. The other points to Socialism-- a world of social ownership, democratic management of the industries, jobs and plenty for all, human brotherhood, and enduring peace.

The Party nominated Edward A. Teichert, the younger brother of SLP 1936 VP nominee Emil F. Teichert, for President. Arla A. Albaugh of Massillon, Ohio (where Jacob Coxey had once served as Mayor) was selected as the running mate. A seasoned SLP speaker, Albaugh hit the campaign trail and also used the radio as a communication tool.

With recorded votes from 11 states, they had their best result in New Jersey, placing 3rd with 0.35%.

Election history:
1946 - Governor of Ohio (Socialist Labor Party) - defeated
1962 - US Senate (Penn.) (Socialist Labor Party) - defeated
1964 - Pennsylvania State Auditor General (Socialist Labor Party) - defeated

Other occupations: photoengraver, lecturer

Buried: ?

Notes:
Joined SLP in 1934.
Was still active in the SLP 1993 from Dade Co. Fla.

Aaron M. Orange

Aaron M. Orange, July 11, 1905 (New York, NY) - Oct. 31, 1995 (Greensburg, Penn.?)

VP candidate for Socialist Labor Party (aka Industrial Government Party) (1940)

Running mate with nominee: John W. Aiken (1896-1968)

Popular vote: 14,883 (0.03%)

Electoral vote: 0/531

The campaign:

John W. Aiken was nominated for President in his second run for that office. Aaron M. Orange was selected as his running mate.

With Europe and Asia already self-destructing, the 1940 Socialist Labor Party platform included strong antiwar language in their platform, with the premise that war is byproduct of capitalism:
Unable to solve the problems at home, the capitalist class diverts attention from its failures to the anarchy abroad. The long  anticipated war is now an irrevocable fact. Capitalist democracy is perishing in its flames. The belligerents which boasted the broadest liberties have scrapped the conquests of centuries of struggle for freedom over night. Perceptibly America is being drawn into the bloody vortex. Its exports have shifted from grain, fruit and plows to war-planes, guns and munitions. On this  grim traffic is its "prosperity" based. War feeds on commerce; commerce feeds on war. Under the pretext of "national defense" and to a chorus of declamations for peace, its statesmen, New Deal, old deal, liberal and conservative alike, gird the nation for its fateful role. Punchinello-like, the  political henchmen of the capitalist class move as their masters pull the strings.

In the same document the SLP slams the other parties, celebrating their long-held political isolation and unwillingness to act in any of sort of fusion:
In presenting the issue "Socialism  or  Capitalism" and a program for its solution, the Socialist Labor Party stands alone. All other parties, whether Republican, Democratic, "Socialist," "Labor," "Progressive," or "Communist," propose reforms which tend  to preserve capitalism but fail to improve the lot of the workers. Therefore, we call upon the toilers of America, in order to implement their hope for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, to cast their ballot for the Socialist Labor Party, for the abolition of the capitalist system.

The Aiken/Orange ticket appeared on the ballot in 15 states. Their strongest finish was in Oregon with 0.52%.

Election history:
1932 - Governor of New York (Socialist Labor Party) - defeated
1933 - Mayor of New York City (Socialist Labor Party) - defeated
1934 - Governor of New York (Socialist Labor Party) - defeated
1935 - Justice of New York Supreme Court 1st District - defeated
1938 - Governor of New York (Industrial Government Party) - defeated
1942 - Governor of New York (Industrial Government Party) - defeated

Other occupations: school teacher, author

Buried: Hillview Cemetery (Greensburg, Penn.)

Notes:
Taught elementary public school in the Bronx
Was a conscientious objector during WWII, choosing Civilian Public Service Apr. 21, 1943-Oct. 12,
 1945 and housed in camps at Big Flats, NY and Powellville, Md.
Married to Ruth (1912-2008)
Winner of the 1933 race for NYC Mayor was Fiorello LaGuardia.
His fellow losers in the 1938 race for NY Governor were Thomas Dewey and Norman Thomas.
Winner of the 1942 race for NY Governor was Thomas Dewey.
Testified to the US Senate in 1973 on behalf of the SLP regarding campaign finance reform.
His Romanian-born father, Adolph Orange, was apparently also a member of the SLP.

Emil F. Teichert

Emil F. Teichert, December 17, 1897 (West Newton, Penn.) - January 9, 1972 (Lake Hill, NY)

VP candidate for Socialist Labor Party (aka Industrial Government Party) (1936)

Running mate with nominee: John W. Aiken (1896-1968)

Popular vote: 12,799 (0.03%)

Electoral vote: 0/531

The campaign:

In 1936 the Socialist Labor Party elevated their 1932 VP nominee John W. Aiken to be the standard bearer. Emil F. Teichert, a resident of New York, was chosen as the running mate.

The 1936 SLP platform didn't think much of FDR's New Deal policies:
  
"Where a social revolution is pending and, for whatever reason, is not accomplished, reaction is the alternative. Every reform granted by capitalism is a concealed measure of reaction, exemplified by the NRA, AAA, TVA, CCC, WPA, etc. He who says reform says preservation, and he who says that reforms under capitalism are possible and worthwhile thereby declares that a continuation of capitalism is possible and worthwhile. But capitalism has grown into an all-destroying and all-devouring monster that must itself be destroyed if humanity is to live. Fascism, Nazism, Absolutism in government-- in short, Industrial Feudalism-- are but means in the  attempts to preserve capitalism.

American capitalism, along with capitalism in the rest of the world  today, is trembling in the balance between decay or progress, reaction or revolution. THIS IS THE HISTORIC HOUR OF THE AMERICAN WORKING CLASS"

It was a pretty bad year for the SLP at the ballot box, even for them. They finished in a dismal 7th place. Presented as an option in the voting booth in 15 states, their best result was in Rhode Island with 0.30%.

Election history:
1932 - Lt. Governor of New York (Socialist Labor Party) - defeated
1933 - New York City Board of Aldermen President (Socialist Labor Party) - defeated
1934 - Lt. Governor of New York (Socialist Labor Party) - defeated
1937 - Mayor of New York City (Industrial Government Party) - defeated

Other occupations: office worker for the Pennsylvania Railroad, book translator, lecturer, newspaper writer

Buried: ?

Notes:
The winner in the 1937 mayoral race was Fiorello LaGuardia.
Older brother of 1944-1948 SLP Presidental nominee Edward A. Teichert.
Presidential electors in Pennsylvania (where the SLP was called the Industrial Labor Party) included
 E.A. Teichert, Minnie J. Teichert, and Ernest M. Teichert.
Moved to Lake Hill, NY ca. 1947.

John W. Aiken

John W. Aiken, August 12, 1896 (Bridgeport, Conn.) - December 14, 1968 (Bridgeport, Conn.)

VP candidate for Socialist Labor Party (1932)

Running mate with nominee: Verne L. Reynolds (1884–1959)
Popular vote: 34,038 (0.09%)
Electoral vote: 0/531

The campaign:

The SLP 1932 platform is an essay pointing out that the economic and social collapse taking place at that time as a result of the Great Depression is a confirmation of what they have been saying all along. In their speeches the SLP candidates for all offices not only accuse Roosevelt of attempting to save a failing capitalist system, but somehow they say the Socialist Party of America and the Communists are as well. Only the SLP, they maintain, follow Marx as he was meant to be followed.

In an election year where almost all of the other minor parties are merging, splitting, and brokering deals, the Socialist Labor Party remained an increasingly isolated and self-contained sectarian entity.

Their final vote in 19 states was nothing to write home about. Best showings were in Oregon (0.47%), Connecticut (0.38%), and New York (0.22%).

Election history:
1922 - Auditor of Massachusetts (Socialist Labor) - defeated
1928 - Auditor of Massachusetts (Socialist Labor) - defeated
1930 - Governor of Massachusetts (Socialist Labor) - defeated
1934 - Governor of Massachusetts (Socialist Labor) - defeated
1936 - US President (Socialist Labor) - defeated
1940 - US President (Socialist Labor) - defeated
1946 - US Senate (Conn.) (Socialist Labor) - defeated

Other occupations: furniture finisher, US Army Motor Transport Corps in WWI

Buried: cremated

Notes:
Became interested in the SLP as a teenager when a Party newspaper blew into his front yard in

 Chelsea, Mass.
Lived his final years in a trailer park in East Hartford, Conn.-- none of neighbors were aware of his

 political past.
Was a resident of Boston when nominated in 1932.

Jeremiah Daniel Crowley

Jeremiah Daniel Crowley, May 2, 1875 (Syracuse, NY) - September 23, 1960 (Onondaga, NY)

VP candidate for Socialist Labor Party (1928)

Running mate with nominee: Verne L. Reynolds (1884-1959)
Popular vote: 21,590 (0.06%)
Electoral vote: 0/531

The campaign:

The SLP renominated their 1924 ticket of Frank T. Johns and Verne Reynolds. Shortly after the nomination process Johns was in Bend, Oregon giving a speech when he heard cries for help from a boy being swept away in the Deschutes River. Without hesitation Johns jumped in to save the lad but both perished. And so the SLP suddenly lost one of their most charismatic young candidates.

The SLP then elevated Reynolds to the presidential nomination and selected long-time stalwart perennial SLP candidate for New York offices Jeremiah D. Crowley as the running mate.

Purists that they were, the SLP platform for 1928 spoke in class war generalities without addressing specifics.

On Election Day the SLP finished in 5th place, following the Socialist Party of America and the Communists. It was an even more miserable finish than their 1924 results. Out of the 19 states where they appeared on the ballot their two best were Washington (0.81%) and Oregon (0.49%).

Election history:
1910 - NY State Engineer and Surveyor (Socialist Labor) - defeated
1912 - Lt. Governor of New York (Socialist Labor) - defeated
1914 - Lt. Governor of New York (Socialist Labor) - defeated
1916 - Governor of New York (Socialist Labor) - defeated
1920 - Lt. Governor of New York (Socialist Labor) - defeated
1922 - Governor of New York (Socialist Labor) - defeated
1926 - Governor of New York (Socialist Labor) - defeated
1930 - Governor of New York (Socialist Labor) - defeated
1932 - US Senate (NY) (Socialist Labor) - defeated
1934 - US House of Representatives (NY) (Socialist Labor) - defeated
1938 - US House of Representatives (NY) (Industrial Government) - defeated

Other occupations: electric utility company employee, stonemason

Buried: Saint Agnes Cemetery (Syracuse, NY)

Notes:
The winner of his 1922 and 1926 runs for NY Governor was Al Smith.
One of his opponents in the 1926 run for NY Governor was 1928 Workers (Communist) Party VP
 nominee Benjamin Gitlow.
The winner of his 1930 run for NY Governor was Franklin D. Roosevelt.
One of his opponents in the 1932 US Senate race was 1920 Prohibition Party VP nominee David
 Leigh Colvin.
Lived in Marcellus, NY in 1928.
Lived in Onondaga, NY in 1940.
All of his grandparents were Irish immigrants.