Mary Cal Hollis

Mary Cal Hollis, January 13, 1952 (Pine Bluff, Ark.) -

VP candidate for Socialist Party of the United States of America (aka Socialist Party USA aka Socialist Party aka Liberty Union Party aka Independent) (2000)
VP candidate for Socialist Party of the United States of America (2004)

Running mate with nominee (2000): David McReynolds (1929-2018)
Running mate with nominee (2004): Walter Frederick Brown (b. 1926)
Popular vote (2000): 5,602 (0.01%)
Popular vote (2004): 216 (0.00%)
Electoral vote (2000, 2004): 0/538

The campaign (2000):

Mary Cal Hollis of Colorado had been the Socialist Presidential candidate in 1996, but in 2000 she joined a small subset of former standard bearers who took the second place on the ballot in a subsequent election. David McReynolds had been the Socialist nominee in 1980 and two decades later was making another run for the White House. 

A former Democrat, Hollis put ideology over party loyalty and belonged to not only the Socialist Party USA but also the Green Party and Labor Party. "We need to educate the people that ninety percent of us have a lot in common, we shouldn't be splintered as the ruling class makes us, she said. "We need to give up the idea that a coalition means 'Quit your group and join mine.'"

In Vermont the Socialists managed to secure the nomination of the Liberty Union Party.

The McReynolds/Hollis ticket made the ballot in 7 states and had recorded write-in votes in an additional 7. Best showings: New Jersey 0.06%, Vermont 0.05%, Colorado and North Carolina 0.04% each, Washington 0.03%, Rhode Island 0.01%. What is impressive is that their North Carolina result was entirely a write-in effort with 1,226 votes.

The campaign (2004):

In 2004 the Party nominated attorney Walter F. Brown, a former Democratic State Senator in Oregon (PNW trivia alert!!!) for President and Mary Alice Herbert for VP. Hollis was the runner-up in the Vice-Presidential contest, but she was on the ballot with Brown only in the State of Colorado, where they finished with 0.01% of the vote in that jurisdiction.

Election history:
1996 - Peace and Freedom Party nomination for US President - defeated
1996 - Green Party nomination for US President - defeated
1996 - US President (Socialist Party of the United States of America) - defeated
2003 - Socialist Party of the United States of America nomination for President - withdrew
2003 - Socialist Party of the United States of America nomination for Vice-President - defeated

Other occupations: special education

Notes:
The first Arkansas-born third party VP to achieve ballot status in a national election.
"Debs felt that US citizens had fought two revolutions, one against royalty and one against slavery.
 He felt that the Third American Revolution would be against the wealthy ruling class. So, here's to
 the Revolution-it is surely inevitable. I just hope it can be done peacefully this time."--Mary Cal
 Hollis, 1997

Eric Thomas Chester

 Eric Chester in 1989

 

Eric Thomas Chester, August 6, 1943 (New York, NY) -

VP candidate for Socialist Party of the United States of America (aka Socialist Party USA aka Socialist Party aka Liberty Union Party aka Independent) (1996)

Running mate with nominee: Mary Cal Hollis (b. 1952)
Popular vote: 4,767 (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

The Socialist Party USA in 1996 ran Mary Cal Hollis of Colorado for President and Eric Chester of Massachusetts as her VP.

Their platform and priorities were summed up in the voters pamphlet for Oregon:

A Single-Payer National Health Program = We must remove profit from health care. It is the basic right of every person to lead a healthful life. Health care must emphasize preventive medicine, the right to choose alternative types of care, increased publicly-funded  research to combat widespread disease, and the elimination of poverty, a major source of illness.

Corporate Accountability = In corporate America, only profits count! Our government has allowed the ravaging of ancient forests and public lands, and contamination of our soil, air and water. This disregard for the health of families makes a mockery of "family values." We must reign in corporate America and hold them responsible for their actions! 

A Humane Foreign Policy = We must slash our defense budget, stop arming the world and refuse aid to human rights abusers. It  has  been the Democratic and Republican administrations- more concerned with corporate profits than human rights- who have rationalized granting  "most favored nation" status to Communist China, guaranteeing the payment of wheat to Iraqi Dictator Saddam Hussein, and restoring the solid gold plumbing in the Emir's palace in Kuwait!

An Economy that Benefits All = Only the rich favor "trickle down" economics. We support living wages, worker control of industry  through democratic control of the workplace, a punitive tax on runaway corporations, and the repeal of NAFTA, GATT, so-called "right to work" laws, and the Taft-Hartley Act.

The Party had made an attempt to act as an umbrella for other groups on the Left and were successful in gaining the support of Vermont's Liberty Union Party, but failed to convince the Green Party and Peace and Freedom Party. Hollis herself was actually a member of the Green Party as well.

The advent of Internet became an unexpected recruiting tool as the SPUSA experienced a spike in interest from young voters.

Chester had compared the mainstream choice of Clinton-Dole in the 1996 election to that of Carter-Ford in 1976, suggesting there was not much daylight between the two in terms of economic policy.

During the low-budget campaign Hollis described an all too common scenario for third party candidates of driving her own car around the country, depending on the support of volunteers for lodging and food, and having her campaign schedule be interrupted by a real life job which in her case was serving as a teacher in special education.

At some point in 1996 Chester was apparently involved in a serious automobile accident in New York City which sidetracked him for a bit while he recovered from injuries.

Hollis and Chester had expressed a hope the SPUSA would be on the ballot in 15 to 20 states but they were listed in only five, and recorded write-ins in seven more. Their ballot vote results: Oregon 0.14%, Vermont 0.11%, Arkansas 0.06%, Colorado and Wisconsin 0.04% each.

Election history:
1968 - University of Michigan Board of Regents (New Politics Party) - defeated
1999 - Socialist Party of the United States of America nomination for President - defeated
2002 - US House of Representatives (Mass.) (Socialist Party of the United States of America) - defeated
2003 - Socialist Party of the United States of America nomination for President - defeated
2006 - US House of Representatives (Mass.) (Socialist Party of the United States of America) - defeated
2007 - Socialist Party of the United States of America nomination for President - defeated

Other occupations: author, economics professor, Elector for the New Politics Party 1968, member of Industrial Workers of the World.

Notes:
Was an Elector for the Cleaver/Hochman New Politics Party ticket in Michigan 1968
Now lives in Glasgow, Scotland
Joined the SPUSA around 1980

Barbara Garson

Barbara Garson, July 7, 1941 (New York, NY) -

VP candidate for Socialist Party of the United States of America (aka Socialist Party USA aka Socialist Party aka Liberty Union Party aka Independent) (1992)

Running mate with nominee: John Quinn Brisben (1934-2012)
Popular vote: 1,689 (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

In 1992 the Socialist Party nominated J. Quinn Brisben for President. He had previously been the VP nominee for the Party in 1976.

Brisben predicted bad economic times for the years ahead. Reforming the health care system was a topic he highlighted.

Brisben's speeches had some very quotable lines:

The major parties are simply pawns to the military industrial complex. They accept huge campaign donations, figure out who they need to do favors for and come up with the most electable candidate.

This presidential Gong Show does nothing to serve the people's interest.

First we need to start freeing our minds by not watching any commercial TV. I can assure you that you don't need anything they advertise.

More Greens are becoming Reds as they realize they're not going to get much sympathy for the spotted owl if they can't save the job of the lumberman.

Once involved in socialism, people are often surprised at how popular many of our ideas really are. We stand for universal health care, women's rights, national day care and housing and jobs for everyone.

One good thing about running as a socialist, you can prepare your concession speech months in advance.

We would be better off with a parliamentary system as the British have because our electoral system is a disaster waiting to happen.

I'll probably end up losing more elections than Basil Rathbone lost sword fights ... This campaign is an educational effort. That's a left-wingy way to say we're going to lose but it's worth it anyway.

Early in the campaign Brisben was arrested in Orlando, Fla. for raising his cane at a law enforcement officer he felt was mishandling someone in a wheelchair. He was literally raising cane.

Brisben's VP was William D. "Bill" Edwards, the Party's first African American national nominee. The Bay Area-based Edwards was a labor organizer, former longshoreman, and anti-Apartheid activist. Sometimes the media called him "Edward D. Williams."

Unfortunately Edwards, who was 72, died on Aug. 5, 1992. By the end of the month the VP position was filled by Barbara Garson. She was already something of a public figure through her anti-war play MacBird! (which I enjoyed very much at the time it was released).

As Garson explained in a piece written late Oct. 1992:

Late this summer, I found a message on my answering machine saying that the vice presidential candidate of the Socialist Party had died. Could I help get his obituary into the papers? ("And by the way, you wouldn't want to run for vice president, would you?")

I'm a proud, though inactive, member of the Socialist Party and I agree with the platform. Still, I hesitated to become a candidate. Could I withstand the media scrutiny?

When asked by C-SPAN what she would do if elected Vice-President, Garson replied, "I'd demand a recount!"

Although the Liberty Union Party in Vermont endorsed the ticket, they did not achieve ballot status there. They were also endorsed by Dr. Benjamin Spock and singer Pete Seeger.

On Election Day, Edwards was still on the ballot in Tennessee. The Brisben/Garson appeared in the District of Columbia (probably) with 0.08% of the vote, Wisconsin 0.05%, and Utah 0.02% (placing 13 out of 13). Brisben was also write-in candidate in a dozen states.

Election history: none

Other occupations: coffee house worker, playwright, author.

Notes:
Third party figure Austin Burton aka Chief Burning Wood (1976) said Garson's MacBird! inspired
 him to invent the name from this line:
"MacBird shall never, never be undone/
 Till burning wood doth come to Washington."
Washington State trivia triple alert: First, Garson worked in the Shelter Half in Tacoma, Wash. ca. 1969, an anti-war coffee house where soldiers from nearby Fort Lewis could hang out. Second, the above-mentioned Burton was born in Washington State. Third, when I was college I played the McGovern role in a radio drama broadcast on KAOS-FM. The author, another student had written a play spinning off of  MacBird! but instead the topic was Nixon.

William Davis Edwards

William Davis Edwards, February 25, 1920 (Mississippi) - August 5, 1992 (San Francisco, Calif.)

VP candidate for Independent (aka Socialist Party of the United States of America aka Socialist Party USA aka Socialist Party) (1992)

Running mate with nominee: John Quinn Brisben (1934-2012)
Popular vote: 1,372 (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

In 1992 the Socialist Party nominated J. Quinn Brisben for President. He had previously been the VP nominee for the Party in 1976.

Brisben predicted bad economic times for the years ahead. Reforming the health care system was a topic he highlighted.

Brisben's speeches had some very quotable lines:

The major parties are simply pawns to the military industrial complex. They accept huge campaign donations, figure out who they need to do favors for and come up with the most electable candidate.

This presidential Gong Show does nothing to serve the people's interest.

First we need to start freeing our minds by not watching any commercial TV. I can assure you that you don't need anything they advertise.

More Greens are becoming Reds as they realize they're not going to get much sympathy for the spotted owl if they can't save the job of the lumberman.

Once involved in socialism, people are often surprised at how popular many of our ideas really are. We stand for universal health care, women's rights, national day care and housing and jobs for everyone.

One good thing about running as a socialist, you can prepare your concession speech months in advance.

We would be better off with a parliamentary system as the British have because our electoral system is a disaster waiting to happen.

I'll probably end up losing more elections than Basil Rathbone lost sword fights ... This campaign is an educational effort. That's a left-wingy way to say we're going to lose but it's worth it anyway.

Early in the campaign Brisben was arrested in Orlando, Fla. for raising his cane at a law enforcement officer he felt was mishandling someone in a wheelchair. He was literally raising cane.

Brisben's VP was William D. "Bill" Edwards, the Party's first African American national nominee. The Bay Area-based Edwards was a labor organizer, former longshoreman, and anti-Apartheid activist. Sometimes the media called him "Edward D. Williams."

Unfortunately Edwards, who was 72, died on Aug. 5, 1992. By the end of the month the VP position was filled by Barbara Garson.

In spite of the fact he was deceased, Edwards remained on the ballot in Tennessee, where the ticket won 0.07% and placed 5th out of 14. The write-in Brisben/Edwards team was also counted in Florida.

Election history: none

Other occupations: US Army (WWII), farmer, longshoreman, merchant marine

Notes:
Was living in California by 1940.

Ronald C. Ehrenreich

Ronald C. Ehrenreich, April 16, 1950 -

VP candidate for Socialist Party of the United States of America (aka Socialist Party USA aka Socialist Party aka Independent aka Liberty Union Party) (1988)

Running mate with nominee: Willa Kenoyer (1933-2020)
Popular vote: 3,882 (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

In 1984 the Socialist Party of the United States of America had endorsed the Citizens Party but by 1988 they were back on their own. Presidential nominee Willa Kenoyer, a freelance writer in Michigan, had previously served as the Co-chair of the Citizens Party. It seems VP nominee Ron Ehrenreich of Syracuse, NY had also been active in the Citizens Party.

In the Vermont primary Kenoyer gained the support of the Liberty Union Party. Ehrenreich lunched with Burlington Mayor Bernie Sanders in the course of that primary campaign.

Kenoyer expressed a desire to eliminate the CIA and FBI, create a national health program, use the Pentagon to promote peaceful activities, create full employment at union wages, create federally funded child care, lifelong free education, public ownership of utilities and large corporations, and "socialize the Fortune 500."

Ehrenreich had no illusions about electoral victory. The SPUSA had other goals, he told the press: "We want to address the Reagan legacy and ask the question, 'Are the Democrats the only alternative to this legacy?' ... What we seek is a transformation of the economy to eliminate poverty and a transformation of society to eliminate injustice ... The campaign is a protest of the two-party dictatorship, where elections are rigged to prevent the participation of small parties, where choices are limited to Tweedledee and Tweedledum."

They had hoped to make the ballot in 38 states and finish with a five digit popular vote but only made it to six states plus DC and finished with four digits. 67% of the Kenoyer/Ehrenreich total popular vote came from New Jersey, where they placed 7th of out of 11 with 0.08%. Their other showings were not exactly something to write home about as they placed at the bottom or near it in almost every result: District of Columbia 0.07%, Vermont 0.06%, Iowa 0.03%, Rhode Island, Tennessee, and Utah 0.02% each. They also received a smattering of reported write-in votes half a dozen states.

Election history:
1999 - Onondaga County, NY Comptroller (Green Party) - defeated

Other occupations: credit union officer, teacher

Notes:
Washington State triva alert!!! Kenoyer was born in Tacoma!
Ehrenreich has lived in Syracuse, NY since 1973.
Burned his draft card in 1971 while a student at Temple University.

Diane Joyce Drufenbrock

 

Diane Joyce Drufenbrock, October 7, 1929 (Evansville, Ind.) – November 4, 2013 (Milwaukee, Wis.)

VP candidate for Socialist Party of the United States of America (aka Socialist Party USA aka Socialist Party aka Independent) (1980)

Running mate with nominee: David McReynolds (1929-2018)
Popular vote: 6,994 (0.01%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

So far as I know Diane Drufenbrock aka Sister Madeleine Sophie of the School Sisters of St. Francis has the distinction of being the first nun to be part of a Presidential ticket. Working from the premise that the Jesus of the Bible was the ultimate social justice warrior, Drufenbrack embraced the concept of Christian Socialism.

"Politics had crept in on me," she said in 1980, "I think we are naturally political, as people we are political." Living in Milwaukee, quite possibly the most historically accepting of Socialism of all of America's large cities, probably had a major influence on her networking as well.

She was the Vice-Presidential running mate with David McReynolds, an anti-war activist, pacifist, and alleged to be the first openly Gay Presidential candidate. Interestingly he had also been a member of the Prohibition Party in his past.

The SPUSA advocated abandoning nuclear power in favor of developing solar power, public ownership of energy resources, abolition of the CIA and prisons, and a pro-choice stance on abortion. Drufenbrock's brand of Catholicism was hardly traditional in terms of attitudes about feminism: "The Socialist model makes a woman a person along with anyone else. The capitalist model looks on women as useful ... I think the changing roles of women is long overdue. I've spent 32 years in a religious order where we run our lives ourselves ... Where else can a woman be president of a college, get a Ph.D. in any subject or be an administrator of a hospital? All our lives we've had a rather unique view of what a woman is able to do."

In 1980 the Pope ordered that priests not serve in elected office. I recall US Rep. Father Drinan (D-Mass.), an influential voice in Congress, withdrawing from his re-election campaign. At the same time this was going on, Right-wing evangelical Protestants were discovering the power of political office and would have an enormous influence on public policy.

Drufenbrock was able to run for office via an amusingly ironic loophole. Priests are considered members of the clergy, nuns are not. Anticipating a possible follow-up Papal pronouncement, Drufenbrock said, "I have to confess I wait from day to day to see what will happen and if some special order comes, I'll have to deal with it."

The SPUSA ticket did not finish with popular vote results even close to that of other Left-wing parties. On the ballot in nine states and certified write-ins in at least three others, their best percentages were: Alabama and New Jersey 0.07% each, Vermont 0.06%, and Washington 0.05%. The Vermont results were impressive since they were totally write-in.

Election history:
1977-1980 - Social Development Commission (Milwaukee, Wis.)

Other occupations: nun, teacher, Board of Directors of Project Equality in Wisconsin 1974-1979, Milwaukee Tenants' Union, lecturer

Buried: Mount Olivet Cemetery (Milwaukee, Wis.)

Notes:
Ph.D. in Mathematics from University of Illinois at Urbana, 1963
Joined the SPUSA in 1976.
Adopted
McReynolds and Drufenbrock were both born in Oct. 1929.

John Quinn Brisben

 Chicago 1975

John Quinn Brisben, September 6, 1934 (Enid, Okla.) – April 17, 2012 (Chicago, Ill.)

VP candidate for Socialist Party of the United States of America (aka Socialist Party USA aka Socialist Party aka Democratic Socialist Party) (1976)

Running mate with nominee: Frank P. Zeidler (1912-2006)
Popular vote: 6,015 (0.01%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

The last time the Socialist Party of America ran a candidate for President was twenty earlier in 1956. In the subsequent two decades the Party experienced some serious divisions over policies including the Vietnam War, the Soviet Union, and collaboration with the Democratic Party. In 1972-1973 the Party basically split in two and in very simplistic terms the Right-wing called themselves Social Democrats USA and by 1973 the Left wing had formed the Socialist Party of the United States of America which they considered to be the true "reconstituted" version of the Party as envisioned by Eugene Debs. A third splinter group was also created in this time frame-- destined to evolve into the Democratic Socialists of America which embraced the concept of working within the major party system.

The Socialist Party USA nominated SPA veteran Frank Zeidler for President and J. Quinn Brisben for VP. Zeidler had real credentials having served as Mayor of Milwaukee, Wis. as a Socialist 1948-1960. Brisben was more of a frontline activist, having been arrested several times in acts of civil disobedience. He joined the SPA in 1959. He was 6 foot 3 inches, 300 pounds, bearded, and usually wore a Stetson and Western garb creating a striking hard-to-ignore character.

One source says the new Socialist Party USA considered partnering with the People's Party in 1976 but declined because they were concerned about being overshadowed plus the latter party was considered a bit too radical for them.

Zeidler/Brisben made it to the ballot in seven states and were recorded write-ins in three others. Just to confuse matters, in Wisconsin they were on the ballot as part of the "Democratic Socialist Party."

Over 2/3 of their vote came from Wisconsin, and most of that from Zeidler's home turf in the Milwaukee area. In the Badger State they finished 5th with 0.20%. In New Mexico they had a 0.06% vote and in Iowa, Minnesota, New Jersey, and Washington it was a 0.02% result. In North Dakota, where they were indeed on the ballot, they received 38 votes.

The Socialists chose to return to the voting booth during the Age of Disco when most people were trying to numb themselves after a decade and a half of political turmoil. But the Party re-started a grassroots effort that has lasted to this day. Brisben would go on to be the 1992 Presidential nominee.

Other occupations: farm worker, factory hand, taxicab driver, comedian, radio announcer, high school and middle school teacher, union representative, novelist, poet, essayist, civil rights activist

Election history:
1975 - Mayor of Chicago (Socialist Party of the United States of America) - defeated
1992 - US President (Socialist Party of the United States of America) - defeated

Buried: ?

Notes:
The 1975 election was a write-in effort.
Collaborated on projects with Studs Terkel.
"There are institutions that will probably always resist socialization. As the famous Wisconsin Socialist Victor Berger once said about a place that he knew well: 'No one wants to socialize the corner saloon.'"--J. Quinn Brisben.
Due to his large size, beard, and manner of dress he was sometimes mistaken for Col. Sanders or
 Orson Welles later in life.