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.

Floyd Cottner Parker Jr.

Floyd Cottner Parker Jr., June 10, 1933 (Raton, NM) - July 11, 2017 (Bernalillo, NM)

VP candidate for Populist Party (aka Independent aka Patriotic Party of Iowa aka Independent Populist Party aka Christian Populist Party aka Populist Party of America) (1988)

Running mate with nominee: David Duke (b. 1950)
Popular vote: 47,004 (0.05%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

David Duke-- Holocaust denier, KKK member, neo-Nazi, anti-Semite, plastic surgery client, and later a convicted felon for fraud who did hard time-- sought the Democratic nomination for US President in 1988. When that fizzled, he accepted the Presidential nomination of the Populist Party.

The FEC Advisory Opinion 1988-45 neatly sums up the short version of the Populist Party nomination process for the 1988 election: "The party nominated George Hansen and Hubert Patty for President and Vice President respectively in September, 1987, and determined that if a vacancy occurred for either candidacy, the Executive Committee of the party would have the right to nominate a candidate. Two months later, Mr. Hansen turned down the nomination and the Executive Committee withdrew the names of Hansen and Patty. In March, 1988, the convention nominated David Duke for President and Bo Gritz for Vice President. Shortly there after, Gritz withdrew his name and the Executive Committee nominated Floyd Parker."

Bo Gritz later gave a newspaper his version of the nomination: "I was invited by the Populist Party in 1988 to share my POW experiences. I accepted the paid invitation to speak. Following my talk, I was told they planned to run James Traficant [D-Ohio] as their presidential candidate. I knew and respected Traficant. They asked me to be his running mate. After lunching with Traficant, I consented. My name was instantly accepted by the delegates. It wasn't until the next day that they rejected Traficant in favor of David Duke, whom I did not know."

"I immediately informed the leadership of my withdrawal, but was urged to first meet with Duke. Photos were taken and we spoke briefly. I found Duke to be a brash, untraveled, overly opinionated, bigoted young man and resigned as a non-member candidate. Duke was furnished with another running mate who appeared on the voting ballot with him."

In addition to Dr. Floyd C. Parker of Farmington, NM, many sources mention Trenton Stokes of Arkansas as a second running-mate on other state ballots but the states are never specifically named. I found no evidence to support the claims that Stokes was actually a VP nominee in any state.

The Duke/Parker ticket billed the Populist Party as "The fast-growing party of the middle class." Their platform included: restricting immigration, abolishing Affirmative Action, enforcing family planning on welfare recipients (eugenics?), death penalty for drug dealers-murderers-and-rapists, repealing the income tax, creating high tariffs, abolishing the Federal Reserve System, reject the ERA, opposition to Gay rights, and reduce foreign aid.

Duke did not garner a lot of press coverage and if Parker campaigned at all I could find no record of such activity. They were on the ballot or were certified write-ins in a combined 18 states. Their strongest finish percentages were: Louisiana (Independent Populist) 1.14%, Arkansas (Christian Populist) 0.62%, Mississippi (Independent) 0.45%, and Kentucky (Populist) 0.34%. They placed third in all four of these states. The remaining states had much lower results.

Duke joined the Republican Party in December 1988.

Election history: none.

Other occupations: US Air Force, physician, sheep farming, racehorse owner, Board Chair of San Juan National Bank in Farmington NM, oil and gas business, member of the John Birch Society, County Medical Examiner

Buried: Tucumcari Memorial Park (Tucumcari, NM)

Notes:
Played the saxophone
As a side note, Hansen, Traficant, and Duke were all imprisoned felons at some time in their careers.

Maureen Smith

Maureen Smith, b. ca1942

VP candidate for Independent (1988)

Running mate with nominee: Eugene McCarthy (1916-2005)
Popular vote: 234 (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

The Pennsylvania-based Consumer Party had been around since the late 1960s as a statewide organization. In 1984 they endorsed the Citizens Party but in 1988 they were ready to try a national run with a goal of obtaining ballot status in over half the states. It didn't work out that way.

In 1988 they approached Eugene McCarthy, now 72, and asked him to be their standard bearer. It isn't clear if there was truly an official running-mate (McCarthy always had disdain for the office of Vice-President anyway and felt it should be eliminated), but it would appear Harlem legendary consumer advocate Florence M. Rice was the closest to being the choice of the Consumer Party.

The former liberal icon had changed quite a bit since his independent 1976 run for President. In 1980 he endorsed Ronald Reagan and later had some kind of financial connection with Right-wing cult leader Sun Myung Moon and his Unification Church.  

It was clear McCarthy viewed the nomination as an opportunity rather than a cause. He voiced a hope of broadening the campaign and going beyond Consumer Party in an interview with the Chicago Tribune: "I'd just as soon have a new name. It's like the Know-Nothings and the Barn Burners. I'm hopeful some other groups will come in. We've had some calls from the National Unity people-they're a sort of a (John) Anderson organization. And maybe some independent parties from around the country. I don't know about the Socialists and Vegetarians. The Peace and Freedom people might come in. I don't think they have a candidate. They're a pretty wild bunch."

In the 1988 election the Peace and Freedom Party "wild bunch" seemed 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. There had been talk of officially making McCarthy the PFP choice and it seems some negotiating did take place but consensus was never attained.

Old time Trotskyite and retired machinist Herb Lewin of Pennsylvania acted as if he was the PFP nominee anyway. However in California there was no PFP candidate on the ballot. McCarthy had sort of a backhanded endorsement when PFP Chair Maureen Smith became his running-mate in the Golden State. Unfortunately for them, they had to settle for being certified write-ins.

McCarthy proposed shortening the work week, curtailing or eliminating the FEC, raising tariffs, and creating a national sales tax on "wasteful, socially undesirable consumption, not just of cigarettes and liquor, but also of oversized, overpowered and overfueled automobiles." 

McCarthy's quotes from the campaign:

There is no real choice between Democrats and Republicans. If any new direction is to come, it must come through an independent party, the Consumer Party, and I have willingly offered myself to lead it.

I don't expect to lose. Sure I've lost before, but I didn't feel I wasted my time, and I expect to have a significant impact.

There are two kinds of people who don't make good presidents-- vice presidents and governors.

We are being controlled, and conditioned, over-advertised, dominated by corporate power, by the media. You watch the evening news, where you are supposed to be getting your information. They give you 35 seconds of news and then they give you relief for hemmorhoids. We spend more on advertising than we do on education.

Responsible political participants should challenge absolutely the concepts and historical judgments now used to justify militancy and the arms buildup.

The perception that American politics should be conducted within the framework of only two parties is a misconception. It's against what the Founding Fathers intended.

When the media did cover McCarthy, which was not often, they spent most of their time treating him as the new Harold Stassen and a relic as they used more ink on his history than on his current platform. Many editorialists were not kind.

McCarthy was on the ballot in four states and a certified write-in for Arizona (apparently no VP with him there) and California. In total he had three running-mates and nationally earned 30,905 votes, placing sixth. The McCarthy/Smith ticket earned 234 write-in votes in California.

Election history:
1980 - US President (Peace and Freedom Party) - defeated
1986 - Treasurer of California (Peace and Freedom Party) - defeated
1992 - US House of Representatives (Calif.) (Peace and Freedom Party) - defeated

Other occupations: Peace and Freedom Party chair, clerical worker, Santa Clara County Transportation Agency

Notes:
Winner of the 1992 race was Leon Panetta.

Alpha Sunde Smaby

Alpha Sunde Smaby, February 11, 1910 (Sacred Heart, Minn.) – July 18, 1991 (Saint Paul, Minn.)

VP candidate for Minnesota Progressives (aka MN Progressives) (1988)

Running mate with nominee: Eugene McCarthy (1916-2005)
Popular vote: 5,403 (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

The Pennsylvania-based Consumer Party had been around since the late 1960s as a statewide organization. In 1984 they endorsed the Citizens Party but in 1988 they were ready to try a national run with a goal of obtaining ballot status in over half the states. It didn't work out that way.

In 1988 they approached Eugene McCarthy, now 72, and asked him to be their standard bearer. It isn't clear if there was truly an official running-mate (McCarthy always had disdain for the office of Vice-President anyway and felt it should be eliminated), but it would appear Harlem legendary consumer advocate Florence M. Rice was the closest to being the choice of the Consumer Party.

The former liberal icon had changed quite a bit since his independent 1976 run for President. In 1980 he endorsed Ronald Reagan and later had some kind of financial connection with Right-wing cult leader Sun Myung Moon and his Unification Church.  

It was clear McCarthy viewed the nomination as an opportunity rather than a cause. He voiced a hope of broadening the campaign and going beyond Consumer Party in an interview with the Chicago Tribune: "I'd just as soon have a new name. It's like the Know-Nothings and the Barn Burners. I'm hopeful some other groups will come in. We've had some calls from the National Unity people-they're a sort of a (John) Anderson organization. And maybe some independent parties from around the country. I don't know about the Socialists and Vegetarians. The Peace and Freedom people might come in. I don't think they have a candidate. They're a pretty wild bunch."

McCarthy proposed shortening the work week, curtailing or eliminating the FEC, raising tariffs, and creating a national sales tax on "wasteful, socially undesirable consumption, not just of cigarettes and liquor, but also of oversized, overpowered and overfueled automobiles." 

McCarthy's quotes from the campaign:

There is no real choice between Democrats and Republicans. If any new direction is to come, it must come through an independent party, the Consumer Party, and I have willingly offered myself to lead it.

I don't expect to lose. Sure I've lost before, but I didn't feel I wasted my time, and I expect to have a significant impact.

There are two kinds of people who don't make good presidents-- vice presidents and governors.

We are being controlled, and conditioned, over-advertised, dominated by corporate power, by the media. You watch the evening news, where you are supposed to be getting your information. They give you 35 seconds of news and then they give you relief for hemmorhoids. We spend more on advertising than we do on education.

Responsible political participants should challenge absolutely the concepts and historical judgments now used to justify militancy and the arms buildup.

The perception that American politics should be conducted within the framework of only two parties is a misconception. It's against what the Founding Fathers intended.

McCarthy's running-mate in his home state of Minnesota was Alpha Sunde Smaby, age 78, a former DFL member of the State House and 1968 McCarthy delegate. By 1988, according to the St. Paul Pioneer Press, "She is no longer a Democrat. After numerous trips to observe the workings of governments in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, she is more comfortable labeling herself a socialist."

In early 1988 Smaby's book Political Upheaval : Minnesota and the Vietnam War Protest had just been released. The McCarthy/Smaby team ran under the Minnesota Progressives label.

When the media did cover McCarthy, which was not often, they spent most of their time treating him as the new Harold Stassen and a relic as they used more ink on his history than on his current platform. Many editorialists were not kind.

McCarthy was on the ballot in four states and a certified write-in for Arizona (apparently no VP with him there) and California. In total he had three running-mates and nationally earned 30,905 votes, placing sixth. The McCarthy/Smaby ticket placed third in Minnesota, the only state where they were on the ballot, with 0.26% of the vote there.

In the event they had won, Smaby would have died in office in 1991.

Election history:
1965-1968 - Minnesota State House of Representatives (Nonpartisan / Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party)
1968 - Minnesota State House of Representatives (Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party) - defeated
1969 - Minneapolis City Council (Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party) - defeated

Other occupations: teacher, Minnesota Governor's Commission on Status of Women, author

Buried: West Grace Cemetery (Peterson, Minn.)

Notes:
Supported McGovern in 1972.

Florence M. Rice

Florence M. Rice, March 22, 1919 (Buffalo, NY) -

VP candidate for Consumer Party (aka Independent) (1988)

Running mate with nominee: Eugene McCarthy (1916-2005)
Popular vote: 25,091 (0.03%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

The Pennsylvania-based Consumer Party had been around since the late 1960s as a statewide organization. In 1984 they endorsed the Citizens Party but in 1988 they were ready to try a national run with a goal of obtaining ballot status in over half the states. It didn't work out that way.

In 1988 they approached Eugene McCarthy, now 72, and asked him to be their standard bearer. It isn't clear if there was truly an official running-mate (McCarthy always had disdain for the office of Vice-President anyway and felt it should be eliminated), but it would appear Harlem legendary consumer advocate Florence M. Rice was the closest to being the choice of the Consumer Party.

The former liberal icon had changed quite a bit since his independent 1976 run for President. In 1980 he endorsed Ronald Reagan and later had some kind of financial connection with Right-wing cult leader Sun Myung Moon and his Unification Church.  

It was apparent McCarthy viewed the nomination as an opportunity rather than a cause. He voiced a hope of broadening the campaign and going beyond the Consumer Party in an interview with the Chicago Tribune: "I'd just as soon have a new name. It's like the Know-Nothings and the Barn Burners. I'm hopeful some other groups will come in. We've had some calls from the National Unity people-they're a sort of a (John) Anderson organization. And maybe some independent parties from around the country. I don't know about the Socialists and Vegetarians. The Peace and Freedom people might come in. I don't think they have a candidate. They're a pretty wild bunch."

McCarthy proposed shortening the work week, curtailing or eliminating the FEC, raising tariffs, and creating a national sales tax on "wasteful, socially undesirable consumption, not just of cigarettes and liquor, but also of oversized, overpowered and overfueled automobiles." 

McCarthy's quotes from the campaign:

There is no real choice between Democrats and Republicans. If any new direction is to come, it must come through an independent party, the Consumer Party, and I have willingly offered myself to lead it.

I don't expect to lose. Sure I've lost before, but I didn't feel I wasted my time, and I expect to have a significant impact.

There are two kinds of people who don't make good presidents-- vice presidents and governors.

We are being controlled, and conditioned, over-advertised, dominated by corporate power, by the media. You watch the evening news, where you are supposed to be getting your information. They give you 35 seconds of news and then they give you relief for hemmorhoids. We spend more on advertising than we do on education.

Responsible political participants should challenge absolutely the concepts and historical judgments now used to justify militancy and the arms buildup.

The perception that American politics should be conducted within the framework of only two parties is a misconception. It's against what the Founding Fathers intended.

On July 22, 1988 the Detroit Free Press mentioned McCarthy's running-mate in Michigan was Gray Panthers founder Maggie Kuhn (1905-1995). Kuhn had previously turned down an offer to run as VP for the People's Party in 1976 and was one of the co-founders of the Citizens Party in 1979. The backstory is not clear, but McCarthy had to go to court to have Kuhn's name replaced by that of Rice on the Michigan ballot.

Neither McCarthy or Rice seemed to have waged a high profile energetic campaign, with McCarthy seeming more disengaged than ever. I could not find a source to confirm McCarthy and Rice even met during the 1988 election season. When the media did cover McCarthy, which was not often, they spent most of their time treating him as the new Harold Stassen and a relic as they used more ink on his history than on his current platform. Several editorialists were not kind.

McCarthy was on the ballot in four states and a certified write-in for Arizona (apparently no VP with him there) and California. In total he had three running-mates and nationally earned 30,905 votes, placing sixth. The McCarthy/Rice ticket won 25,091 votes in three states: Pennsylvania 0.42% (they finished in third place there), New Jersey 0.11%, and Michigan 0.07%.

Rice's status as a third party VP ranks rather low on her long list of community-based and consumer activist accomplishments. As of this writing she remains a public figure about to turn age 101.

Election history: none

Other occupations: laundry worker, domestic seamstress, furniture store credit clerk, founder of the Harlem Consumer Education Council, pro-choice activist, teacher, elder abuse activist

Notes:
Parents immigrated from the West Indes
First third party VP I am aware of to live to 100.

Charles J. Morsa

Charles J. Morsa, January, 1936 - October 21, 2015

VP candidate for American Independent Party (1988)

Running mate with nominee: James C. Griffin (b. ca1937)
Popular vote: 27,818 (0.03%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

In 1988 the American Independent Party primary voters in California selected Jim Griffin, a truck driver from Mira Loma for President. Griffin had defeated James "Bo" Gritz in the primary by a decisive margin. At this point in history the AIP was pretty much limited to California.

At the convention in Aug. 1988 Griffin was narrowly nominated over competitor Charles Morsa, a realtor from Thousand Oaks, Calif., who was subsequently selected as his running-mate. Being from the same state would have proven to have been a Constitutional problem in the event they had won, but since they were only on the ballot in California the chances of that happening were less than zero.

The 1988 AIP platform, which had some surprising Left-leaning planks, included: Repeal of the personal income tax -- High tariffs -- End foreign aid -- Social Security should be strengthened -- Halt illegal immigration -- Protect family farms from bank foreclosures -- Full benefits for veterans -- Local control of public schools as opposed to federal -- Elect all judges -- Stay out of foreign wars -- Abolish the Federal Reserve -- Anti-abortion -- Pro-gun -- US withdraw from the UN.

Griffin campaigned mostly at truck stops and coffee shops, usually arriving in his semi-truck. His favorite crowd-pleasing line was, "The new IRS slogan is: 'We've got what it takes to take what you've got.'"

None of the third parties running in California were spoilers as Bush won over 51%. The AIP placed 5th out of five on the ballot, garnering 0.28% of the popular vote in the Golden State. 1988 would be the last Presidential election (so far) where the California AIP ran "home-grown" nominees who were not affiliated with another party.

Election history:
1986 - Ventura County (Calif.) Board of Supervisors - defeated
1988 - American Independent Party nomination for US President - defeated
1990 - Governor of California (American Independent Party) - primary - defeated

Other occupations: realtor

Buried: ?

Notes:
Ran in the 1986 race as a write-in

Debra Hanania Freeman

 Freeman and LaRouche 2010

Debra Hanania Freeman, b. ca1953 (New York, NY) -

VP candidate for National Economic Recovery (aka Independent aka Democrats for Economic Recovery aka Hawaiians for National Economic Recovery) (1988)

Running mate with nominee: Lyndon LaRouche (1922–2019)
Popular vote: 25,562 (0.03%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

As usual, Lyndon LaRouche began the Presidential campaign by running in the Democratic Party primaries. But by August he was filing in various states under various party names. His running mate was longtime LaRouche loyalist and employee Debra Freeman of Maryland.

Also as usual LaRouche's political message contained dire warnings about catastrophic economic disaster waiting just around the corner. He wanted to colonize Mars by 2027 and transform the Federal Reserve System to serve as a "Hamiltonian National Bank." The Washington State Voters Pamphlet entry for LaRouche modestly said, "History will say that Lyndon LaRouche was the greatest economist of the twentieth century ..."

His complicated conspiracy theories, which were numerous, were probably ramped up by the raids and arrests starting in 1986 by law enforcement directed toward his organization regarding charges of mail fraud, credit card fraud, obstruction of justice, conspiracy, and tax fraud.

At one point in the campaign Democrat Bob Kerrey who was running for the US Senate in Nebraska brought up the historical connection between LaRouche and New Alliance Party founder Fred Newman. LaRouche and Newman did indeed work together in the 1970s but supposedly officially parted company, yet some critics had their doubts they really severed connections. VP nominee Freeman was forced to make a public statement, "There certainly is no connection, nor was there ever any connection, between LaRouche and the New Alliance Party."

There must not have been a lot of time for traditional campaigning for LaRouche in 1988. News coverage of his actual Right-wing, pro-nuclear power, anti-Deep State platform was overshadowed by his legal struggles and occasional personal smears against other candidates. By the end of the year he was convicted of numerous offenses and then sentenced to 15 years in federal prison starting in Jan. 1989. 13 of his associates were also convicted and sentenced. Naturally the LaRouche followers considered these people to be political prisoners. Other observers considered LaRouche to be a con artist and cult leader.

The LaRouche/Freeman ticket was on the ballot in 13 states + DC. In Iowa they placed third. Their strongest showings: Alaska 0.41%, North Dakota 0.30%, Iowa 0.29%, Washington 0.24%, Ohio 0.18%.

In the event they had won the election, LaRouche's incarceration would not have prevented him from taking office and he probably would have pardoned himself if that was possible.

Freeman remains active with the LaRouche organization to the present day.

Election history:
1978 - US House of Representatives (Md.) (US Labor Party) - defeated
1982 - US House of Representatives (Md.) (Democratic) - primary - defeated
1983 - Baltimore (Md.) City Council President (Democratic) - primary - defeated
1984 - US House of Representatives (Md.) (Democratic) - primary - defeated
1986 - US Senate (Md.) (Democratic) - primary - defeated

Other occupations: various executive offices in the LaRouche organization

Notes:
Moved to Baltimore ca1974.
Masters in English from Columbia, Ph.D. in Public Health from Johns Hopkins.
Her husband Larry Freeman was running for Governor of Maryland at the same time she was running
 for the US Senate in 1986.
After her 8-1 loss in 1978 she charged voter fraud and began setting up her transition team preparing
 to take office even as her legal challenges were denied. She wrote in a LaRouche publication:
 "January 15, 1979 will indeed be a very joyous day. On that day, I will become the first U.S. Labor
 Party member ever to take a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. And, on that day, the citizens
 of the 7th Congressional District of Maryland will finally be freed from eight years of brutal,
 terrorizing rule by the cult of bestiality headed by lame duck Congressman Parren J. Mitchell." Her
 case went all the way to the US House.

Joan Elizabeth Andrews

Joan Elizabeth Andrews, 1948 (Lewisburg, Tenn.) -

VP candidate for Right to Life Party (aka New York Right to Life Party) (1988)

Running mate with nominee: William A. Marra (1928-1998)
Popular vote: 20,504 (0.02%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

After they first appeared in a national race in 1980, the Right to Life Party decided not to present a candidate or endorse anyone else for President in 1984. As a result, 1988 would be their second race in a Presidential election.

The RTL Presidential nominee was William A. Marra, a professor of philosophy and lecturer who opposed abortion, atheism, and sex education. Dedicated to bringing principles of the Catholic faith as he understood them into the political realm, Marra anticipated the later American Solidarity Party. He initially ran in the primaries of both major parties, eventually moving on to the third party option.

Marra began his RTL campaign by participating in a protest march in Tallahassee, Fla. in support of his running-mate, who he said was "among the greatest living Americans."

Joan Andrews of Newark, Del. was already something of a legend in the RTL in her role as a perennial lawbreaker and frequent jail/prison inmate before she was tapped as the VP in Aug. 1988. When she was nominated Andrews was serving hard time in a Florida prison for acts of civil disobedience while protesting abortion. The Florida Governor commuted her sentence in Oct. 1988. Andrews joined the small historical subset of incarcerated candidates running for public office from jail or prison.

From Florida she was sent to Pennsylvania to face a judge for some unfinished business there. She was given three years probation on the condition that she refrain from further protests, but Judge Novak remarked, "I suspect we will meet each other again." He was right.

In the limited time Marra and Andrews had to campaign together they visited the Human Life International Conference-- in Toronto! Although Andrews had been covered quite generously by the media in 1988, there was hardly any mention that she was also a Vice-Presidential candidate.

Only on the ballot in the State of New York, the Marra/Andrews team finished with an impressive third place in the Empire State with 0.32% of the vote.

1988 was the final time the Right to Life Party ran their own candidates for President in the 20th century. In 1992 they endorsed the Republican Bush/Quayle ticket, in 1996 the U.S. Taxpayers Party Phillips/Titus ticket, and in 2000 the Reform Party Buchanan/Foster ticket.

Andrews would continue to be arrested and jailed countless times for public protests regarding abortion or, in at least one or two cases, a satanic "black mass."

Election history: none.

Other occupations: author, lecturer, anti-abortion activist, co-manager Good Counsel Homes for unwed mothers

Notes:
Married in 1991 and became Joan Andrews Bell.
Grew up on a farm in Tennessee.

Barry Markham Porster

 Barry Porster, 1969

Barry Markham Porster, July 7, 1947-

VP candidate for Workers League (aka Independent) (1988)

Running mate with nominee: Edward Winn (1937-1995)
Popular vote: 18,693 (0.02%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

In their second national election, the Workers League once again nominated Edward Winn for President. The VP slot was filled by Barry Porster of Hamtramck, Mich.

The 1988 Workers League campaign told the media their election program boiled down to three main points:

1. The international unity of the working class in common struggle against capitalism.

2. The building of an independent Labor Party, based on the unions, to fight for a workers' government.

3. The need for a socialist program to abolish the profit system.

In a campaign statement the League lumped both major parties together: "In the 1988 presidential elections, workers are confronted with two matched sets of millionaire politicians. Wrapping themselves in the American flag, both the Democrats and the Republicans are standing on the same anti-labor program of budget cuts, mass unemployment, union busting and national chauvinism."

Porster elaborated on that: "The election process under the capitalist system is basically a fraud. The growing disgust and hatred of workers and students for both parties is being shown in their refusal to vote. The conditions are maturing rapidly for the development of a third party."

The Workers League platform included:

Nationalize basic industry and the banks under workers' control and without compensation to the capitalists, and establish a planned socialist economy to put an end to unemployment.

Immediately establish a 30-hour work week at 40 hours pay to create jobs at union wages for every worker.

Launch a massive multibillion dollar program of public works to put millions to work building new housing, hospitals and schools.

Reopen the closed plants, placing them under full workers' control and ownership.

Restore immediately all social benefits lost by workers.

Pay unemployment benefits at a level necessary to maintain a decent standard of living for laid-off workers and their dependents.

Establish free medical care for all at state expense.

Wipe out illiteracy by boosting spending for the construction of new schools and hiring of teachers. Free higher education for all.

Establish free and comprehensive day care facilities for the children of all working.

Pay a living wage to all retired workers.

Defend the unions. Rehire the PATCO air traffic controllers and all other workers who have lost their jobs, been imprisoned or victimized due to union busting.

Oppose all imperialist war plans and defend all oppressed nations. Defend the gains of the Russian Revolution as well as the reformed workers' states of Eastern Europe, China, North Korea and Southeast Asia against imperialism. Full support to the working class of the Soviet Union, Poland, China and all other workers` states in the struggle to overthrow the parasitic Stalinist bureaucracies through the political revolution.

1988 would be the high point in terms of popular votes for this Trotskyite party, even after they changed their name in the mid-1990s to the Socialist Equality Party. The Winn/Porster ticket was on the ballot in 8 states + DC and placed dead last in five of those. Their strongest showings were: Illinois 0.15%, Ohio 0.12%, and District of Columbia 0.11%.

Election history: none.

Other occupations: Workers League Central Committee, author, Workers League Presidential Elector (Mich.) 1992, labor editor of The Bulletin (the party newspaper)

Notes:
Graduated from Wesleyan University in Connecticut, 1969
Joined the Workers League in 1971
Several sources, including the overrated Wikipedia, erroneously report that Helen Halyard, the 1984
 running mate, was also the 1988 VP. Like Porster, Halyard was a resident of Hamtramck, Mich. at
 the time she ran in 1984 and had joined the Workers League in 1971 as well.

Kathleen A. Mickells

Kathleen A. Mickells, July 6, 1950 (Omaha, Neb.) -

VP candidate for Socialist Workers Party (aka Independent) (1988)

Running mate with nominee: James Warren (b ca1952)
Popular vote: 15,602 (0.02%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

The good news for the Socialist Workers Party in 1988 was the impression that their long period of turmoil, purges and splinter groups breaking away appeared to have come to an end for the time being. The bad news was that the Party was now a mere shadow of it's former self and a Phoenix-like rise was not going to be a reality in the near future. In the opinion of several observers, Castroism had solidly replaced Trotskyism in the SWP.

In March 1988 the SWP nominated James Warren for President and Kathy Mickells (pronounced "Michaels") for VP. It was a young ticket with both being under the age of 40 but in an unusual twist for third parties on the Left, both were also old enough to legally serve in office if elected.

Mickells had recently been laid off from her job with Steel Mining Corporation's Cumberland Mine in Kirby, Penn. Earlier in her political activity she had been involved with the American Indian Movement and their occupation of Wounded Knee. Later she was an anti-nuclear power protester.

The three man points of the SWP's 1988 campaign were: Shorten the work week to 30 hours with no cut in pay -- Increase Affirmative Action programs -- Cancel the Third World debt. Both candidates were energetic in their electioneering, criss-crossing the country and making their case, usually hammering on employment. The amount of national media coverage they received was not exactly copious but local newspapers seemed to be relatively more willing to cover the SWP candidates when they came to town.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson's impact on the presidential election as a contender in the Democratic primaries was addressed by nearly every third party on the Left, ranging from total support to utter disdain. Warren was sometimes called by the press "the other Black candidate." Mickells gave the SWP perspective on Jackson's effort: "As he put himself forward as the viable candidate, his policies have bent as opposed to really reflecting what working people are looking for ... [the Democrats and Republicans] are two sides of the same coin. They are parties of the ruling rich. Their program is to defend big business, big bankers and big landowners against working people. And that will be the position Jackson will find himself in."

Mickells had predicted that an economic collapse on par with the Great Depression would happen in the United States within the next couple years.

On the ballot in 15 states + DC, it was not a stellar year for the SWP in terms of popular votes. In 6 of those states they placed dead last. The best showings for Warren/Mickells: North Dakota and Wisconsin 0.12% each, Minnesota 0.10%, New Jersey-New Mexico-South Dakota-Washington 0.07% each. 

Election history:
1983 - Washington County Commission (Penn.) (Socialist Workers Party) - defeated
1985 - US House of Representatives (W. Va.) (Socialist Workers Party) - defeated
1990 - Governor of Pennsylvania (Socialist Workers Party) - defeated
1991 - Mayor of Philadelphia, Penn. (Socialist Workers Party) - defeated

Other occupations:  oil refinery worker, coal miner, garment worker, teacher, member of a political theater troupe, railroad switchperson

Notes:
She ran in the 1985 and 1990 races as a write-in.
Was married to Douglas Hord, but used her birth name.

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.

Kenneth Earl Jeppson

Kenneth Earl Jeppson, December 12, 1928 (Utah) -

VP candidate for American Party (1988)

Running mate with nominee: Delmar Dennis (1940-1996)
Popular vote: 3,474 (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

The American Party once again selected Delmer Dennis as their Presidential nominee at their June 1987 convention. Former Republican Congressman George Hansen of Idaho was also a contender but his connection the Republican and Populist parties was a minus. Dennis professed to not wanting the nomination and said he would step aside if Hansen renounced his allegiance to other political parties. The Populists had also absorbed a large chunk of the hated rival American Independent Party. In addition there was the small problem of Hansen being in prison for numerous ethics and financial crimes but that didn't seem to bother the American Party.

The running-mate was Earl Jeppson from Utah who had been in a leadership position in the Party since the 1970s. Compared to past American Party campaigns this one was very low-key. The Reagan administration had managed to co-opt many aspects of the American Party's Right-wing agenda, eating into the third party's base.

In Utah the Dennis/Jeppson ticket placed 4th out of 9 with 0.33%, and Minnesota they placed 10th out of 11 with 0.06%. Jeppson had spent time campaigning in Wyoming but the American Party did not make the Presidential ballot in that state.

"We were only on ballots in Utah and Minnesota, I think," Jeppson said after the election. "We just didn't have much money to do any campaigning. That hurt, as did the lack of cooperation from the media to give us any coverage at all. I'm not throwing stones at the media, though. I guess if we had given them some news, they would have printed it."

Election history: none

Other occupations: American Party National Executive Director, heating and air conditioning business, inorganic chemist, real estate agent

Notes:
Mormon
"God loves this country, and God is behind the American Party, and to that I can testify"--Earl Jeppson, 1976
"If you want to know what's wrong with America, go to Washington, because that's where it's at. If anybody wants to know what's right about America, they ought to come to Utah."--Earl Jeppson, 1976
"Our intention is to build on the Constitution. Not as it is known today, but as it was framed by our founding fathers ... a divinely inspired document given to us."--Earl Jeppson, 1976