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Mike Gravel
Maurice Robert "Mike" Gravel was a Democratic candidate for president of the United States in 2020. He announced that he was running for president of the United States on April 2, 2019.[1] Gravel suspended his campaign on August 6, 2019, and endorsed Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii).[2][3][4]
Gravel said he did not enter the race seeking to win the Democratic nomination. "Our only aim is pushing the field left by appearing in the Democratic debates," the Gravel campaign tweeted.[1]
From 1969 to 1981, Gravel represented Alaska in the U.S. Senate. He also served in the Alaska State House of Representatives from 1963 to 1966, including two years as the speaker of the House.[5]
Gravel died on June 26, 2021.[6]
Biography
Gravel was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1930. After graduating from high school, Gravel enlisted in the U.S. Army, where he served for three years in the Communications Intelligence Service and the Counter Intelligence Corps, deploying to post-WWII France and West Germany. After leaving the Army, Gravel attended Columbia University, graduating with a degree in economics in 1956.[7][8]
After graduating from Columbia, Gravel moved to Alaska. He ran unsuccessfully for the Territorial Legislature in 1958 and for mayor of Anchorage in 1959. Gravel won election to the state House in 1962 and was elected as speaker for the 1965-66 session. In 1966, Gravel left the state House to launch an unsuccessful bid for the U.S. House.
Gravel won election to the U.S. Senate in 1968 with 45% of the vote.[9] He won re-election in 1974 with 58% of the vote but was defeated in the 1980 Democratic primary by former state Rep. Clark Gruening (D), whose grandfather Gravel had unseated in 1968.[10][11][7]
In 1992, Gravel launched a pair of nonprofit organizations dedicated to promoting a type of direct democracy in which citizens, rather than elected representatives, could vote on issues and policies. On April 18, 2006, Gravel launched a bid for the Democratic nomination for president in 2008, intending to promote direct democracy.[12] On March 25, 2008, Gravel joined the Libertarian Party and began a campaign for its presidential nomination.[13] He placed fourth in the first round of voting at the party's 2008 convention and was eliminated on the fourth round of ballots.[14]
Elections
2020
Presidency
- See also: Presidential candidates, 2020
Former Vice President Joe Biden (D) won the presidential election on November 3, 2020. Biden received 306 electoral votes and President Donald Trump (R) received 232 electoral votes. In the national popular vote, Biden received 81.2 million votes and Trump received 74.2 million votes.
Gravel announced that he was running for president on April 2, 2019.[1] He suspended his presidential campaign on August 6, 2019, and endorsed Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii).[2][3][4]
Ballotpedia has compiled the following resources about Gravel and the 2020 presidential election:
- Recent news stories about the 2020 presidential election;
- An overview of key national and state campaign staffers;
- Endorsements from politicians, public figures, and organizations;
- An overview of candidate campaign travel; and
- A list of other presidential candidates who are running for election.
Click here for Gravel's 2020 presidential campaign overview.
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Mike Gravel. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Fox News, "Mike Gravel has filed to run for president but intends to drop out after debates, campaign says," April 2, 2019
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 CBS News, "Mike Gravel endorses Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard," August 7, 2019
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Politico, "Gravel and his campaign teens end presidential run," August 6, 2019
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Twitter, "Mike Gravel," August 6, 2019
- ↑ Mike Gravel, "Bio," accessed April 8, 2019
- ↑ New York Times, "Mike Gravel, Unconventional Two-Term Alaska Senator, Dies at 91," accessed June 27, 2021
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Mike Gravel for President, "Mike's Personal Biography," accessed July 17, 2019
- ↑ Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, "GRAVEL, Maurice Robert (Mike), (1930 - )," accessed July 17, 2019
- ↑ Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives, "Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 5, 1968," July 1, 1969
- ↑ Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives, "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 4, 1974," August 1, 1975
- ↑ Alaska Division of Elections, "Official Returns by Election Precinct - Primary Election, August 26, 1980," accessed July 17, 2019
- ↑ The New York Times, "Washington: A 'Maverick' For President," April 18, 2006
- ↑ Archive.org - Libertarian Party, "Former U.S. Senator Mike Gravel joins Libertarian Party ranks," March 25, 2008
- ↑ Archive.org - Libertarian Party, "Presidential and VP Vote Totals," accessed July 17, 2019
