Rocky Anderson - Congressional Campaign

Congressional Campaign

After winning a contentious primary election against Kelly Atkinson by a margin of 11%, Anderson ran for Congress as the Democratic nominee in Utah's Second Congressional District in 1996 against Republican Merrill Cook. Without any financial help from the Democratic Party (some local Democratic leaders viewed Anderson as being too liberal because of his support of the ACLU, his opposition to U.S. policy toward Nicaragua in the 1980s, and his opposition to the death penalty), he garnered over 100,000 votes in the district. Anderson lost the 1996 race to Merrill Cook by 29,680 votes, achieving 42 percent of the ballots cast versus Cook's 55 percent.