Todd Erick Natvig, March 5, 1973 (Mankato, Minn.) -
VP candidate for Independent (2012)
Running-mate with nominee: Kent Walker Bush (b. ca1971)
Popular vote: 48 (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538
The campaign:
Using his newspaper as a venue, Kent W. Bush of Augusta, Kan. ran for President on a single-issue platform of eliminating the Electoral College. He chose his fellow tornado chaser and Augusta resident Todd Natvig as his running-mate. They held their convention in a local coffee shop.
Bush used his editorial column in the weeks leading up to Election Day to point out not only does the Electoral College thwart the popular vote (e.g. the 2000 Presidential election) but states that are reliably Republican (like Kansas) or Democratic (like Washington) are left out the campaign, "Thanks to the Electoral College's winner-take-all system, Kansas is just another flat piece of land the candidates fly over on their way to campaign stops."
Although Bush described himself as a conservative and Republican, he obviously was not opposed to the Electoral College for political party reasons since Gore would have been President in 2000 if it had been up to the popular vote alone. In one essay he ended his pitch with, "But your vote is basically wasted anyway, so you might as well waste it making a point. Vote Kent W. Bush in 2012! A vote for me tells people that you wasted your vote because you are tired of wasting your vote. It's like fighting fire with fire. I don't know how it works, but it does. So get out there and waste your vote for a good reason this year."
As for his running-mate, Bush wrote in 2019, "I had a running mate who also happened to be a great driver for tornado chasing. After chasing a huge tornado 80 miles across south-central Kansas, I knew Todd Natvig was the best running mate for me. I needed someone to do something a little crazy. He had proven himself on that front."
The Bush/Natvig ticket were registered write-ins in the State of Kansas only where they received 48 votes. In the event of their victory there would have been a Constitutional problem since they were residents of the same state.
On his Facebook page in early 2016 Natvig mused about another Presidential run but this time with the positions switched. It did not appear to get beyond the idea stage--
Today is a NEW DAY for this country. I think back on our prior attempt at changing this country and have hope that a NATVIG-BUSH ticket may be an answer.....what do you think?
On. Nov. 9, 2012 Bush had more or less predicted another Electoral fiasco for 2016, where once again the loser was the winner, "Once again, the country is fortunate not to have endured a close finish. In 2016, the nightmare scenario is far more likely when both sides field a fresh face. With no incumbents, barring a meltdown by either side, the race should be very close in those 12 swing states."
Election history: none
Other occupations: pilot, flight instructor
Notes:
Natvig also speaks Norwegian and Spanish.
Plays the fiddle.
