Monica Moorehead facts for kids

Monica Gail Moorehead (born 1952) is an American retired teacher, writer, and political activist. A political activist is someone who works to bring about social or political change. She was chosen to run for president by the Workers World Party (WWP) in 1996, 2000, and 2016.

Biography

Monica Moorehead has been a political activist since she was in high school. She helped share newspapers for the Black Panther Party. Later, in 1972, she joined the Workers World Party (WWP). This is a political party that believes in workers' rights and social equality. By 1979, she became a national leader in the party.

In 1996, Moorehead was the WWP's choice for president. She was listed on the ballot in 12 states. She received about 29,000 votes. This was 0.3 percent of all votes cast. It was the best result ever for a WWP candidate in a presidential election.

In 2000, she ran for president again. She received 4,795 votes. That year, her name was only on the ballot in four states. These states were Florida, Rhode Island, Washington, and Wisconsin. For both elections, her vice-presidential running-mate was Gloria La Riva. A running-mate is the person who runs for vice president with the presidential candidate.

Monica Moorehead has also written and edited books. She wrote Feminism and Marxism in the 90s. She also wrote South Africa: Which Road to Liberation?. She edited a book called Marxism, Reparations, and the Black Freedom Struggle. This book was a collection of articles from the Workers World newspaper.

In 2004, Moorehead helped manage the campaign for the party's presidential candidate, John Parker. During the 2008 presidential campaign, she supported Green Party candidate, Cynthia McKinney.

2016 presidential election

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On November 8, 2015, Monica Moorehead was chosen again. She became the 2016 presidential nominee for the Workers World Party. This was the first time since 2004 that the party had a presidential candidate. Her running mate for this election was Lamont Lilly.

When Moorehead was nominated, her party did not have ballot access in any state. Ballot access means a candidate's name is officially listed on the voting ballot. Moorehead ran in a special election called a primary in California. This was for the Peace and Freedom Party. She received 1,487 votes, which was 29.72 percent of all votes. She lost to Gloria la Riva, who won with 49.47 percent of the vote.

In October 2016, a university poll included Moorehead as a choice. The poll was from Farleigh Dickinson University. It found that Moorehead received three percent support. This was when the Green and Libertarian Party candidates were not listed as choices. In the 2016 general election, Moorehead's name was on the ballot in three states. These were New Jersey, Utah, and Wisconsin. She was also a recognized write-in candidate in six other states. A write-in candidate is someone voters can choose by writing their name on the ballot. She received a total of 4,317 votes.

In 2019, a magazine called Atlantic mentioned Moorehead. They called her "the once and perhaps future presidential candidate of the Workers World Party." However, she did not run for president in 2020.