Constance Zimmerman Blomen

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

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

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

The campaign:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Election history: none

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

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.

Harold Edward Stassen

Harold Edward Stassen, April 13, 1907 (West St. Paul, Minn.) – March 4, 2001 (Bloomington, Minn.)

VP candidate for Straight Talking American Government Party (aka STAG Party)  (1976)

Running mate with nominee: Pat Paulsen (1927-1997)
Popular vote: ? (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

Comedian Pat Paulsen's shtick was to deliver wickedly funny lines while maintaining a deadpan Sad Sack sort of expression. Before going into his political career I want to point out to my fellow Washington State trivia buffs that Paulsen was born and raised in South Bend, in Pacific County which is next to door to Grays Harbor County where I currently live. Members of my father's family were very active in the moonshine/bootlegging business during Paulsen's early years in the rough and tumble Raymond/South Bend area and it is possible Paulsen's father was acquainted with some of my relatives.

As one of the players on television's Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, which was considered a dangerously political program at the time, Paulsen launched his first bid for President in the 1968 election as the leader of the Straight Talking American Government Party also called the S.T.A.G. Party. The joke became very popular and Paulsen ran in most of the Presidential elections since that time until his death in 1997. In some cases he ran in the Presidential primaries of both major parties and outpolled some serious candidates.

Here's a Paulsen political sampler over the years:

We cannot stand Pat!

United we sit!

We can be decisive, probably.

If elected, I will win.

[His thoughts on considering the first campaign] Why not? I can't dance. Besides, the job has a good pension plan and I'll get a lot of money when I retire.

Only a cheap politician, greedy for political gain, would try to single out one individual for blame. The fault lies not with the individual but with the system, and that system is Richard Nixon.--1972

A good many people today feel our present draft laws are unjust. These people are called soldiers. In one of the arguments against the draft, we hear it is unfair, immoral, discourages young men from studying, ruins their careers and their lives. Picky, picky, picky! We propose a draft lottery, in which the names of all eligible males will be put into a hat, and the men will be drafted according to their hat sizes. The tiny heads will go into the military service, and the fat heads will go into government.--1968

I've upped my standards. Now, up yours.

We have nothing to fear but fear itself … and of course the boogieman.

All the problems we face in the United States today can be traced to an unenlightened immigration policy on the part of the American Indian.

Assuming either the Left Wing or the Right Wing gained control of the country, it would probably fly around in circles.

You can fool some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time, but you can only make a monkey out of the voters every four years!

In America, any boy can grow up to become president. Or, if he never grows up, vice president.

I read an article that said one in five Americans thinks Elvis is alive. I want to find those morons and get them registered to vote for me.

As I've always said: The future lies ahead.

In 1976 Paulsen denied he was running for President for the third time, and then launched a full-fledged national "Denial Campaign." When asked if he was really running for President he answered, "Yes and no."

His comments on his non-opponents in his non-campaign:

We have a choice between two very energetic forceful, dynamic, decision-making leaders-- Lester Maddox and Eugene McCarthy.

Jimmy Carter is a man who grew from humble beginnings to become one of Georgia's leading peanut farmers. Just what we need-- another nut in the White House. Carter wants to clamp down on the CIA and the FBI. I don't know why. The closest they've come to taking over a government is ours. They say Carter doesn't know anything about foreign affairs. I say at least he's lusted after them in his heart.

I think Ford is dynamic, speaks clearly on the issues and is not afraid to take a stand. Of course, I'm talking about Betty. I don't blame President Ford for our troubles. He hasn't done anything.

In 1968 and 1972 he had been coy about who he would select as a running mate. But in late June 1976 Paulsen let it be known he wanted Harold Stassen as his VP. Of course, Paulsen continued to deny he was running as he said this. Wink. Wink.

By 1976 the very name Harold Stassen had a comedic effect. He was a punch line, as Paulsen intended it to be. Once a Boy Wonder liberal Republican and a serious contender for the 1948 Presidential nomination of that party, Stassen had become known as America's most famous perennial candidate. After his terms as Governor of Minnesota 1939-1943 he attempted the Republican nomination for President nine times between 1944-1992. He also failed to be elected Governor of Pennsylvania twice, Mayor of Philadelphia, the US Senate twice, the US House, and Governor of Minnesota again.

In spite of his efforts, Paulsen probably did rack up a number of write-in votes in 1976. Some writers were starting to call him the Harold Stassen of comedians.

Paulsen would be back after 1976, and so would Stassen. In 1992 Paulsen outpolled Stassen in the Republican primaries for US President.

Other occupations: soldier (US Navy WWII), attorney, President of the University of Pennsylvania 1948-1953, Director of the Mutual Security Agency 1953, Director of the US Foreign Operations Administration 1953-1955 

Election history:
1931-1939 - District Attorney of Dakota County (Minn.) (Republican)
1939-1943 - Governor of Minnesota (Republican)
1944 - Republican nomination for US President - defeated
1948 - Republican nomination for US President - defeated
1952 - Republican nomination for US President - defeated
1958 - Republican nomination for Governor of Pennsylvania - primary - defeated
1959 - Mayor of Philadelphia, Penn. (Republican) - defeated
1964 - Republican nomination for US President - defeated
1966 - Republican nomination for Governor of Pennsylvania - defeated
1968 - Republican nomination for US President - defeated
1978 - Republican nomination for US Senate (Minn.) - defeated
1980 - Republican nomination for US President - defeated
1982 - Republican nomination for Governor of Minnesota - defeated
1984 - Republican nomination for US President - defeated
1986 - US House of Representatives (Minn.) (Republican) - defeated
1988 - Republican nomination for US President - defeated
1992 - Republican nomination for US President - defeated
1994 - Republican nomination for US Senate (Minn.) - defeated

Buried: Acacia Park Cemetery (Mendota Heights, Minn.)

Notes:
Youngest person ever elected Minnesota Governor.
Participated in the first recorded Presidential primary debate with Thomas Dewey in 1948
Led the "Dump Nixon" for VP effort in 1956.
Baptist.
Considered a liberal Republican for the most part.
Noted later in life for his ill-fitting toupée.

John Newberry

John Newberry, 1953 (British Columbia) - 

VP candidate for Mad Hatters Tea Party International (1976)

Running mate with nominee: Steve Willis (b 1955)
Popular vote: 0 (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

The Mad Hatters Tea Party International was cooked up by two cartoonists, John Newberry of Victoria, BC and Steve Willis of McCleary, Wash. around 1973. The Party was Leftist Dada with a main interest in the impeachment of President Richard Nixon. Silkscreen posters were created and displayed in comic book shops, most notably and enthusiastically at the now legendary Eaton's Bookstall in Aberdeen, Wash. where future well known comics artist John Workman used to hang out at the time. Also an ad was placed in the Daily Olympian Apr. 15, 1973.

After Nixon resigned in disgrace in 1974 the MHTPI sort of evaporated and Newberry and Willis lost contact.

Newberry had been politically active with the New Democratic Party in British Columbia. Willis was a former McGovern volunteer who was a Democratic Party PC and supported Fred Harris in the 1976 caucus (and was hopelessly outvoted by the Scoop Jackson fans) but did vote for Carter in the general election. In 1999 he ran a cartoon dog for Mayor and won about 5% of the vote.

Aside from both candidates being far below the Constitutionally mandated minimum age to hold office, Newberry is a Canadian citizen which would have posed a small legal problem in the event this ticket had won.

Election history: none

Other occupations: comic book dealer, cartoonist, author

Notes:
Full disclosure: I'm Willis.

Ralph Nader

Ralph Nader, February 27, 1934 (Winsted, Conn.) -

VP candidate for Independent (1976)

Running mate with nominee: Regis Jeremiah Anthony Goldbach (1910-1979)
Popular vote: 5 (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

Regis Jeremiah Anthony Goldbach, known as John, was serving a life term in prison in San Luis Obispo, Calif. for the 1971 murder of his wife's sister-in-law and the attempted murder of his wife. Housed in a unit for psychotic prisoners, he applied to the California Secretary of State and was granted the status of a certified write-in candidate. He had been entirely truthful on his application listing his inmate number, correct address, and occupation as "inmate jail lawyer." As a felon he could not vote for himself but there was no law preventing him from running for office.

Besides, several other Presidential candidates have campaigned from behind prison bars, Eugene Debs being one of the most famous. Even so, the California Secretary of State confessed their office did not initially recognize Goldbach's address as a prison.

Most recently from Lancaster, Calif., he had been in prison since March 1972. If elected, some mused he would have the power to pardon himself although Goldbach himself said he would have to govern from his prison cell.

A reporter visited Goldbach in the prison visiting room during the campaign. The candidate said he was inspired by a vision "in which he saw himself as the next President." Goldbach chose Ralph Nader as his Vice-President and Cesar Chavez as his Secretary of Agriculture. Raising his hand, he looked at the reporter and declared, "Luke 1:38. 'With God nothing shall be impossible.'"

Goldbach received five write-in votes in California.

If the Goldbach/Nader ticket had been elected, Ralph Nader would have become President upon the death of Goldbach on Jan. 2, 1979 according to the California Death Index. The Social Security Death Index says Goldbach died in Dec. 1978. He was born in Pittsburgh, Dec. 14, 1910.

Election history:
1992 - US President (None of the Above) - primary - defeated
1996 - US President (Green Party) - defeated
2000 - US President (Green Party) - defeated
2004 - US President (Independent/Reform Party) - defeated
2008 - US President (Independent/Peace and Freedom Party) - defeated

Other occupations: soldier (US Army), author, consumer advocate, attorney, consultant to Assistant Sec. of Labor, lecturer

Notes:
Nader quotes--
--"Once you don't vote your ideals ... that has serious undermining affects. It erodes the moral basis of our democracy."
--"The only difference between the Republican and Democratic parties is the velocities with which their knees hit the floor when corporations knock on their door. That's the only difference."
--"I once said to my father, when I was a boy, 'Dad we need a third political party.' He said to me, 'I'll settle for a second.'"
--"Up against the corporate government, voters find themselves asked to choose between look-alike candidates from two parties vying to see who takes the marching orders from their campaign paymasters and their future employers. The money of vested interest nullifies genuine voter choice and trust."
--"The use of solar energy has not been opened up because the oil industry does not own the sun."

Perry David Sargeant

 The Sargeant brothers, Perry (above) and Larry (below)

Perry David Sargeant, June 17, 1929 (Spokane, Wash.) - October 22, 2016 (Elko, Nev.)

VP candidate for American Freedom Party (1976)

Running mate with nominee: Larry Brant Sargeant (b 1931)
Popular vote: ? (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

Larry Brant Sargeant was a heavy equipment operator in Yerington, Nev. Apparently a former member of the LDS Church, he started his own religion called House of Israel around 1962 and 15 years later he said that was also the time he formed the American Freedom Party. He told reporters he had made an attempt to run for President in the 1972 election but withdrew.

He began his second presidential campaign in 1975. A few quotations in the early stages of his effort included parts of his Party platform as well as comments regarding President Ford, the only person ever to have ascended to that office through appointment upon the twin resignations in disgrace of Spiro Agnew and Richard Nixon rather than being elected:

With an unshakeable faith in the Almighty God, we can show our fellow Americans that government of the people, by the people, and for the people must begin at home-- not in Washington, D.C.

The people of this nation don't have a President at all (all you have is a bird perched under the people's roof, claiming squatters rights).

Under the oath and covenant of the Constitution of the United States of America, the right to select a president and vice-president shall now and forever remain with the people. No man may be put upon them by force or compulsory means. When Richard M. Nixon resigned and Gerald Ford became the president, his first duty should have been to the people to have an open and immediate election for president and vice-president. The Supreme Court failed in their responsibility to act on this violations of the peoples' rights.

I am calling for an immediate and open election for president and vice-president of this nation of the people, by the people and for the people.

Sargeant also called for a flat 10% income tax on wages, drop all business and corporate tax, raise minimum wage to $10 an hour (in 1976 I was working for $1.90 an hour so 10 bucks an hour seemed huge) introduce free medical care, have states take over welfare by starting welfare work farms, and invite other nations to become a US territory simply by ratifying the US Constitution with the eventual possibility of statehood.

He described himself as a servant of the Lord and friend of labor unions. One newspaper reported "Sargeant stated he would do away with many of the federal agencies and establish state marshalls to control the country."

Sargeant picked his brother, Perry David Sargeant of Elko, Nev., as his running mate. Unlike his younger brother, Perry remained active with the LDS Church.

On April 26, 1976, Larry stated that while in Carson City he was "stripped of his Holy Priesthood garments and placed in prison garbs and thrown into a drunk tank, without being charged for a crime or allowed to post bail." He later filed suit for $200 billion dollars.

The Sargeant/Sargeant ticket was a write-in project and probably an uncertified one at that. The fact the brothers were residents of the same state would probably have caused a Constitutional crisis had they been elected.

Larry Brant Sargeant ran for President again in 1980, 1988, and 1992 (and possibly in other years) under his American Freedom Party banner, apparently without a running mate. He had already started on his second career as a vandal who attacked Mormon statuary with knives, hammers, and axes-- crimes for which he eventually did some hard time. It seems he was, according to him, performing God's will. He was also engaged in a third career of filing frequent lawsuits that many viewed as frivolous. He eventually moved to the Colville, Wash. area.

Election history: none

Other occupations: berry picker, logging business, insurance salesman, cattle ranch worker, barb-wire fence business

Buried: Burns Memorial Garden (Elko, Nev.)

Notes:
Perry was raised in Alberta, Elmerton Wash., Portland Or., and Newport Or.
Larry claimed Thomas Jefferson was his "fourth great grandfather" which if true means I am related
 to Perry David Sargeant as we share an immigrant ancestor, Christopher Branch, with our 3rd
 President.
Nice to finally see a fellow Spokane native on the third party Vice-Presidential roster.

Edward Moore Kennedy

Edward Moore Kennedy, February 22, 1932 (Boston, Mass.) – August 25, 2009 (Hyannis Port, Mass.)

VP candidate for Independent (1976)

Running mate with nominee: Meda Magnifico (b. 1920)
Popular vote: ? (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

An actress in South Gate, Calif. using the stage name of Meda Magnifico ran for President in 1976. There are only sketchy details about her past. Born in Kentucky around 1920 she later lived in San Antonio, Texas where she had a Japanese servant for many years named Roy Suyehiro.

In 1962 she penned a book entitled The Human Saint: A Biography of the Empress of All the Russias (Boston House Publishers Corporation, probably self-published) and seemed to have some kind of family connection to Russia. She claimed to be the great granddaughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.

For some reason she sometimes called herself Mrs. J. Edgar Hoover. She said her childhood tutors were Gen. Pershing, First Lady Mrs. Woodrow Wilson, Bernard Baruch and Albert Einstein which accounted for her IQ of 230. On her 18th birthday in 1938 she was appointed, she alleged, as a chief advisor and aide to President Roosevelt. In July 1941 she was made a "Female Commanding General of the US Marine Corps." She said she was a five-star (sometimes six-star) general, hence her title General M. Magnifico as the newspapers called her.

In addition to being a Secret Service agent, one her press releases stated: "Gen. Magnifico is the holder of four congressional medals of honor, during World War II. She made 47 trips by parachute alone behind enemy lines." According to her, she was sent on a secret mission to Russia that resulted in WWII ending five years earlier than it otherwise would have.

A marriage record exists for Meda Magnifico Romanov to Carl William Roof (1897-1988) in Clark County, Nev. (basically, Las Vegas) on May 25, 1974.

By 1976 the 5 foot 3 inch tall Magnifico was adorned with goggles and a "medal-bedecked" uniform. Columnist William Christofferson described her as "dressed in a uniform with about 50 pounds of medals, and somewhat resembles Bette Davis in her movie role as Baby Jane." She sent letters to officials with her fingerprints in lipstick. Her alleged secretary was Patricia Lowe the widow of B-film and TV scriptwriter Sherman Lowe (1894-1968).

General Magnifico originally held out hope to be US Sen. Ted Kennedy's (D-Mass.) running mate, but it was apparent he was not going to run for President in 1976, so she was forced to run for the position herself "at the extreme urging of those involved in the security of this nation." In May 1976 she flipped the ticket and drafted Sen. Kennedy as her own VP, although he apparently did not know this.

She was certified as a write-in candidate in California and gained a tiny number of votes on Election day. Kennedy, meanwhile, would run for President in 1980 but by that time General Meda Magnifico had vanished from the radar.

Election history:
1962-2009 - US Senate (Mass.) (Democratic)
1980 - Democratic nomination for US President - defeated

Other occupations: soldier (US Army), attorney, Assistant District Attorney for Suffolk County Mass.

Buried: Arlington National Cemetery

Notes:
Born on George Washington's 200th birthday.
The first US Senator to have a homepage on Internet.
In 1980 Kennedy was the VP choice for Princess C.T. Running Water Rockefeller of Covington, Ky.,
 but she was running as a Democrat in the primaries rather than a third party, thus making that
 campaign sadly ineligible for our profiles.

Robert Craig Knievel

Robert Craig Knievel, October 17, 1938 (Butte, Mont.) – November 30, 2007 (Clearwater, Fla.)

VP candidate for Magneto-hydrodynamics-Puritan Epic-Prohibition Party (aka Puritan Epic Party aka Puritan Epic, Prohibition and Magnetohydrodynamics Party) (1976)

Running mate with nominee: Merrill Keith Riddick (1895-1988)
Popular vote: 0 (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

Merrill Riddick, one of Montana's more colorful perennial candidates, grew up in a political household. His father Carl was a US Congressman (R-Mont.) 1919-1923 and in 1922 lost an open-seat election for the US Senate to none other than future third party Vice-presidential candidate Burton Kendall Wheeler.

The son Merrill became an early aviator and flight instructor as well as a prospector. He grew interested in politics following World War II and ran for Governor of Montana a couple times as a Democrat, then switched to the Republican Party and ran for the US Senate. By 1976 he aimed higher and began his first of three attempts for the US Presidency under a third party of his own creation called the Magneto-hydrodynamics-Puritan Epic-Prohibition Party (in a later election he squeezed the word "Ethic" into the name somewhere). Not a believer in accepting special interest monetary contributions, he campaigned across the nation as a passenger in a Greyhound bus and was financed by his Social Security checks.

Riddick had a focus on managed use of natural resources and changing the election laws by eliminating public funding for the two major parties and making it easier for third parties to gain ballot access: "They're just trying to keep things as they are instead of allowing a new party to come in. The whole thing is geared so a new party can't break through. The Constitution said if you don't like something, change it."

Riddick mentioned he would like to tie his new party somehow into the Prohibition Party, but the idea didn't seem to be followed by action.

Since Jimmy Carter's campaign gained a lot of attention from his Playboy interview, Riddick offered to be interviewed as well by the magazine but was turned down.

Riddick originally announced Lim Bow, an artist in Coos Bay, Oregon, as his running mate. But a week or two later he changed his mind apparently due to what one newspaper called "a disagreement on how to conduct the campaign arose." Riddick then told newspapers he now wanted famed motorcycle daredevil Richard C. "Evel" Knievel as his VP. Knievel's response, if any, has not been recorded. Riddick said finding a Vice-Presidential candidate for his party was difficult, "The minute I name a Vice-President, boy you should see them duck."

He later qualified his announcement about Knievel saying he didn't actually contact the stunt artist directly. It appeared he was hoping the news coverage itself would serve as a formal offer. By default Evel Knievel became the VP nominee for the remainder of the election season.

Like Knievel, Riddick himself had been a daredevil in his youth. He flew alongside Charles Lindbergh as part of a flying circus and perhaps admired Evel with the eye of a colleague.

In an event not related to the campaign, Knievel emerged from a short-lived retirement and motorcycle-jumped over seven Greyhound buses at the Seattle Kingdome in late October, 1976. Between Riddick's reliance on the bus to campaign, and Knievel's highly publicized Seattle stunt, you would think the Greyhound Company would have enjoyed all the free advertising from this obscure Presidential ticket.

Merrick ran for President again in 1980 (with a different running mate) and 1984 (apparently without a running mate). The day after the 1976 election he announced he was running in 1980. He was 89 years old during his final run for the presidency in 1984.

Election history: none

Other occupations: mining employee, entertainer, stunt daredevil, soldier (US Army), insurance salesman, motorcycle dealer, actor

Buried: Mountain View Cemetery (Butte, Mont.)

Notes:
Evel had a lot of Washington State connections including:
--Lived in Moses Lake and Sunnyside, Wash. in the 1960s.
--Among his long list of serious stunt-related injuries were two at Graham, Wash. in July and Aug. 1967.
--In the 1970s one of my neighbors (Jace Knievel, 1952-2017) in Olympia, Wash. claimed to be a close relative of Evel and said the family surname was pronounced "Nye-ville" as his was.