Perennial candidates in the United States

A perennial candidate is a political candidate who frequently runs for an elected office and rarely, if ever, wins. The term is the opposite of an incumbent politician who repeatedly defends their seats successfully.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

Generally speaking, candidates are considered perennial if they seek a specific elected office or general high office (such as president, governor, congressperson or mayor) more than three times without success.[1][2][3]

The United States, a representative democracy with low hurdles to running for elected office, has a long tradition of perennial candidates.

Notable American perennial presidential candidates
Candidate Current/final political party Home state Notable elections lost Notable results
Mark Callahan Republican  Oregon 2012 New Hampshire Republican presidential primary
2014 United States Senate election in Oregon
2016 United States Senate election in Oregon
2018 United States House of Representatives elections in Oregon		 Republican nominee, 2016 United States Senate election in Oregon
Republican nominee, Oregon's 5th congressional district
John H. Cox Republican  California 2008 Republican Party presidential primary
Illinois's 10th congressional district (2000)
2002 United States Senate election in Illinois
2018 California gubernatorial election		 Republican nominee, 2018 California gubernatorial election
Jacob Coxey Democratic  Ohio 1932 United States presidential election
U.S. Senate in Ohio
Governor of Ohio
Congressman from Ohio		 Mayor of Massillon, Ohio
Farmer–Labor Party nominee, 1932 United States presidential election
Eugene V. Debs Socialist  Indiana 5 presidential elections:
1900, 1904, 1908, 1912 and 1920		 Indiana State Senate (1885-1889)
6% of popular vote, 1912 United States presidential election
Rocky De La Fuente Reform  California 2016 presidential election
2017 New York City mayoral election
10 U.S. Senate elections since 2016
21st California congressional district, 2020		 Reform presidential nominee in 2016 and 2020
David Duke Republican  Louisiana 2 presidential (1988, 1992)
3 U.S. Senate (1990, 1996, 2016)
1 gubernatorial (1991)
U.S. House (1999)		 Louisiana House of Representatives (1989-1992)
Top Republican:
1990 United States Senate election in Louisiana
1991 Louisiana gubernatorial election
Jack Fellure Republican  West Virginia Every presidential campaign since 1988 2012 Prohibition Party presidential nominee
Howie Hawkins Green  New York 2006 United States Senate election in New York
New York's 25th congressional district (2008)
3 gubernatorial (2010, 2014, 2018)
2017 Syracuse mayoral election
 2020 Green Party presidential nominee
Alan Keyes Republican  Maryland 3 presidential (1996, 2000, 2008)
3 U.S. Senate (1988 and 1992 in Maryland, 2004 in Illinois)		 5% in 2000 Republican Party presidential primaries
3-time Republican nominee for U.S. Senate
Gloria La Riva Peace and Freedom  California Every presidential campaign since 1984
3 gubernatorial (1994, 1998, 2018)
1983 San Francisco mayoral election
California's 8th congressional district (2008)		 Peace and Freedom Party presidential nominee, 2016 and 2020
Lyndon LaRouche Democratic  New Hampshire Every presidential campaign between 1976 and 2004 Founder of the LaRouche movement
Andy Martin Republican  New Hampshire 4 presidential (1988, 2000, 2012, 2016)
7 U.S. senate (1978, 1980, 1998, 2000, 2008, 2010, 2014)
3 U.S. House (1986, 1992, 2018)
2 gubernatorial (1990, 2006)
1977 Chicago mayoral special election		 1996 Republican nominee for Florida State Senate, District 35
Ralph Nader Independent  Connecticut Every presidential campaign between 1992 and 2008 2.75% of popular vote, Ralph Nader 2000 presidential campaign
Pat Paulsen Independent  California Every presidential campaign between 1968 and 1996 1%, 1992 Republican Party presidential primaries
1%, 1996 New Hampshire Democratic presidential primary
Darcy Richardson Reform  Florida 2012 Democratic Party presidential primaries
1988 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania
2018 Florida gubernatorial election		 2020 Reform Vice Presidential nominee
Harold Stassen Republican  Minnesota Every Republican presidential primary between 1944 and 1996, except for 1956 and 1972
U.S. Senate (1978, 1994)
U.S. House (1986)
Governor of Minnesota (1982)
Governor of Pennsylvania (1958, 1966)
1959 Philadelphia mayoral election		 Governor of Minnesota (1939-1943)
Chair of the National Governors Association (1942-1943)
President of the University of Pennsylvania (1948-1953)
Director of the Mutual Security Agency (1953)
Director of the Foreign Operations Administration (1953-1955)
delegates at the 1944, 1948, 1952, 1964, 1968, and the 1992 Republican National Conventions
Jill Stein Green  Massachusetts 2012 and 2016 presidential campaigns
2 Gubernatorial (2002 and 2010)		 Member of the Lexington Town Meeting (2005-2010)
Green Party presidential nominee, 2012 and 2016
Vermin Supreme Libertarian  Massachusetts Every presidential campaign since 2004 2020 Libertarian National Convention, third place
Randall Terry Independent  West Virginia New York's 26th congressional district (1998)
Florida State Senate (2006)
2012 Democratic Party presidential primaries
Florida's 20th congressional district (2012)		 12.7% in Florida's 20th congressional district, 2012
Norman Thomas Socialist  New York 6 presidential runs between 1928 and 1948
1 gubernatorial in 1924
1 U.S. Senate in 1934
1929 New York City mayoral election		 6-time Socialist Party presidential nominee
John Wolfe Jr. Democratic  Tennessee 2012 Democratic Party presidential primaries
2016 Democratic Party presidential primaries
2018 United States Senate election in Tennessee
Tennessee's 3rd congressional district (1998, 2002, 2004, 2010)
Second place finisher, 2012 Democratic Party presidential primaries

Local, statewide and federal candidates

Eastern states

Central states
  • Gil Carmichael, one of the first Republicans to help develop a two-party system in Mississippi in the mid 20th century, ran unsuccessfully for the Mississippi State Senate in 1966 and 1967, the United States Senate in 1972, Governor of Mississippi in 1975 and 1979, and Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi in 1983.
  • Jacob Coxey best known for his 1894 March on Washington DC, Coxey ran 3 times for US Senate for Ohio, and twice as the People's Party nominee for Governor of Ohio in 1895 and 1897. Coxey also was the Mayor of Massilon, OH from 1931 to 1933 in addition to losing numerous congressional races.
  • Joe Exotic is a former zookeeper and convict, known for his G.W. Zoo and made especially famous by the documentary series Tiger King. He has run unsuccessfully for public office two times notably and three times in total. Exotic first ran for President of the United States in 2016 as an independent and then for Governor of Oklahoma in 2018 as a Libertarian. Exotic filed to run for the Libertarian nomination in 2020 before his gubernatorial run.
  • William G. Frazier, was elected to the Indiana State Senate in a special election in 1968. Following his time in the state senate, he ran unsuccessfully for Congress ten times. He was the Republican nominee for Congress in 1976, 1978, 1980, and 1992. He was an unsuccessful primary candidate in 1982, 1984, 1994, and 2012. He ran as an independent for Congress in 2000 and filed to run as a Republican in 2018 but withdrew due to his health.
  • Arthur J. Jones is a Neo-Nazi who unsuccessfully pursued the Republican nomination in Illinois' 3rd congressional district seven times since 1984 before winning the nomination unopposed in 2018, and then losing in the general election. His candidacy was strongly denounced by national and local party officials. Additionally, he has lost bids for Mayor of Milwaukee, Mayor of Chicago, and Chicago City Council.
  • Luther Devine Knox, a Louisiana Democrat, sought several Louisiana offices between 1963 and 1999, never winning, and only coming close once (his first election, losing to Lantz Womack by 18 votes). By the 1980s, Knox had legally changed his name to "none of the above" because of his desire for voters to have that option on their ballots.
  • James D. Martin, one of the first Republican politicians to make an electoral impact in the once solid-Democratic state of Alabama, ran for the U.S. Senate three times and governor of Alabama once in the 1960s and 1970s, and also unsuccessfully sought the office of state treasurer in 1994. By the time of Martin's 1978 Senate campaign, his opponent had already acknowledged him as the "Harold Stassen of Alabama."
  • Jim Oberweis, a dairy magnate, has run for office in Illinois multiple times. He lost in the Republican primaries for the U.S. Senate in 2002, 2004 and Governor in 2006, and was the unsuccessful Republican nominee for the special and regular elections in Illinois' 14th congressional district in 2008 and the U.S. Senate in 2014. However, he was elected to the Illinois Senate in 2012 and reelected in 2016.
  • Claude R. Porter unsuccessfully ran as a Democrat three times for Iowa governor and six times for U.S. senator.
  • Jim Rogers, an Oklahoma Democrat notorious for his secrecy and almost complete lack of campaigning, ran for the state's two U.S. Senate seats every election from 2002 to 2014, serving as the Democratic nominee in the 2010 U.S. Senate election. He died less than two weeks after his last race in 2012; Rogers also ran in the 2012 Oklahoma Democratic presidential primary, finishing in third place with 15% of the vote.
  • Spencer Zimmerman, Wisconsin Air Force Veteran, unsuccessfully ran for U.S. Senate in Nebraska, Wisconsin State Assembly, Wisconsin Secretary of State, U.S. Representative in the Wisconsin 1st District as a Trump conservative.

Western states
  • Ted Brown, a California Libertarian, has run for state and federal office 14 times in the last 30 years, never receiving more than 6% of the vote.
  • Mark Callahan has sought numerous offices under several different parties since 2009, including the Oregon House of Representatives, the United States House of Representatives, the United States Senate, several boards of education, and President of the United States. As of April 2020, his sole victories in a contested election was the Republican primary for the U.S. Senate from Oregon in 2016 and the Republican Primary for Oregon's Fourth Congressional District in 2018. He subsequently lost both general elections.
  • John Carroll served four terms in the Hawaii House of Representatives and one term in the Hawaii Senate, but also ran unsuccessfully for Governor of Hawaii in 2002, 2010, and 2018, for the United States House of Representatives in 1966 and 2002, and for the United States Senate in 2000, 2012, and 2016.
  • Campbell Cavasso served three terms in the Hawaii House of Representatives, but unsuccessfully ran for Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii in 2002, the United States Senate in 2004, 2010, and 2014, and for the United States House of Representatives in 2018.
  • Rocky De La Fuente has unsuccessfully run for President of the United States on multiple tickets, for senate in nine different states in the same election and for the Mayor of New York, and has never been elected to any office.
  • Goodspaceguy, who legally changed his name from Michael George Nelson, has run for local, state, and federal office in Washington state more than a dozen times.
  • Eddie Hamilton, a Nevada Republican, runs on an almost yearly basis. He has run for Nevada's 1st Congressional District in 2008,[15] Governor of Nevada in 2014,[16] Henderson City Council in 2011[17] and 2015, US Senate in 2006, 2010 (as a Democrat),[18] 2012 and 2016, Mayor of Henderson in 2013 and 2017.[19] Each time he runs, he uses a different nickname such as "Fast Eddie", "Mr. Clean" "In Liberty" and "Swamper".
  • Robert Kelleher unsuccessfully ran for public office 16 times on various party tickets, including a bid for the Presidency in 1976, four runs for Governor of Montana in 1980, 1984, 1992, and 1996, and three runs for Senator from Montana in 1988, 2002, and 2008.
  • Stan Lippman, a disbarred attorney and anti-vaccination activist, has unsuccessfully run for office more than eight times in the state of Washington.
  • Uncle Mover, known for many years as Mike The Mover, who was born Michael Shanks but legally changed his name twice, has run for public office in Washington state more than 17 times to help promote his furniture moving business.
  • Richard Pope, a Bellevue, Washington, attorney, has run for local and state office in Washington state a dozen times, though has yet to be elected.
  • Pro-Life, born Marvin Richardson, is an Idaho farmer who has run as an independent or as a Constitution Party candidate for the state House of Representatives, governor, and both houses of the United States Congress. He has expressed a commitment to continue running for public office until his death.
  • Rex Rammell unsuccessfully ran for the Republican nomination for the Idaho House of Representatives in 2002, 2004, and 2012, for Governor of Idaho in 2010 and for Representative from Wyoming in 2016. He also unsuccessfully ran as an independent for Senator from Idaho in 2008 and as the Constitution nominee for Governor of Wyoming in 2018.
  • Art Robinson unsuccessfully ran as a Republican for a U.S. House seat in Oregon in 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, and 2018.
  • Danny Tarkanian, a Republican businessman from Las Vegas and son of UNLV Basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian and Las Vegas City Councilwoman Lois Tarkanian. He has run for Nevada State Senate, Secretary of State, US Senate in 2010 and 2018, Nevada System of Higher Education and Nevada's 4th and 3rd districts in 2012 and 2016 respectively. He did not reside in either congressional district during his last two campaigns.
  • Glen H. Taylor, a Democrat known as "The Singing Cowboy," ran for Congress in Idaho seven times (1938, 1940, 1942, 1944, 1950, 1954 and 1956). His 1944 Senate run was his only successful campaign. Taylor was also the Progressive Party vice presidential nominee in 1948.

National
  • John H. Cox, a Republican talk radio host, has run for various positions in his home state of Illinois including U.S. Congress, U.S. Senate, and Cook County Recorder of Deeds, the latter in an attempt to eliminate the position; which he saw as unnecessary. Cox ran unsuccessfully for the 2008 Republican nomination for President of the United States. He was the Republican nominee in the 2018 California gubernatorial election after placing second in the nonpartisan blanket primary, losing the general election to Democrat Gavin Newsom.
  • Eugene V. Debs was a presidential candidate for the Social Democratic Party in 1900 and thereafter for the Socialist Party in four more elections: 1904, 1908, 1912, and 1920. In the 1920 election, while in federal prison for violating the Espionage Act of 1917 with a speech opposing the draft, he received 913,664 votes, the most ever for a Socialist Party presidential candidate.
  • Earl Dodge, a long-time activist in the temperance movement, was the Prohibition Party's presidential candidate in six consecutive elections, from 1984 to 2004. He was also that party's vice-presidential candidate in 1976 and 1980. He ran for Governor of Colorado on five occasions (1970, 1974, 1982, 1986, and 1994) as well. He also ran for senator of Kansas in 1966.
  • David Duke, American white supremacist, activist, antisemitic conspiracy theorist, Holocaust denier, a convicted felon, and former Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. A former Republican Louisiana State Representative, Duke was a candidate in the Democratic presidential primaries in 1988 and the Republican presidential primaries in 1992. Duke also ran unsuccessfully for the Louisiana State Senate, United States Senate, United States House of Representatives, and for Governor of Louisiana.
  • Jack Fellure ran for the Republican Party nomination in every presidential election from 1988 to 2016, and declared that he will run in 2020. In the 2012 campaign, he withdrew from the Republican nomination race, and become the presidential nominee of the Prohibition Party.
  • Howie Hawkins, co-founder of the Green Party, has run in over 20 elections since 1993, never winning.
  • Alan Keyes, former assistant secretary of state and conservative activist, ran for President of the United States in 1996, 2000, and 2008. He was the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate in Maryland against Paul Sarbanes in 1988 and Barbara Mikulski in 1992, as well as in Illinois against Barack Obama in 2004. Keyes lost all three elections by wide margins.
  • Gloria La Riva, a socialist activist, has run as either a presidential or vice-presidential candidate in every U.S. presidential election since 1984.
  • Lyndon LaRouche, a fringe political figure, ran for president of the United States in eight elections, beginning in 1976. He ran once as a U.S. Labor Party candidate and seven times as a Democrat. In 1992, he campaigned while in federal prison. Many of his followers have also run for office repeatedly, including Sheila Jones and Elliott Greenspan, both of whom made eight campaigns for a variety of offices.
  • Andy Martin (also known as Anthony Martin-Trigona), a journalist and self-described consumer advocate has run for several local, state and federal offices dating back to at least 1977, including two runs for president and six runs for Senate. He has run as a Democrat, a Republican, and as an independent.
  • Pat Paulsen, a comedian best known for his appearances on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, first ran for president in 1968 as both a joke and a protest. He ran again in 1972 and in succeeding elections until 1996, one year prior to his death.

More

References
  1. https://www.npr.org/2011/09/23/140701113/also-rans-what-drives-the-perennial-candidates>
  2. https://www.wral.com/is-incumbent-nc-insurance-commissioner-a-perennial-candidate/18846268/
  3. http://billmcgaughey.com/perennialcandidate.html
  4. Fuller, Jaime (August 26, 2014). "Where can you run for two offices at once? Vermont, of course". The Washington Post.
  5. Fernandez, Manny (November 23, 2012). "With Stickers, a Petition and Even a Middle Name, Secession Fever Hits Texas". New York Times.
  6. "Mike Schaefer, 80, running for office again". May 3, 2018. Archived from the original on March 20, 2020. Retrieved March 20, 2020.
  7. Eaklor, Vicki L. (2008). Queer America: A GLBT History of the 20th Century. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press. p. 212. ISBN 0-313-33749-7. Retrieved 2010-10-20. The nineties also saw the first openly transgender person in a state office, Althea Garrison, elected in 1992 but serving only one term in Massachusetts' House.
  8. Haider-Markel, Donald P. (2010). Out and Running: Gay and Lesbian Candidates, Elections, and Policy Representation. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press. p. 86. ISBN 1-58901-699-8. Retrieved 2010-10-20.
  9. Long, Tom (January 7, 1995). "Robert Hagopian, ran for office about 20 times in Hamilton; at 83". Boston Globe.
  10. Langner, Paul (September 29, 1974). "Hagopian says he'll fight move by Saugus selectmen to fire him". Boston Globe.
  11. McKinley, Jesse (19 October 2018). "0-for-23: An Undeterred Green Party Candidate on His Long Losing Streak". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  12. https://www.nytimes.com/1989/03/21/obituaries/george-mahoney-87-maryland-candidate.html
  13. "Basil Marceaux biography". Knoxville News Sentinel. 2010-07-10. Retrieved 2010-07-28.
  14. Sher, Andy (2010-07-29). "Web hit: Marceaux goes viral with views". Chattanooga Times Free Press. Retrieved 2010-07-29.
  15. "Nevada Secretary of State: Elections Results: 2008 Statewide General Election Coverage and Reports". www.nvsos.gov. Retrieved 2017-05-21.
  16. "Nevada Secretary of State: Elections Results: 2014 Statewide Primary Election Coverage and Reports". www.nvsos.gov. Retrieved 2017-05-21.
  17. "Nevada Secretary of State: Elections Results: 2011 Municipal Primary Election Coverage and Reports". www.nvsos.gov. Retrieved 2017-05-21.
  18. "2010 Unofficial Statewide Primary Election Coverage and Reports". www.nvsos.gov. Retrieved 2017-05-21.
  19. "Nevada Secretary of State: Elections Results: City of Las Vegas". nvsos.gov. Retrieved 2017-05-21.
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