Gloria La Riva

Gloria Estela La Riva (born August 13, 1954) is an American communist and socialist activist with the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) and the Peace and Freedom Party. She was the PSL's nominee and the Peace and Freedom's nominee in the 2020 presidential election, her tenth consecutive candidacy as either a presidential or vice presidential candidate. She was previously a member of the Workers World Party. She ran as the PSL's and the Peace and Freedom Party's presidential candidate in the 2016 presidential election, with Eugene Puryear and Dennis J. Banks[1] as her running mates respectively. She was the PSL's presidential nominee in the 2008 presidential election.[2] For the 2020 election, Sunil Freeman was her running mate.[3]

Gloria La Riva
La Riva in 2017
Personal details
Born	August 13, 1954 Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S.
Political party	Party for Socialism and Liberation
Other political affiliations	Peace and Freedom Party Worker's World Party (former member)
Alma mater	Brandeis University
Occupation	Newspaper Printer, activist, politician
Website	Campaign website

Life and career

La Riva in 2008

La Riva was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on August 13, 1954. She graduated from high school and began attending Brandeis University in 1972.[4] She was a third-party candidate for President of the United States in the 1992 presidential election, representing the Workers World Party. She had also been the Workers World Party vice-presidential candidate in the elections of 1984, 1988, 1996, and 2000. (In the 1984 and 1988 elections, La Riva was 30 and 34 respectively, and would've been ineligible to serve as Vice President had she won.)

La Riva joined the Party for Socialism and Liberation in its split from the Workers World Party. La Riva was also the Peace and Freedom Party candidate for Governor of California in 1994, receiving 72,774 votes (0.9%). She ran again in the 1998 gubernatorial election, capturing 59,218 votes (0.71%). She also ran for San Francisco Mayor in 1983 (7,328 votes – 5.4%), coming in third overall, and second in the working class wards of the city, and 1991 (2,552 votes – 1.4%),[5][6] and for Congress in 2010 (3rd place – 3%).[7][8]

In the 2008 Presidential election, La Riva received 6,821 votes, the 10th highest vote total.[9] La Riva has also been the director of the National Committee to Free the Cuban Five, and president of the typographical sector of the Northern California Media Workers Union.[10]

In 2010, La Riva was the Peace and Freedom Party's candidate for U.S. Congress in California's 8th Congressional District. Running against Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, she came in third, receiving 5,161 votes, 3% of the overall vote.

In the 2012 presidential election, La Riva was a presidential stand-in for Peta Lindsay, the PSL nominee for president who was not allowed on the ballot in some states due to her age.[11] La Riva was on the ballot in Colorado, Iowa, Utah, and Wisconsin, and she received 1,608 votes, or less than 0.01% of the total votes.[12]

In July 2015, she was announced as the PSL's 2016 presidential nominee, with Eugene Puryear as her running mate.[13] As of July 24, 2016 La Riva and her campaign had raised $25,234 and spent $10,092.[14] She attained ballot access in eight states: Vermont, New Mexico, Iowa, Louisiana, Colorado, Washington, New Jersey, and California.[15] She received 74,401 votes in the election, or 0.05% of the total votes.[16]

La Riva was a candidate for the Peace and Freedom Party nomination for Governor of California in 2018.[17] She received 19,075 votes in the nonpartisan blanket primary, or 0.3% of the total votes.[18]

She received the Party of Socialism and Liberation nomination for the 2020 presidential election, with Leonard Peltier as her running mate.[19] Peltier later stepped down from the ticket due to his deteriorating health and was replaced by Sunil Freeman.[20] Additionally, she won the Peace & Freedom Party primary in California for the 2020 United States presidential election, beating Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins. She won the nomination of the Liberty Union Party in Vermont.[21] She obtained no electoral votes in the election, and a total of 85,623 nationally, or about 0.05% of the total, being sixth most voted candidate, after Rocky de la Fuente, and ahead of Kanye West.[22]

Other activities

La Riva has translated Fidel Castro's book Cuba at the Crossroads (1997) ISBN 1-875284-94-X, and produced the documentary videos NATO Targets, Workers' Democracy in Cuba (1996), Genocide by Sanctions: The Case of Iraq (1998) and Let Iraq Live!

References

1. "Meet Dennis Banks". Gloria La Riva 4 President.
2. "Vote PSL in 2008!" (Press release). Party for Socialism and Liberation. 2008-01-18. Archived from the original on 2008-06-12. Retrieved 2008-01-20.
3. Winger, Richard (August 2, 2020). "Party for Socialism & Liberation Alters its Vice-Presidential Nominee". Ballot Access News. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
4. "Third Party Alternative Debate". YouTube. Vanderbilt University. October 8, 2008.
5. Lawrence Kestenbaum. "The Political Graveyard: Mayors and Postmasters of San Francisco, California". Political Graveyard.
6. "Gloria La Riva: Biography". calvoter.org.
7. Administrator. "Gloria La Riva for Congress – District 8". peaceandfreedom.org.
8. "Gloria LaRiva's Biography — The Voter's Self Defense System — Vote Smart". Project Vote Smart.
9. "2008 Presidential General Election Results". Dave Leip's Election Results. Retrieved 2010-05-03.
10. "Media Workers Guild, Typographical Union — Officers and Staff". Pacific Media Workers Guild. Retrieved 2008-05-27.
11. Winger, Richard (August 17, 2012). "Ballot Access News » Blog Archive » Only One Presidential Candidate Files in Utah Using the Independent Candidate Procedure". Ballot Access News. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
12. "Federal Election 2012" (PDF). fec.gov. July 2013. Retrieved August 23, 2020.
13. Winger, Richard (July 24, 2015). "Party for Socialism and Liberation Announces 2016 Presidential Ticket". Ballot Access News. Retrieved July 25, 2015.
14. "Details for Candidate ID : P80005572 Cycle". fec.gov. Retrieved August 21, 2016.
15. Powell, Chris (2016-08-03). "Who is on the presidential ballot where?". Medium. Retrieved 2016-09-09.
16. "Federal Elections 2016" (PDF). fec.gov. December 2017. Retrieved August 23, 2020.
17. "Election 2018: The Peace & Freedom Party Candidates". Peace and Freedom Party. December 18, 2017. Retrieved February 20, 2018.
18. "Statement of Vote" (PDF). sos.ca.gov. June 5, 2018. Retrieved August 23, 2020.
19. "La Riva / Peltier Presidential Campaign Announcement". La Riva & Peltier 2020. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
20. "Leonard Peltier regretfully withdraws as vice-presidential candidate". La Riva 2020. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
21. https://www.libertyunionparty.org/?page_id=903
22. "The Green Papers: 2020 General Election – Presidential Candidate Ballot Access by State – Sorted by On Ballot". The Green Papers. 2020-12-01. Retrieved 2020-12-01.

External links

• 2020 campaign website
• 2020 campaign Twitter profile
• 2016 campaign website
• "Standing for Castro at the US election", a brief report on Gloria La Riva by France 24, October 29, 2008
• "Meet Gloria", profile on Votepsl.org
• Appearances on C-SPAN