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.

Bill W. Thorn Sr.

Bill W. Thorn Sr., b. ca1916

VP candidate for Consumer Party (aka Citizens Party) (1984)

Running mate with nominee: Sonia Johnson (b. 1936)
Popular vote: 21,628 (0.02%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

In their second, and final, national election the Citizens Party selected Sonia Johnson as the standard bearer. Johnson had an inner conflict to reconcile-- she was a devout Mormon but also passionate about the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment. Naturally as her ERA activism increased and she became critical of the Church she found herself excommunicated. To some she was a heretic, to others a heroine.

Barry Commoner, the 1980 Presidential nominee, endorsed Rev. Jesse Jackson in the Democratic primaries, a move that many felt took the wind out of the sails of this new third party. Another major hurdle for the 1984 campaign was that the Party was still paying off the debt from the 1980 effort.

There were three running-mates for Johnson in 1984. Richard Walton was the official VP nominee on the ballot or certified write-in in 21 states. In California Johnson had won the primary for the Peace and Freedom Party (which included defeating Dennis Serrette of the New Alliance Party and Gavrielle Holmes of the Workers World Party) and her running-mate there was Emma Wong Mar. In Pennsylvania under the banner of the Consumer Party her VP was Bill Thorn.

Thorn included a brief autobiographical statement in a newspaper profile: "For 40 years I have been leading fights in my community for civil rights, jobs, housing, rent control, and lower utility bills. I've testified before congressional committees, sued in courts, and walked picket lines seeking justice and the right to a decent life for all people."

In addition to the Peace and Freedom Party and the Consumer Party there was another major player. The Socialist Party of the United States of America decided not run a ticket in 1984 and endorsed the Citizens Party.

There was a bit of excitement in the press in Pennsylvania concerning a switch in political allegiances. Dorothy Muns Blancato, an interior decorator and Jazz pianist from Vanport, Penn. was selected as the VP for the New Alliance Party and planned to be listed in three states: Alabama, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. Although news reports indicate she was originally intended to be a stand-in candidate, in August 1984 she withdrew from the ticket without informing NAP Presidential candidate Dennis Serrette first and instead endorsed Sonia Johnson of the Citizens Party. Part of the result of this complicated episode was that Serrette failed to find a place on the Pennsylvania ballot.

Although the Citizens Party had a generally progressive platform and was comprised of the largest confederation of Leftist parties in 1984, Johnson's campaign understandably made feminist issues the central focus.

The popular vote was almost evenly split three ways among the VPs. Nationally the Party grossed 72,161 votes (0.08%), a considerable decline from their 1980 performance. Interesting that 2/3 of the result came from California and Pennsylvania where they ran under the names of their host parties.

The Johnson/Thorn ticket placed 3rd in Pennsylvania with 0.45%, one of only two states (the other being Louisiana) where Johnson ran ahead of all the other third parties. It was also the state where Johnson received her second highest percentage.

The Citizens Party evaporated shortly after the election. Or did it? In hindsight we see they served as a forerunner of today's Green Party, America's 4th largest political party. Meanwhile, the Pennsylvania-based Consumer Party limped along for another Presidential election cycle.

Election history:
1982 - Pennsylvania State House of Representatives (Consumer Party) - defeated
1983 - Philadelphia City Council (Consumer Party) - defeated
1986 - Governor of Pennsylvania (Consumer Party) - withdrew

Other occupations: welder, welding instructor, tenants rights activist, founder of Montrose Civic Association,

Buried: ?

Notes:
Withdrew from the 1986 race for Governor of Pennsylvania after suffering a stroke.
Possibly the same as Willie W. Thorn 1916-1993 but I cannot make the connection.

Emma Wong Mar

Emma Wong Mar, September 7, 1926 (New York, NY) – September 16, 2015 (Oakland, Calif.)

VP candidate for Peace and Freedom Party (aka Citizens Party) (1984)
VP candidate for Peace and Freedom Party (aka Internationalist Workers Party) (1988)

Running mate with nominee (1984): Sonia Johnson (b. 1936)
Running mate with nominee (1988): Herbert G. Lewin (1914-2010)
Popular vote (1984): 26,297 (0.03%)
Popular vote (1988) : 219 (0.00%)
Electoral vote (1984, 1988): 0/538

The campaign (1984):

In their second, and final, national election the Citizens Party selected Sonia Johnson as the standard bearer. Johnson had an inner conflict to reconcile-- she was a devout Mormon but also passionate about the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment. Naturally as her ERA activism increased and she became critical of the Church she found herself excommunicated. To some she was a heretic, to others a heroine.

Barry Commoner, the 1980 Presidential nominee, endorsed Rev. Jesse Jackson in the Democratic primaries, a move that many felt took the wind out of the sails of this new third party. Another major hurdle for the 1984 campaign was that the Party was still paying off the debt from the 1980 effort.

There were three running-mates for Johnson in 1984. Richard Walton was the official VP nominee on the ballot or certified write-in in 21 states. In California Johnson had won the primary for the Peace and Freedom Party (which included defeating Dennis Serrette of the New Alliance Party and Gavrielle Holmes of the Workers World Party) and her running-mate there was Emma Wong Mar. In Pennsylvania under the banner of the Consumer Party her VP was Bill Thorn.

Mar has the distinction of being the first Asian American VP on a Presidential ticket.

In addition to the Peace and Freedom Party and the Consumer Party there was another major player. The Socialist Party of the United States of America decided not run a ticket in 1984 and endorsed the Citizens Party.

Although the Citizens Party had a generally progressive platform and was comprised of the largest confederation of Leftist parties in 1984, Johnson's campaign understandably made feminist issues the central focus.

The popular vote was almost evenly split three ways among the VPs. Nationally the Party grossed 72,161 votes (0.08%), a considerable decline from their 1980 performance. Interesting that 2/3 of the result came from California and Pennsylvania where they ran under the names of their host parties.

The Johnson/Mar ticket placed 5th in California with 0.28%, but it was Johnson's highest popular vote (26,297) of any single state and the third largest percentage.

The Citizens Party evaporated shortly after the election. Or did it? In hindsight we see they served as a forerunner of today's Green Party, America's 4th largest political party.

The campaign (1988):

In the 1988 election the Peace and Freedom Party appeared to be in a bit of disarray as it tried to fend off a takeover attempt by the New Alliance Party. The PFP appeared to have been seriously split and a third of the delegates walked out of the convention in Oakland. This was a rare election where the PFP did not appear on the Presidential ballot in California. NAP leader Lenora Fulani and Internationalist Workers Party figure Herb Lewin both claimed the nomination but when they filed with the California Secretary of State the election officials refused to recognize either one as the legitimate Presidential selection.

Lewin claimed victory but Fulani said she was nominated at a "parallel convention" in a nearby hotel.

It seems the PFP party officials made the request not to list either one on the ballot. Party chair and 1980 presidential nominee Maureen Smith told the press the nomination process "never got off on a legal start" since so many delegates were not credentialed.

Old time Trotskyite and retired machinist Herb Lewin of Pennsylvania acted as if he was the PFP nominee anyway. Lewin had lost the Liberty Union Party primary in Vermont, and also the non-binding California primary for the Peace and Freedom Party. He had a history with the Socialist Workers Party but by 1984 had been selected by the ultra-obscure Internationalist Workers Party to be their first President candidate. Their method was to work within existing Leftist political parties.

During the campaign Lewin criticized the New Alliance and Workers World parties for being too cozy with the Democrats.

He was on the ballot in three states as the PFP Presidential candidate: New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Also as a registered write-in in California. Vikki Murdock was his running-mate the first two states, Mar the VP in Vermont and California. It isn't clear between Murdock or Mar who was serving as the official nominee and who was the stand-in, or indeed if that situation even existed. Some news reports did vaguely indicate Mar was the actual Party selection. She described herself to the media as "an independent Socialist."

Nationally Lewin earned 10,367 popular votes (0.01%) mostly from New Jersey. The Lewin/Mar ticket received 58 write-in votes in California and 219 votes (0.07%) on the ballot in Vermont.

Election history:
1982 - California State Assembly (Peace and Freedom Party) - defeated
1986 - California State Assembly (Peace and Freedom Party) - defeated
1990 - Lt. Governor of California (Peace and Freedom Party) - primary - defeated
1992 - California State Assembly (Peace and Freedom Party) - defeated
1994 - US House of Representatives (Calif.) (Peace and Freedom Party) - defeated

Other occupations: medical technologist, Planned Parenthood,  State Chair of the Peace and Freedom Party, union activist

Buried: ?

Notes:
Winner in the 1994 race was Ron Dellums.

Richard John Walton

Richard John Walton, May 24, 1928 (Saratoga Springs, NY) – December 27, 2012 (Providence, RI)

VP candidate for Citizens Party (aka Independent aka Citizens Group) (1984)

Running mate with nominee: Sonia Johnson (b. 1936)
Popular vote: 24,236 (0.03%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

In their second, and final, national election the Citizens Party selected Sonia Johnson as the standard bearer. Johnson had an inner conflict to reconcile-- she was a devout Mormon but also passionate about the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment. Naturally as her ERA activism increased and she became critical of the Church she found herself excommunicated. To some she was a heretic, to others a heroine.

Barry Commoner, the 1980 Presidential nominee, endorsed Rev. Jesse Jackson in the 1984 Democratic primaries, a move that many felt took the wind out of the sails of this new third party. Another major hurdle for the 1984 campaign was that the Party was still paying off the debt from the 1980 effort.

There were three running-mates for Johnson in 1984. Richard Walton was the official VP nominee on the ballot or certified write-in in 21 states. In California Johnson had won the primary for the Peace and Freedom Party (which included defeating Dennis Serrette of the New Alliance Party and Gavrielle Holmes of the Workers World Party) and her running-mate there was Emma Wong Mar. In Pennsylvania under the banner of the Consumer Party her VP was Bill Thorn.

In addition to the Peace and Freedom Party and the Consumer Party there was another major player. The Socialist Party of the United States of America decided not run a ticket in 1984 and endorsed the Citizens Party.

Although the Citizens Party had a generally progressive platform and was comprised of the largest confederation of Leftist parties in 1984, Johnson's campaign understandably made feminist issues the central focus. Like many other third party efforts, the Johnson/Walton ticket made more news about legal challenges concerning inclusion in the debates and ballot placement than they did in promoting their issues.

The popular vote was almost evenly split three ways among the VPs. Nationally the Party grossed 72,161 votes (0.08%), a considerable decline from their 1980 performance. Interesting that 2/3 of the result came from California and Pennsylvania where they ran under the names of their host parties. The ticket with Walton did contain their highest percentage, 0.56% in Louisiana, where they actually placed third. Johnson/Walton's next highest percentages came from Utah 0.13%, North Dakota 0.12%, Arkansas and Vermont 0.11% each, and Washington 0.10%.

The Citizens Party evaporated shortly after the election. Or did it? In hindsight we see they served as a forerunner of today's Green Party, America's 4th largest political party. Walton himself become one of those who was part of forming the Green Party.

Election history: none

Other occupations: US Navy, disc jockey, journalist, author, teacher, union activist, activist for the homeless

Buried: ?

Notes:
Worked for Adlai Stevenson 1952 and 1956, and for George McGovern 1972.
Later joined the Green Party and was a 1996 Rhode Island temporary stand-in for VP nominee
 Winona LaDuke.

Elizabeth Cervantes Barron

Elizabeth Cervantes Barron, March 14, 1938 (Los Angeles, Calif.) -

VP candidate for Peace and Freedom Party (1980)

Running mate with nominee: Maureen Smith (b. ca1942)
Popular vote: 18,116 (0.02%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

In 1968, 1972, and 1976 the Peace and Freedom Party had been an entity with national electoral ambitions and joined political confederations to form umbrella groups. By 1980 in the face of  the rising wave of conservatism, the Party retrenched and settled on making California their focus.

The nonbinding PFP California primary election drew an ecumenical list of Leftists. The winner was Dr. Benjamin Spock (Presidential nominee of the PFP-backed People's Party in 1972) and the runners-up were Gus Hall (Communist Party USA Presidential nominee 1972, 1976, 1980, 1984), David McReynolds (Socialist Party USA Presidential nominee 1980, 2000), and Deidre Griswold (Workers World Presidential nominee 1980). At the following convention, in which Spock was absent, the LA Times reported  "after considerable bickering, party delegates turned to Maureen Smith as a 'unity candidate.'"

Her running-mate was Elizabeth Cervantes Barron, a teacher who had run for other offices and successfully racked up enough percentage points in votes in the 1970s to have the PFP qualify for the ballot in 1980.

Smith, a clerical worker from Santa Cruz County told the press she expected the campaign would be working with a budget of only $1000.

"By voting for us, we'll tell the powers that be that you're tired of Carter and Reagan and the other politicians serving the corporate interests of this country," Smith was quoted by the press. "The challenge of the 80s is to establish an alternative system for socialism and feminism ... We're for full employment and worker ownership of industry. We're for affirmative action to be competitive with a white, male dominated society ..."

The PFP platform included support for disarmament, graduated income tax, rent control, Gay rights, socialized health care and opposition to deportation of undocumented migrants and the draft. Smith said the PFP was "the only Left" party on the ballot. In California, the lone state where the PFP was on the Presidential ballot in 1980, she very well might have been correct, although a few folks in Barry Commoner's Citizens Party might argue otherwise. David McReynolds, the Presidential candidate for the Socialist Party USA and not on the California ballot, endorsed the Smith/Cervantes Barron ticket.

Smith said she would consider 50,000 to 100,000 votes a success, or 0.50% to 1%. The results fell a bit short of that where they earned 0.21% of the vote. Cervantes Barron was also running for the California State Assembly as the PFP candidate in the same election and finished that race with 5.85%.

In the event they had won the Presidential election the fact that both candidates were from the same state would have posed a probable Constitutional crisis.

Election history:
1974 - US House of Representatives (Calif.) (Peace and Freedom Party) - defeated
1978 - California Controller (Peace and Freedom Party) - defeated
1980 - California State Assembly (Peace and Freedom Party) - defeated
1994 - US Senate (Calif.) (Peace and Freedom Party) - defeated
2006 - California Controller (Peace and Freedom Party) - defeated

Other occupations: teacher

Notes:
Plays the piano.
Winner of the 1994 race was Dianne Feinstein.
Joined the Peace and Freedom Party in 1967.

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.