Earl Dodge

Earl Farwell Dodge Jr. (December 24, 1932 – November 7, 2007) was an American politician who served as the Prohibition Party's chairman and presidential candidate from the 1984 to 2000 presidential elections and later ran with the nomination of his own faction during the 2004 presidential election.

Earl Dodge
Personal details
Born	Earl Farwell Dodge Jr. December 24, 1932 Malden, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died	November 7, 2007 (aged 74) Aurora, Colorado, U.S.
Political party	Prohibition
Other political affiliations	Republican (before 1952)
Spouse(s)	Barbara Viola Regan
Children	7

Early life

Earl Farwell Dodge Jr. was born on December 24, 1932, to Earl Farwell and Dorothy May Harris in Malden, Massachusetts. He attended school until the tenth grade and on July 20, 1951, he married Barbara Regan.[1] In 1952, he joined the Prohibition Party after attending a rally hosted by future Prohibition vice-presidential nominee Mark R. Shaw.[2]

Career

Politics

From 1953 to 1956, he served as the executive secretary of the Massachusetts Prohibition Party and ran for Massachusetts Secretary of State in 1956. In 1956, he moved to Indiana and from 1958 to 1961, he served as the chairman of the Indiana Prohibition Party and ran for Indiana's second congressional district in 1960. From 1961 to 1962, he lived in Denver, Colorado. From 1962 to 1966, he worked for the National Christian Citizens Committee and ran for the United States Senate.[2]

From 1958 to 1962, he served as the co-chairman of the Prohibition Party under E. Harold Munn. In 1967, he was appointed to the Kalamazoo Community Relations Board and served until 1970. In 1974, he was appointed to the Colorado State Elections Advisory Board. In 1979, he was selected to serve as the chairman of the National Statesman Party, which the Prohibition Party had changed its name to in 1977, and served until 2003.[2]

He also ran for the governorship of Colorado with the Prohibition nomination in every election from 1974 to 1994 except for in 1990. In 1990, he ran in Colorado's Senate election while his daughter, Karen J. Thiessen, ran for state Treasurer, his son, Calvin G. Dodge, ran for Secretary of State, and Calvin's wife, Elsi, ran for the regent of Colorado University.[3]

Presidential

During the 1976 and 1980 presidential elections he was given the vice-presidential nomination of the Prohibition Party.[4]

On June 24, 1983, forty five delegates voted to give Dodge the presidential nomination in Mandan, North Dakota, for the 1984 presidential election and on January 3, 1984, he suffered a heart attack, but recovered.[1][5][2] He appeared on the ballots in North Dakota, New Mexico, Kansas, Arkansas, and Colorado and as a write-in candidate in Ohio and received 4,236 votes.[6]

During the 1988 presidential election he was given the party's presidential nomination again and appeared on the ballot in Arkansas, Tennessee, New Mexico, and Colorado and received 8,002 votes.[7] During the 1992 presidential election he appeared on the ballot in Arkansas, Tennessee, and New Mexico and only received 961 votes.[7] During the 1996 presidential election he appeared on the ballot in Colorado, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Utah and received 1,298 votes.[8]

From June 28 to 30, 1999, around thirty delegates attended the national convention in Bird-in-Hand, Pennsylvania, and nine voted to give Dodge the presidential nomination against eight voting for Gary R. Van Horn and the vice-presidential nomination to W. Dean Watkins.[2][9] He attempted to win the Independent American Party presidential nomination to receive ballot access in Utah, but was defeated by U.S. Taxpayers' Party presidential nominee Howard Phillips and in the general election he only appeared on the ballot in Colorado and received 208 votes.[10][11][12]

2004 and 2008 presidential campaigns

During his tenure as chairman of the party Dodge was criticized by members for his financial actions. He avoided paying the Social Security tax on money earned through his involvement in the Prohibition Party by laundering it through the National Prohibition Foundation.[1] During Earl Higgerson's ten years as treasurer Dodge refused to allow him to see the party's account books, donor lists, sign checks, or know of actions taken by Dodge on his account.[13] In 1999, he sold the party's headquarters for $119,500 saying that he would use the money to build one on his property, but was alleged to have kept the money for himself and moved the party's headquarters to a tool shed.[14]

In 2003, members of the party opposed to him met at a condo in Tennessee and promoted him to chairman emeritus, as a polite way of firing him according to James Hedges. During the 2004 presidential election their faction nominated Gene Amondson under the Concerns of People ballot line while eight delegates[lower-alpha 1] from his faction of the party gave him its presidential nomination at his home in Lakewood, Colorado.[15][16][17] In the general election he appeared on the ballot in Colorado and received 140 votes while Amondson received 1,944 votes from Colorado and Louisiana.

On June 12, 2007, members of his faction from three states met in a church in Arvada, Colorado, where they nominated him for president and Howard Lydick, who received the vice-presidential nomination in 2004, for vice-president.[18] On November 7, Dodge was waiting to board a flight en route from Denver International Airport to Pennsylvania, when he suddenly collapsed due to cardiac arrhythmia and was taken to the University of Colorado Hospital where he died.[19] Following Dodge's death Howard Lydick worked to unite the two factions of the Prohibition Party behind Gene Amondson before Lydick's own death on August 5, 2008.[20][21]

Electoral history

Earl Dodge electoral history

1956 Massachusetts Secretary of State election[22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Edward J. Cronin (incumbent)	1,196,746	53.40%	+2.22%
	Republican	Richard I. Furbush	1,025,295	45.75%	-2.43%
	Prohibition	Earl Dodge	10,030	0.45%	-0.03%
	Socialist Labor	Lawrence Gilfedder	9,181	0.41%	-0.17%
	Independent	Write-ins	5	0.00%	+0.00%
Total votes			'2,241,257'	'100.00%'

1960 Indiana Second Congressional district election[23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Charles A. Halleck (incumbent)	95,920	57.46%	+5.23%
	Democratic	George H. Bowers	70,464	42.21%	-5.56%
	Prohibition	Earl Dodge	553	0.33%	+0.33%
Total votes			'166,937'	'100.00%'

1966 Kansas United States Senate election[24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	James B. Pearson (incumbent)	350,077	52.15%	-4.06%
	Democratic	James Floyd Breeding	303,223	45.17%	+2.65%
	Prohibition	Earl Dodge	9,364	1.40%	+0.13%
	Conservative	George W. Snell	7,103	1.06%	+1.06%
	Independent	Robert Ellsworth (write-in)	896	0.13%	+0.13%
	Independent	Arthur Peine (write-in)	682	0.10%	+0.10%
Total votes			'671,345'	'100.00%'

1974 Colorado gubernatorial election[25]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Richard Lamm	441,199	53.22%	+7.98%
	Republican	John D. Vanderhoof (incumbent)	378,907	45.71%	-6.75%
	Prohibition	Earl Dodge	6,419	0.77%	+0.77%
	U.S. Labor	Lann Meyers	2,307	0.28%	+0.28%
	Independent	Luke Zell (write-in)	136	0.02%	+0.02%
Total votes			'828,968'	'100.00%'

1978 Colorado gubernatorial election[26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Richard Lamm (incumbent)	483,985	58.76%	+5.54%
	Republican	Ted L. Strickland	317,292	38.53%	-7.18%
	Tea	Roy Peister	13,990	1.70%	+1.70%
	Socialist Workers	Elsa Blum	3,690	0.45%	+0.45%
	Newtist	Sal A. Mander	2,452	0.30%	+0.30%
	Prohibition	Earl Dodge	2,198	0.27%	-0.50%
Total votes			'823,607'	'100.00%'

1982 Colorado gubernatorial election[27]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Richard Lamm (incumbent)	627,960	65.69%	+6.93%
	Republican	John Fuhr	302,740	31.67%	-6.86%
	Libertarian	Paul K. Grant	19,349	2.02%	+2.02%
	Prohibition	Earl Dodge	3,496	0.37%	+0.10%
	Socialist Workers	Alan Gummerson	2,476	0.26%	-0.19%
Total votes			'956,021'	'100.00%'

1986 Colorado gubernatorial election[28]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Roy Romer	616,325	58.20%	-7.49%
	Republican	Ted L. Strickland	434,420	41.03%	+9.36%
	Prohibition	Earl Dodge	8,183	0.77%	+0.40%
Total votes			'1,058,928'	'100.00%'

1990 Colorado United States Senate election[29]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Hank Brown	569,048	55.68%	-8.57%
	Democratic	Josie Heath	425,746	41.66%	+7.04%
	Concerns of the People	John Heckman	15,432	1.51%	+1.51%
	Prohibition	Earl Dodge	11,801	1.16%	+1.05%
Total votes			'1,022,027'	'100.00%'

1994 Colorado gubernatorial election[30]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Roy Romer (incumbent)	619,205	55.46%	-6.43%
	Republican	Bruce D. Benson	432,042	38.70%	+3.27%
	U.S. Taxpayers'	Kevin Swanson	40,397	3.62%	+3.62%
	Green	Phillip Huggord	16,956	1.52%	+1.52%
	Prohibition	Earl Dodge	7,722	0.69%	+0.09%
	Independent	Thomas F. Todd (write-in)	123	0.01%	+0.01%
Total votes			'1,116,445'	'100.00%'

1998 University of Colorado at-large Regent election[31]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Jim Martin	639,538	54.73%
	Democratic	Douglas Naiman	437,870	37.47%
	Green	Dean Myerson	41,063	3.51%
	Natural Law	Barbara Foster	39,045	3.34%
	Prohibition	Earl Dodge	10,415	0.89%
	Independent	Write-ins	694	0.06%
Total votes			'1,116,445'	'100.00%'

Notes

1. According to Dodge, 25 delegates were present.[15]

References

1. "Prohibitionsts pick candidate". The Bismarck Tribune. June 25, 1983. p. 17. Archived from the original on March 30, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
2. "Earl F(arwell) Dodge, our Presidential candidate in l984, l988, l992, l996 and 2000". Archived from the original on April 1, 2020.
3. "Prohibition Party a family affair for Dodges". The Daily Sentinel. October 16, 1990. p. 20. Archived from the original on March 31, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
4. "Prohibition presidential/vice-presidential candidates". prohibitionists.org.
5. "'Dry' Party names presidential hopeful; wants bottle banned". St. Cloud Times. June 25, 1983. p. 17. Archived from the original on March 30, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
6. "1984 Presidential General Election Results".
7. "Anti-alcohol only part of prohibition". The Napa Valley Register. October 2, 1992. p. 16. Archived from the original on April 2, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
8. "Who's Running And Where". The Miami Herald. October 23, 1996. p. 151. Archived from the original on April 2, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
9. "Prohibitionists congregate in Bird-in-Hand". Lancaster New Era. July 2, 1999. p. 10. Archived from the original on April 1, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
10. "Colorado man enters race for president". The Daily Herald. March 20, 2000. p. 3. Archived from the original on April 1, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
11. "UT US President - IAP Primary".
12. "2000 Presidential General Election Results".
13. Hanson, Prof. David J. (2019). "Earl Dodge (Perennial Prohibition Party Candidate)". Alcohol Problems and Solutions. Archived from the original on April 2, 2020.
14. "The hilarious travails of the Prohibition Party". June 13, 2013. Archived from the original on March 31, 2020.
15. "The Worst Year for Prohibition Since 1933?". The Los Angeles Times. September 19, 2004. p. 17. Archived from the original on March 31, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
16. Hanson, Prof. David J. (2019). "Prohibition Party – The Oldest Third Party in U.S." Alcohol Problems and Solutions.
17. "Candidates teetotally committed to cause". South Florida Sun Sentinel. September 20, 2004. p. 6. Archived from the original on March 30, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
18. "Prohibition Party". June 13, 2007. Archived from the original on March 30, 2020.
19. "Presidential candidate was launching his 7th run". November 8, 2007. Archived from the original on March 30, 2020.
20. "Prohibition Party Factions Unite on a Single Presidential Candidate". March 1, 2008. Archived from the original on March 30, 2020.
21. "Howard Lydick Dies". August 28, 2008. Archived from the original on March 30, 2020.
22. "MA Secretary of State 1956". January 15, 2018.
23. "IN District 2 1960". November 20, 2007.
24. "KS US Senate 1966". January 29, 2009.
25. "CO Governor 1974". April 19, 2017.
26. "CO Governor 1978". May 24, 2010.
27. "CO Governor 1982". January 6, 2019.
28. "CO Governor 1986". August 7, 2011.
29. "CO US Senate 1990". May 26, 2003.
30. "CO Governor 1994". January 13, 2016.
31. "University of Colorado Regent - At-Large 1998". February 15, 2020.

External links

• Earl Dodge at Find a Grave