Stewart Alexander (politician)

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Stewart Alexander
Stewart Alexander (politician)

Alexander shortly after his nomination for Vice President of the United States of America at the Socialist Party USA National Convention in St. Louis, MO, October 20, 2007.
Election date
November 4, 2008
Running mate Brian Moore
Incumbent Dick Cheney (R)
Born October 1, 1951 (1951-10-01) (age 56)
Nationality American
Political party Liberty Union and Socialist

Stewart Alexis Alexander (born 1 October 1951) is a democratic socialist politician and the Socialist Party USA nominee for Vice President of the United States in the 2008 election.[1][2][3] Stewart Alexander has the distinction of being the first African-American or member of any ethnic minority group on the Socialist Party Presidential ticket, though there had been talk in the 1960s of running Norman Thomas with Martin Luther King Jr; however, no ticket was run and it is uncertain if King was involved in the discussion.[4] A resident of California, Alexander was the Peace and Freedom Party candidate for Lieutenant Governor in 2006. He received 43,319 votes, 0.5% of the total.

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[edit] Biography

While in the Air Force Reserve, Alexander worked as a full-time retail clerk at Safeway Stores and then began attending college at California State University. He, however, dropped out when a college professor questioned his intelligence and insisted he drop her class. In compensation, Stewart began working overtime as a stocking clerk with Safeway. His first marriage began with Freda Alexander in this period, they had one son, but the marriage ended.[5]

He was honorably discharged in October 1976 and married for the second time. He left Safeway in 1978 and for a brief period worked as a licensed general contractor. In 1980, he went to work for Lockheed Aircraft but soon quit in 1981. He took a job in sales and decided to visit Israel to connect with his Christian past.[5]

However, once he arrived in Israel, he was arrested and then interrogated for not travelling in a group. He spent the night in an Israeli jail and was sent to an airport in Tel Aviv and put on a Trans World Airlines flight back to the United States. Stewart was told that he is not welcome back in Israel in the future.[5]

Returning to Los Angeles, he became involved in several civic organizations, including most notably the NAACP. He applied for the position of a warehouseman and forklift driver with Inter-American Public Distribution Corporation citing his military service and training in transportation. However, the warehouse manager, Michael Wright, refused to interview him and Stewart took his case to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing. As a result, he was contacted by the company's president, interviewed by the warehouse manager, and ultimately hired. Furthermore, he was promoted as the Labor and Industry Chairman for the Inglewood South Bay Branch of the NAACP. Two years later, Stewart was informed by Michael Wright that it was company policy to not hire blacks unless they were twice as good as a white worker; Stewart was also informed that he was twice as good. Though the company had over 200 employees, only two were black.[5]

In 1986 he moved back to Los Angeles and hosted a weekly talk show on KYTM Radio until 1989. The show dealt with social issues affecting Los Angeles such as gangs, drugs, and redevelopment, interviewing government officials from all levels of government and community leaders throughout California. He also worked with Delores Daniels of the NAACP on the radio and in the streets.[5]

In 1987 he met Norton Halper, a community activist, who convinced him to run for mayor of Los Angeles.[5]

[edit] 1988 Mayoral Campaign

Alexander launched his campaign for mayor of Los Angeles in 1988, personally visiting over 14,000 doors to get the necessary 1,000 signatures to appear on the ballot. Many of his ideas for the campaign came from a hearing of over 200 community activists in Los Angeles, about the city's problems, which he moderated.[5]

His campaign focused on the issue of redevelopment. Stewart felt that the billions of tax dollars spent on redevelopment were wasted on helping wealthy contractors and corporations earn more profits at the expense of the residents whom he felt were in need of social programs and employment. Furthermore, his campaign dealt with the issues of crime prevention and the aforementioned social programs. Stewart believes that these social conditions led to the Los Angeles riots of 1992.[5]

Tom Bradley won the election against major opponent Nate Holden. Alexander went on to be an automobile sales consultant and began looking at other political groups outside of the Democratic and Republican parties. He saw the popularity of H. Ross Perot in 1992 and 1996 as proof that America was interested in more as well.[5]


[edit] References

  1. ^ http://vote-socialist.org/ accessed March 8, 2008
  2. ^ http://www.ballot-access.org/2007/10/20/socialist-party-ticket-is-moore-alexander/ accessed March 8, 2008
  3. ^ http://www.votebrianmoore.com/ accessed March 8, 2008
  4. ^ Tash, Stephen "Socialist Party USA Picks its Presidential Ticket for 2008" The Michigan Socialist End of Year Issue 2007 page 3.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Biography at stewartalexandercares.com, accessed March 8, 2008.

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[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Mal Herbert		 Socialist Party Vice Presidential candidate
2008		 Succeeded by
To be determined
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