Bo Gritz - Populist Party Presidential Tickets

Populist Party Presidential Tickets

In 1988, Gritz was the candidate for Vice President of the United States on the Populist Party ticket, as the running mate of former Ku Klux Klansman David Duke. Gritz pulled out early in the race and ran instead for a Nevada Congressional seat. Gritz was then replaced with Floyd Parker on some ballots. Gritz has claimed he accepted the party's nomination with the belief he would be the running mate of James Traficant, and that sometime after learning it would be not be Traficant but Duke and sometime after meeting Duke, he decided to drop out.

In 1992, Gritz ran for President of the United States, again with the Populist Party. Under the campaign slogan "God, Guns and Gritz" and publishing his political manifesto "The Bill of Gritz" (playing on his last name rhyming with "rights"), he called for staunch opposition to what he called "global government" and "The New World Order", ending all foreign aid, and abolishing federal income tax and the Federal Reserve System. During the campaign, Gritz openly proclaimed the United States to be a "Christian Nation", stating that the country's legal statutes “should reflect unashamed acceptance of Almighty God and His Laws." He received 106,152 votes nationwide, or only 0.14% of the popular vote. In two states he had a respectable showing for a third party candidate: Utah, where he received 3.84% of the vote and Idaho, where he received 2.13% of the vote. In some counties, his support topped 10%, and in Franklin County, Idaho, was only a few votes away from pushing Bill Clinton into fourth place in the county. His run on the America First/Populist Party ticket was prompted by his association with another far-right political Christian talk radio host, Tom Valentine.

Also during 1992, Gritz attracted national attention as mediator during the government standoff with Randy Weaver at Ruby Ridge, Idaho.