Emil Matalik for President

Wisconsin farmer Emil Matalik (1929-2008) first ran for president in 1964 but didn't get any votes. Undeterred, he kept running again and again.

His primary objective was to replace all national governments with a single world government, but he had some more bizarre proposals such as replacing all cars with bicycles "to keep the world accident rate down... and to get people out of corrupt city life and back to farm life."

He also wanted to solve the world's water shortage through birth control. His reasoning was that people are mostly water. So if there's fewer people, there'll be more water. He suggested that spanking to orgasm was a good form of birth control.

Bismarck Tribune - Mar 31, 1970

Some more details about him from the Fortean Times (May 2016):







One of his campaign flyers from the mid-1980s:

source: Kooks, by Donna Kossy

Posted By: Alex - Tue Nov 05, 2024 - Comments (3)
Category: Strange Candidates

The Synthetic Party

Over in Denmark, an AI chatbot called Leader Lars is a candidate in the country's November general election. It's the representative of The Synthetic Party. Apparently this is the first time a form of artificial intelligence has run for political office. (It would be too easy to make a joke about whether any form of genuine intelligence has ever run for office, so I won't do it).

You can chat with Leader Lars and ask it questions in English. However, it responds in Danish.

More info: vice.com

Posted By: Alex - Mon Oct 17, 2022 - Comments (0)
Category: Politics, Strange Candidates, AI, Robots and Other Automatons

Rodney Fertel’s Gorilla Campaign

1969: Rodney Fertel ran for mayor of New Orleans on what he called the "primate platform". He promised that, if elected, he would "Get a gorilla for the zoo." This was his primary campaign issue. He campaigned by standing on street corners, sometimes dressed in a safari outfit, sometimes in a gorilla suit, handing out miniature plastic gorillas to passers-by.

Rodney Fertel with a baby gorilla

Fertel lost the election, receiving only 310 votes, but he kept his promise by donating a pair of West African gorillas the following year to New Orleans' Audubon Zoo, at his own expense.

Incidentally, Rodney was the former husband of Ruth Fertel, who founded Ruth's Chris Steak House. Fertel's son has written a book about his parents titled The Gorilla Man and the Empress of Steak: A New Orleans Family Memoir.

More info: nola.com

Posted By: Alex - Tue Nov 03, 2020 - Comments (3)
Category: Animals, Politics, Strange Candidates, 1960s

America needs a space age president

Gabriel Green campaigned to be President of the United States in 1960, promoting himself as "your write-in space-age candidate."

His main qualification was that he had "seen at least 75 flying saucers and has chatted with space people." Also, he was founder of the Amalgamated Flying Saucer Clubs of America. He promised that his presidency would usher in "The World of Tomorrow, and UTOPIA now."

However, he didn't attract a lot of support from voters. He attributed this to the fact that "not enough Americans have yet seen flying saucers or talked to outer space people." So he dropped out of the race and endorsed John F. Kennedy. The space people told him that they approved his decision.

He ran again in 1972, with similar results.

More info (and photos) at Gabriel Green for President.

Posted By: Alex - Tue Nov 08, 2016 - Comments (6)
Category: Politics, Strange Candidates, 1960s

Senate Candidate George V. Fried

March 1954: George V. Fried of Oklahoma City announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate. His platform was, "If it's right, I'm for it."

But when asked what ticket he planned to file on for the race, he replied, "It's none of your ________ business."

Two months later he was arrested, charged with passing an insufficient funds check for slightly over five dollars at a liquor store.

Sounds to me like he would have made a fine member of the U.S. Senate.

Great Bend Tribune - May 8, 1954

Posted By: Alex - Sat Sep 03, 2016 - Comments (2)
Category: Politics, Strange Candidates, 1950s

California’s Serious Draught

Scott Allen Meek is running for President, and he's not afraid to call attention to serious issues. For instance, right at the top of his campaign website he points out that "California is in it's 5th year of a Serious Draught."



He's the only candidate I'm aware of who's ever drawn attention to this problem, but as a California resident, I can confirm that it's absolutely true. Sometimes it gets so draughty here that I have to put on a sweatshirt. And as someone who's spent quite a bit of time in the UK, I appreciate his use of the British spelling of the word.

Other issues important to Meek include the promotion of desalination and hemp farming.

Posted By: Alex - Sun Mar 13, 2016 - Comments (6)
Category: Politics, Strange Candidates

Don’t Forget to Vote!

Learn more here.

Posted By: Paul - Sun Nov 04, 2012 - Comments (4)
Category: Eccentrics, Bohemians, Beatniks, Hippies and Slackers, Strange Candidates, Parody, Cacophony, Dissonance, White Noise and Other Sonic Assaults

Squatter Rights

Heidi Peterson left her Detroit home empty for a year, and when she returned, she says, she found a woman, Missionary-Tracey Elaine Blair, squatting there. The woman refuses to leave, and apparently you can't just kick someone out who's squatting. You have to go to court, prove you own the property, and then get an eviction order. So now both women are living there together.

Missionary-Tracey Elaine Blair, for her part, says she's not squatting. She insists she has a lease. [Yahoo! News]

Whatever the case may be, the experience certainly qualifies Missionary-Tracey Elaine Blair to occupy the highest office in the land and squat in the White House for four years. So she's campaigning as a write-in candidate for President, and wants your vote. That's her below, posing with George Washington. Remember her name on election day!

Posted By: Alex - Tue Oct 16, 2012 - Comments (9)
Category: Law, Politics, Strange Candidates

The Candidate With a 430 IQ

South Korea has an interesting candidate running for president — Huh Kyung-young. It's his third time running. Last time, in 2007, he got 10,000 votes, but he's convinced there was a miscount and that this time around he'll win. A few facts from his bio:

• He says he has an IQ of 430.
• He wants to move the U.N. headquarters to the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea.
• He claims Michael Jackson's soul visited him three days before the singer died. Inspired by the visit, Huh later produced a record titled, "Call Me."
• He wants to give $100,000 to all couples who get married, and $30,000 to anyone who has a baby. How to pay for this? "Where there is a will, there is a way. I have all the solutions in my head. Remember, my IQ is 430."
• At the age of 57, he acquired supernatural powers.

Read more about Huh at koreatime.co.kr.

Posted By: Alex - Tue May 15, 2012 - Comments (8)
Category: Eccentrics, Politics, Strange Candidates

Gabriel Over the White House

One of the weirder Hollywood offerings, this film depicts an American President gone wild in office--and it turns out to be a good thing! I'm surprised the film hasn't figured in this year's politics.

More info here.

Long unavailable, it's recently been reissued. Follow the Amazon link.

Posted By: Paul - Wed Apr 11, 2012 - Comments (3)
Category: Movies, Politics, Strange Candidates, Propaganda, Thought Control and Brainwashing, 1930s