2004 U.S. Senate Candidacy
Following an unsuccessful bid in 1998 for the Republican nomination for the congressional seat in California's 46th congressional district, Gray left the Republican Party and joined the Libertarian Party. In 2003, he openly contemplated becoming a candidate for the 2004 Libertarian presidential nomination, but later decided to run for the U.S. Senate instead. In November 2003, he declared his candidacy for the U.S. Senate seat occupied by Barbara Boxer in California. Gray was a keynote speaker at the 2004 Libertarian National Convention. In March 2004 Gray defeated former Libertarian Party of California chair Gail Lightfoot in a statewide primary for the party's nomination for U.S. Senate. Gray suspended his judicial activities while running for the Senate against incumbent Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer and Republican Bill Jones. Gray received 216,522 votes, 1.8% of the total vote, finishing behind Boxer, Jones, and Peace and Freedom Party candidate Marsha Feinland. Gray picked up a newspaper endorsement from the Long Beach Press-Telegram.
Read more about this topic: James P. Gray
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