Meet the Alternative Candidates on the New Hampshire Ballot
New Hampshire’s primary holds the distinction of not only being the nation’s first (Iowa holds a caucus), but also one of the easiest to participate in. This is true for voters — who can cast a ballot for either party’s candidate, as long as they’re not registered as a member of the opposing party — as well as for prospective candidates: All you need in $1,000, and you’re on the ballot. That’s why, in addition to familiar names like Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and Martin O’Malley — yes, New Hampshirites can still vote for O’Malley, even though he dropped out of the race — voters will see 25 other names when they go to vote in the Democratic primary Tuesday. (There are a total of 30 candidates on the Republican side.)
Among the candidates running in New Hampshire’s Democratic primary are performance artist Vermin Supreme, “world-class chess gadfly“ Sam Sloan and convicted felon Keith Judd, who in 2012 mounted a presidential bid while serving 17-and-a-half years in federal prison for extortion. (He won 72,000 votes to Barack Obama’s 106,000 in the West Virginia primary that year.)
The rest of them? They’re mostly normal guys who think they have some good ideas to share. Rolling Stone reached out to all of the lesser-known Democratic candidates, and was able to get a hold of six of them on the eve of the New Hampshire primary. Here’s what they had to say.
Jon Adams
Age: 41
Hometown: New York City
Occupation: Lawyer
Platform: “Student loans is my issue,” Adams says. “I started off saying, ‘Well, we can’t give everybody free college, especially not with such a large national debt, but we can cut student loan interest rates.’ That will give everyone an immediate break, and then we can go from there.” He also believes the U.S. is not doing enough to fight ISIS; if elected, he says he would send U.S. special forces to combat the terrorist group, and would ally with Russia for help in that fight. He’d also like to colonize Mars and the moon. “It would provide a huge boost to science, and an inspiration for our children.”
Fun fact: Adams, who claims to be a descendent of President John Adams, is not married — but he is looking for that special first lady. As he writes on his website, “If you have a deep, abiding love of country as well as class, elegance and style, please email a short bio to: FLOTUS@adamsforpresident.com.” Adams tells Rolling Stone he hasn’t gotten many bites yet. “Actually, it seems like people are scared of it. I had more dates before I ran for president. I guess unless you get elected it doesn’t really mean anything.”
Previous political experience: Ran for Congress in New Mexico in 2008
Potential endorsement: “I’ll support whoever the nominee is — I’m not looking to run as a third party or be a spoiler.”
Steve Burke
Age: 79, but “I look about 50”
Hometown: Heuvelton, New York
Occupation: Insurance investigator and negotiator
Platform: Burke’s big issue is the economy. He believes the government isn’t doing enough to create jobs and keep companies in the U.S. His plan? “Cut the tax base for some of these companies that have run because of high taxes. Government has an insatiable need for money,” Burke says. “Well, so do people and so do corporations. Don’t penalize them because they are making money.” He also believes in shuttering overseas military bases in countries that are not helping pay for those bases.
Previous political experience: Burke is a town councilman in Macomb, New York. He worked as a legislative assistant in the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly before running for president in 1992. He also ran for Congress in 1993 and 2014.
Potential endorsement: “Not at this time,” he says, noting he’ll “wait to see what happens” Tuesday.