Mary Alice Herbert

Mary Alice Herbert, February 28, 1935 (Dover, Del.) -

VP candidate for Socialist Party of the United States of America (aka Socialist Party USA aka Socialist Party aka Natural Law Party aka United Citizens Party aka Protecting Working Families) (2004)

Running mate with nominee: Walter Frederick Brown (b. 1926)
Popular vote: 10,606 (0.01%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

In 2004 the Socialist Party of the United States of America nominated 78 year old attorney Walter F. Brown for President. He was a former Democratic State Senator in Oregon (PNW trivia alert!!!) with a long record of progressive activism including being a member of the Socialist Party in earlier days. Mary Alice Herbert, a perennial candidate with the Liberty Union Party in Vermont, was nominated for Vice-President.

Herbert had a political alliance with Eric Chester and ran as his provisional VP in 2004 and in 2008. In the former campaign she retained the position of official running-mate even after the Party selected Walter F. Brown as the nominee.

Even though the SPUSA campaign webpage included: "We support the rights of all women to birth control information and supplies, and to all reproductive health services (including abortion)," it turned out Presidential nominee Brown held anti-abortion views and as a result there was an effort by some factions of the Party to rescind his nomination. Party leaders were also not enamored with Brown's style, as politics1 reported, "Some SPUSA insiders gripe that Brown insists upon total day-to-day control of all aspects his own campaign, even writing his own press releases, newspaper ads, etc. They note it took over a week after Brown won the nomination for him to finalize the press release announcing his victory."

The Liberty Union Party in Vermont, which had endorsed the SPUSA in half of the previous eight Presidential elections including 1996 and 2000, endorsed the Workers World Party for the first and only time in their history. Although Herbert was a long-time member and was listed on their campaign webpage promoting her as the SPUSA VP, Brown's name was totally absent.

Even so, the Brown/Herbert team picked up endorsements from a couple local remaining remnants of the now defunct Natural Law Party in Delaware and Michigan, and the United Citizens Party in South Carolina. In Louisiana they were called Protecting Working Families. 

The Brown/Herbert ticket was on the ballot in 7 states and certified write-ins in 9 others. Their strongest vote results: South Carolina 0.13%, Louisiana 0.09%, Florida 0.05%, and Delaware 0.03%.

Mary Cal Hollis, the 2000 VP was on the ballot with Brown in Colorado only.

In spite the non-support from much of the Party after the abortion issue, the SPUSA enjoyed their highest national vote result since it was founded in 1976 and the number not been matched since then. It was thought the SPUSA picked up a significant amount of voters on the Left  disappointed with Nader's independent run as well being disenchanted with the Greens.

Election history:
1984 - Vermont State House of Representatives (Liberty Union Party) - defeated
1990 - Vermont Secretary of State (Liberty Union Party) - defeated
1992 - Vermont Secretary of State (Liberty Union Party) - defeated
1994 - Vermont Secretary of State (Liberty Union Party) - defeated
1996 - Governor of Vermont (Liberty Union Party) - defeated
2006 - Lt. Governor of Vermont (Liberty Union Party) - defeated
2008 - Socialist Party of the United States of America nomination for US Vice-President - defeated
2012 - Vermont Secretary of State (Liberty Union Party) - defeated
2014 - Vermont Secretary of State (Liberty Union Party) - defeated
2016 - Vermont Secretary of State (Progressive Party) - primary - defeated
2016 - Vermont Secretary of State (Liberty Union Party) - defeated
2018 - Vermont Secretary of State (Progressive Party) - primary - defeated
2018 - Vermont Secretary of State (Democratic Party) - primary - defeated
2018 - Vermont Secretary of State (Liberty Union Party) - defeated

Other occupations: teacher

Notes:
She was Republican earlier in life.
1996 opponents included Howard Dean (winner) and Denny Lane.
First third party VP I have located who was born in Delaware.

Winona LaDuke

Winona LaDuke, August 18, 1959 (Los Angeles, Calif.) - 

VP candidate for Green Party (aka Liberty Ecology Community Party aka Pacific Party aka Independent) (1996)
VP candidate for Green Party (aka DC Statehood Green Party aka Pacific Green Party aka United Citizens Party aka Progressive/Green Party aka Independent aka Association of State Green Parties) (2000)

Running mate with nominee (1996, 2000): Ralph Nader (b. 1934)
Popular vote (1996): 555,604 (0.58%)
Popular vote (2000): 2,883,443 (2.74%)
Electoral vote (1996, 2000): 0/538

The campaign (1996):

Using the term "Green Party" as a national political entity applied to the situation in 1996 is a bit misleading. Rather than a centralized and unified juggernaut, Ralph Nader's Presidential run in this year was not really nationally managed or coordinated in the traditional way. The Green Party of this era consisted of a confederation of local groups, some of them actually in serious conflict with each other including two groups that were in contention for the official "Green Party" mantle.

Drafted by several groups, Ralph Nader did not swear to fight for the platform of any specific party and declared himself an independent. But he still showed up on most ballots next to a party name, usually with the word "Green" in it.

He told a Green convention that endorsed him in California in Aug. 1996:

Many Americans who call themselves liberals have so lowered their expectations about what politics can mean to this nation's future that they are settling for diminishing returns. Politics has been corrupted not just by money but by being trivialized out of addressing the great, enduring issues of who controls, who decides, who owns, who pays, who has a voice and access, and why solutions available on the shelf are not applied to the existing and looming crises of our society, both local and global.

One thing politicians do understand is rejection. When voters are deciding how they wish to use their vote, they should ask themselves how best to send a clear message. The Greens and other progressives are in the early building stages of a people-first, democratic political movement for future years. They deserve our attention because they are centering on the basic issues of representative government, one of whose purposes is to strengthen the usable tools of democracy, the other, in Thomas Jefferson's prophetic words, is "to curb the excesses of the monied interests."

Although not quite as confusing as attempting to identify Eugene McCarthy's running-mates in 1976, nailing down Nader's VP in 1996 isn't easy. His own selection was Winona LaDuke and she is generally recognized as the official person in that role. But there were stand-ins as well, such as Anne E.R. Goeke on the ballot in Iowa and Vermont, Madelyn R. Hoffman in New Jersey, and Muriel Tillinghast in New York. In Florida, where Nader was a write-in, Islara Boixados Souto was considered the running-mate.

Richard Walton (1984 Citizens Party VP) was a stand-in in Rhode Island until replaced by LaDuke. Some sources claim other stand-ins were Krista Paradise in Colorado, Bill Boteler in DC, and Deborah Howes in Oregon but I have not found any primary documents confirming those names as VPs on the ballot. In a few other states Nader did not have a running-mate.

LaDuke, a noted environmental and indigenous activist based in Minnesota's White Earth Reservation in 1996, was on the ballot with Nader in 18 states and considered his write-in VP in a few more. Her acceptance speech after being drafted by Nader was bilingual (Ojibwe/English) and she thanked the stand-in VPs, both factoids probably being a first in the third party running-mate record books. Through her father she has some heritage from the Mississippi Band of Anishinaabe Indians.

In terms of election results, Ross Perot's entry in the contest muddies the waters a bit, but Nader still had an impressive 4th place finish with 685,435 popular votes (0.71%). He cracked over 1% in 16 states + DC. The Nader/LaDuke ticket had their top ten results were Oregon 3.59%, Alaska 3.14%, Hawaii 2.88%, Washington 2.68%, District of Columbia (where they made 3rd place) 2.57%, Maine 2.52%, New Mexico 2.38%, California 2.37%, Connecticut 1.75%, Colorado 1.66%. A bit amazing considering Nader eschewed corporate campaign donations and exhibited some slight hesitancy in his electioneering. The earlier comparison with Eugene McCarthy seems appropriate in that both candidates communicated intellect that almost totally overshadowed passion.

The campaign (2000):

Between 1996 and 2000 the Greens began to slowly build a national party under the auspices of the Association of State Green Parties. I use the term "Greens" generically since the older Greens/Green Party USA preferred to go in a different direction.

The ASGP nominated Nader and LaDuke for a second run, but this time their effort came closer to resembling a traditional campaign, posing more of a threat to the outcome of the election.

The issue that demonstrated an interesting split with the Greens concerned the Makah Indians and whaling. Located in the NW tip of the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State, the Makah were the only indigenous nation to be guaranteed whaling rights when they signed a treaty with the American government. That was in 1855. In the 1990s, after local whales were removed from the Endangered Species List, the Makah resumed whale hunting after a 70+ year hiatus. In the divisive animal protection vs. Native American treaty rights issue among the progressives, Nader and LaDuke sided with the latter although they generally supported a moratorium on commercial whaling in general.

The 2000 ticket also had the backing and shared the ballot with the DC Statehood Party, Pacific Party (Ore.), Vermont Progressive Party, and the United Citizens Party (SC).

Full disclosure. Although I voted for Clinton/Gore in 1996 I cast my ballot for Nader/LaDuke in 2000. One of my cousins in Alaska offered to trade votes. She promised to vote for Nader in a red state if I voted for Gore in what she thought was a swing state. Those kinds of deals were apparently quite frequent in 2000. I did not take her up on the offer.

Al Gore took Washington State which was not a big surprise. A bit later I was present when the Electors cast their votes for Gore in the Legislative Building in Olympia. Not long after that an earthquake measuring almost 7.0 hit Oly and that room was wrecked when giant shards of skylight glass impaled the furniture. I like to think that is a metaphor for something, but not sure what!

The popular belief is that Nader's strong showing was a spoiler and handed the election to Bush. But several political scientists dispute that claim and the controversy continues to this day. For his part, Ralph Nader was exiled from national politics and held at arm's length by once friendly establishment progressives.

On the ballot or registered write-in in all but three states, the ticket finished just short of 3% and 3 million votes, placing third. Nader/LaDuke's top ten were: Alaska 10.07%, Vermont 6.92%, Massachusetts 6.42%, Rhode Island 6.12%, Montana 5.95%, Hawaii 5.88%, Maine 5.70%, Colorado 5.25%, District of Columbia 5.24%, and Minnesota 5.20%.

In this election Winona LaDuke received more popular votes than any other female third party VP candidate in US history.

Election history:
2016 - White Earth Tribal Chair - defeated

Other occupations: executive director of Honor the Earth, industrial hemp grower, high school principal, lecturer, author, novelist, economist

Notes:
PNW trivia alert! Raised in Ashland, Ore.
Endorsed Kerry in 2004, Obama in 2008, 2012.
Washington State trivia alert!!! Bob Satiacum, a well known figure in my neck of the woods, was a
 Democratic faithless Elector in 2016 and cast his vote for Faith Spotted Eagle with LaDuke as the
 VP. Sort of funny a Faith-less Elector voted for someone named "Faith"
More WA trivia!!! LaDuke was the speaker for the The Evergreen State College graduating class of
 2014.

Maria Elizabeth Muñoz

Maria Elizabeth Muñoz, April 2, 1957 (Los Angeles, Calif.) -

VP candidate for New Alliance Party (aka Independent aka More Perfect Democracy aka United Citizens Party) (1992)

Running mate with nominee: Lenora Fulani (b. 1950)
Popular vote: 73,652 (0.07%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

For the second time in a row, the New Alliance Party nominated Lenora Fulani. Interestingly she ran in the Democratic Party primary in New Hampshire early in 1992 and was newsworthy for heckling Bill Clinton. Also for the second time Fulani won the Peace and Freedom Party primary in California only to be denied the final nomination at the convention. In 1988 the PFP actually melted down and did not have an official nominee, something they did not want to repeat in 1992. Many of Fulani's critics felt the NAP was a cult attempting to take over the PFP and was not actually a true Left wing movement. Fulani provided her own version of events in an article written in 2000:

By 1992, I was running for president for a second time. I sought the California Peace and Freedom Party nomination again. Ross Perot was running for president, too, and the two-party system was about to come face to face with his formidable independent challenge. In liberal and progressive political circles there was feverish concern about the presidential election. Rev. Jesse Jackson had run twice -- in 1984 and in 1988 -- raising and then dashing the hopes of black and progressive Americans that our political power could be expanded through the Democratic Party. But in 1992 Jackson did not run for a third time; instead progressives -- including African Americans -- were being primed to support Bill Clinton, who cut his teeth in national politics by playing the race card. He seized an opportunity to publicly upbraid Jackson to demonstrate that he wasn't sympathetic to black and liberal concerns. This was part of Clinton's strategy to win Reagan Democrats back into the fold. Black and progressive leaders, who had given the Democratic Party a political "blank check," had to figure out how to make Clinton "fly" for their constituents.

Mainstream liberals figured they'd have no problem because their constituents would still feel they had nowhere else to go. But, the left establishment (i.e. the old left) was worried that ordinary progressives and blacks might defect to independent politics. When I threw my hat into the ring again in 1992, the old left needed a candidate to face me down. What better choice than Jesse Jackson's former deputy campaign manager, Ron Daniels, to run as the "official progressive" presidential candidate, but under "black cover."

Daniels puttered around the country, getting on the ballot in only 10 states, and wheeling out every piece of trash the old left had manufactured against me for 15 years, announcing that his goal was to destroy me ... But nowhere was the confrontation between Daniels, the black puppet of the white fringe left and me, the black progressive trying to bring minority voters into the nascent independent movement, sharper than in the 1992 California Peace and Freedom Party primary.

This contest was a three-way between Daniels, myself and a Latina woman whom Daniels' supporters had recruited to siphon off Hispanic and female voters from me. In spite of his vicious cult-baiting, attempts to hijack the party and other forms of political garbage, I won the three-way preferential primary with 51 percent. Daniels polled 32.5 percent and the "planted" candidate 16 percent. Many of my voters came from the black and Latino registrant base -- which had continued to grow since 1988 -- and from white progressives who wanted the party to be more relevant.

But Daniels and his ultra-left political allies weren't done. They once again mobilized support at the state convention to reject the wishes of the membership and gave Daniels the Peace and Freedom line. Once again, these left leaders preferred to disempower the rank and file to pursue their own narrow goals. When the Perot movement hit it big, and 20 million Americans went independent, I was able to take my networks and followers into a new coalition with Perot voters. Peace and Freedom, its fringy ideologues and Ron Daniels were all left behind in the sectarian dust.

However Fulani did have a strong connection to the PFP in the course of her campaign. Her running-mate, Maria Elizabeth Muñoz, had already been running for various public offices as a member of the Party since 1986. Several sources cite this team as the first 100% ticket of women of color, but in fact in 1988 Fulani appeared on the ballot with Barbara R. Taylor in New Jersey and Wynonia Brewington Burke in Alaska-Arizona-North Carolina-Washington and Mamie Moore in Hawaii-Idaho-Indiana-Kentucky-Michigan-Minnesota-Mississippi-Pennsylvania-South Dakota.

Although Munoz had previously run under the Peace and Freedom Party in other elections, she had been allied with the New Alliance Party the entire time. She was introduced to the NAP while working in New York. Munoz returned to her native state of California ca1984. In 1986, while running for Governor, she mentioned the relationship between the PFP and NAP: "The Alliance has received a mixed reaction from the Peace and Freedom Party, and we do have our differences. But they recognize that what I am talking about is facing the community and drawing them into the democratic process. At a time when Right-wing and conservative forces are gaining ground around the country, I don't think we can afford to spend time debating the correct party line amongst ourselves. What we need is to build tools for empowerment."

Having recently lost her brother to AIDS, Munoz had a powerful personal story to relate in the course of advocating for victims of the disease.

Even though Fulani failed to gain the PFP nomination, in South Carolina she appeared on the ballot as before as part of the United Citizens Party.

It wasn't so much the NAP platform that drew criticism from groups on the Left, it was more about their methods. Several pundits and ex-members (including the 1984 NAP Presidential nominee) basically accused the New Alliance Party of being a totalatarian cult. Fighting these charges frequently made the Party expend their limited energy and resources entrenching in a defensive position.

Compared to the previous election, it was a disappointing result for the NAP, garnering only about a third of the votes they won in 1988. This would be their final national run for the Presidency and the Party itself would soon disband. It is difficult to conclude how much the Ross Perot third party run had cut into NAP's base, but by 1996 several former NAP leaders competed with other politicos for control of the network Perot had built.

On the ballot in 39 states plus DC and write-ins in seven others, the Fulani/Muñoz ticket placed sixth nationally. They placed 4th, after Perot, in District of Columbia (0.64%), Rhode Island (0.41%), Delaware (0.38%), and Mississippi (0.27%). Other states with their strongest popular vote percentages: Oregon (0.21%), Hawaii (0.19%), New York (0.16%), and Vermont (0.15%).

Muñoz seems to have vanished from the political radar after 1992.

Election history:
1986 - Governor of California (Peace and Freedom Party) - defeated
1988 - US Senate (Calif.) (Peace and Freedom Party) - defeated
1989 - Mayor of Los Angeles (Calif.) (Nonpartisan) - defeated
1990 - Governor of California (Peace and Freedom Party) - defeated
1991 - Los Angeles (Calif.) City Council (Nonpartisan) - defeated
1992 - US House of Representatives (Calif.) (Peace and Freedom Party) - primary - defeated

Other occupations: counselor in a shelter for battered women, teacher

Notes:
Included in the 1986 race: George Deukmejian (winner), Tom Bradley, Matilde Zimmermann.
Pete Wilson was the winner of the 1988 race.
Tom Bradley was the winner of the 1989 race.
Included in the 1990 race: Pete Wilson (winner), Dianne Feinstein.
Also called Liz Munoz.

Joyce Gail Dattner

Joyce Gail Dattner, June 1, 1948 (New York, NY) -

VP candidate for New Alliance Party (aka Independent aka Illinois Solidarity Party aka Alliance Party aka United Citizens Party) (1988)

Running mate with nominee: Lenora Fulani (b. 1950)
Popular vote: 122,789 (0.13%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

In 1988 Lenora Fulani was the nominee for the New Alliance Party. She managed to achieve the nearly impossible task of gaining ballot status in all 50 states + DC. In some cases the NAP worked with already existing third parties such as the Solidarity Party and United Citizens Party. In California they tried but failed to take over the Peace and Freedom Party and in the process temporarily derailed the PFP for that election year.

Meanwhile, Dennis L. Serrette the NAP Presidential nominee for 1984, denounced the Party as a toxic cult during the 1988 election season. This point of view would be shared by several in the cultbusting community.

Fulani had eight running-mates in 1988, stating "If we got elected, we'd figure it out." Chicago-based Joyce Dattner was also a disciple of NAP guru Fred Newman and was Fulani's most visible VP choice, having showed up on the ballot in 31 states + DC. She was involved in various associated NAP groups as well such as the "Rainbow Alliance." At the NAP convention in Aug. 1988, the press quoted a tearful Dattner who exclaimed, "I love you, Lenora Fulani. I love you and I'll follow you anywhere."

In 1987 Fulani said the NAP was prepared to endorse Jesse Jackson in the event he won the Democratic nomination, but in case he didn't her campaign was forging ahead.

The NAP platform included national health care, support for AIDS victims, recognition of Native American treaty rights, stronger environmental regulations, a freeze on military spending, ending aid to South Africa-the Contras in Central America-Israel, support of pro-choice laws, support of public transportation.

In response to criticism of NAP's connection with Louis Farrakhan, Dattner said in 1985: "I am someone who comes from a Zionist history and has moved to follow Black leadership. I heard Minister Farrakhan speak about women taking their rightful place and that any whites who wanted to support the movement are welcome. I know his attack on Zionism is a righteous thing."

On the NAP's 1988 goal, Dattner told a reporter, "We're out to cost Dukakis the election. I mean, look at his record. In Massachusetts, the so-called 'Massachusetts miracle' was a miracle for corporations. He supports a 'workfare' system that has welfare recipients working at less than minimum wage. He handed down an executive order that doesn't allow Gay people to be foster parents."

Nationally Fulani gained 217,221 votes (0.24%) and placed 4th, a truly impressive and historic finish on many levels-- for openers, Fulani was the first African American women to be listed on every US ballot. The Fulani/Dattner ticket had 122,789 popular votes. In the District of Columbia they placed third with 1.50% of the vote, the only jurisdiction where Fulani broke 1% with any running mate. The other strongest results for the Fulani/Dattner team: Vermont 0.65%, South Carolina 0.41%, Massachusetts 0.36%, Montana 0.35%, West Virginia 0.34%, Missouri 0.32%, Wyoming 0.31%, Maryland 0.30%. They did not appear to be spoilers in favor of Bush in any state.

Election history:
1976 - New York Assembly (Working Peoples Party) - defeated
2002 - San Francisco Board of Supervisors (Nonpartisan) - defeated

Other occupations: life coach, teacher, San Francisco chair of the Reform Party, union organizer 

Notes:
Apparently does not have a professional accredited academic degree in the field of psychology or a
 Ph.D. in any field but was sometimes billed as "Dr. Joyce Dattner" in ads marketing her lectures in
 the 1980s. She has never been a licensed psychologist from what I can ascertain.
Winner of the 1976 race was Jerry Nadler.
Was connected with the People's Party Presidential campaign in 1976.

Nancy Ross

 today

Nancy Ross, ca1943-

VP candidate for New Alliance Party (aka Alliance Party aka Independent aka Independent Alliance Party aka United Citizens Party aka Liberty Union Party) (1984)

Running mate with nominee: Dennis L. Serrette (b. ca1940)
Popular vote: 43,460 (0.05%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

Fred Newman (1935-2011) was a Maoist with pretensions of being a psychologist (he wasn't) who had formed a communal movement around 1970 combining Leftist politics with New Age pseudoscience. Within a short time he had temporarily joined forces with Lyndon LaRouche, but personality-driven political parties can only tolerate one guru at a time, so they parted company-- or so it seemed. A possible subsequent Newman-LaRouche connection would forever be a point of conjecture.

From 1975-1978 Newman's group, now called the International Workers Party and claiming allegiance to Marx, Mao, and Lenin, attempted to work with the confederation of organizations and parties that collaborated under the umbrella of the People's Party. In 1976 the People's Party ran the Presidential ticket of Margaret Wright and Benjamin Spock. Apparently Newman and his entourage were shown the door out of the People's Party in 1978 by other progressive activists who held the IWP in low esteem.

In 1979 the New Alliance Party was formed by Newman with Lenora Fulani, who unlike her mentor was a real psychologist. Critics charged that the group was using a technique called "Social Therapy," designed to keep followers in line and manipulated with techniques such as large group awareness training, social isolation, and assignment of party-oriented tasks that were so time consuming there was little room for individual pursuits or critical self-reflection. There were charges that the supposedly defunct International Workers Party was simply operating on an underground basis and involved in secret authoritarian decision-making while using the NAP as a front organization.

Their first Presidential ticket was comprised of African American activist Dennis Serrette and Newman loyalist Nancy Ross. She had the distinction of being the first of Newman's followers to be elected to public office when she successfully gained a seat on the Community School Board 3 in New York City in 1977.

Ross was also head of the "Rainbow Lobby" (the lobbying branch of Newman's "Rainbow Alliance"), an opportunistic and unauthorized variant of the term "Rainbow Coalition" as popularized by the Jackson campaign. Rev. Jesse Jackson himself had co-opted the phrase from earlier more radical political elements. Later Jackson had to clarify that he had nothing to do with the NAP "Rainbow" incarnations.

Lifting the term "Rainbow Alliance," the NAP acted as if was continuing the work of Jackson, who had failed in his attempt to gain the nomination of the Democratic Party. Note Serrette's tactical use of the term "second party"--

We want to get enough votes so someone like Jesse can win in 1988. Let me make it clear. We're not going to win by numbers but by impact. We're starting the embryo of a second party that will express the needs of the people. We are taking up the issues the Democratic party has rejected. We will be out in the streets the day after election day building this second party momentum.

Realizing that many Democrats felt their party had compromised too much and drifted to the Right in order to attract centrist voters, Serrette and Ross attempted to woo this bloc of voters by stating they were upholding the true progressive ideals. "Mondale is not the lesser of two evils," said Ross, "He is the loser of two evils." Their rhetoric was Left of center but somewhat vague on details.

There was a bit of bad press surrounding the running mate question. Dorothy Muns Blancato, an interior decorator and Jazz pianist from Vanport, Penn. was selected as the VP 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 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. 

Amazingly well funded compared to other Leftist parties, NAP managed to gain ballot positions in DC and 31 states. A very impressive achievement for a first-time national run. Ross was the running mate in all but three states. In Kansas the VP nominee was Naomi L. Azulay. Mississippi and West Virginia voters found a blank spot in the VP slot with Serrette where other parties included the name of the running mate.

Of the remaining 28 states the Serrette/Ross ticket finished strongest in such diverse places as: South Dakota 0.36%, Massachusetts 0.31%, Ohio 0.27%, Arkansas 0.21%, Nebraska 0.16%, Maine and Vermont 0.14% each. The Party overall placed 7th nationally with 46,853 votes (0.05%), behind Lyndon LaRouche and Sonia Johnson incidentally. The ticket with Ross accounted for 43,460 of those votes.

Serrette broke with the NAP shortly after the election. In a scathing article written in 1988, he concluded with:

These few pages offer but an overview of a complex, and, in my opinion, dangerous organization. Dangerous, not only to the innocent, well-intentioned people who are caught in its grasp, but to the many it will try to exploit. Dangerous, because it uses a very progressive line, and untold millions of dollars, to prey on black communities, to attack black leaders and institutions, and to assault progressive organizations at whim. Dangerous because it can lie outright— lie about being black-led when blacks do not sit on the top, do not control the resources, do not control personnel; lie to its members about its participation with LaRouche; lie about Charles Tisdale; lie about me; lie about whatever serves Newman's interests, and put forth spokespersons who come to believe these lies. Dangerous because many members will do whatever they are told to do without ever evaluating what they have been told.

In conclusion, while I believe it is important that NAP be exposed for what it truly is, it is our job not to dwell on the organization, which craves controversy, but to concentrate our energies in our communities and organize, organize, organize. It is a vacuum that has been left open that allows NAP and other oppressive organizations to abuse our communities. We must fill that vacuum with genuinely pro­gressive, community-controlled organizations.

Meanwhile, Fred Newman has been recognized by the Cult Education Institute as a historical cult figure and leader.

Election history:
1977-1978 - Community School Board 3, New York, NY (Nonpartisan)
1981 - New York City Council (Democratic) - primary - defeated
1982 - Governor of New York (New Alliance Party) - defeated
1984 - Peace and Freedom Party nomination for US Vice-President - defeated

Other occupations: housewife, Parents Association President Public School 75 (NYC), head of the Rainbow Lobby, "part-time psychologist," founder of Independent Options LLC (2005), board member and officer of Committee for a Unified Independent Party, board member of Transpartisan Alliance

Notes:
Graduate of New York University
Jewish
Winner of the 1982 race was Mario Cuomo.
Was part of the Reform Party and then the Independence Party of New York.