A perennial candidate is one who frequently runs for public office with a record of success that is either infrequent or non-existent. Perennial candidates are often either members of "fringe" political parties or have political opinions that are not mainstream. They run not with any serious hope of gaining office, but in order to promote their views or themselves. The most persistent perennial candidate is John C. "The Engineer" Turmel who has run in a world-record 59 elections. A political party is a political organization subscribing to a certain ideology or formed around very special issues. ... Mainstream is, generally, the common current of thought. ... John C. Turmel is a perennial candidate for election in Canada, and holds the Guinness world record for losing the largest number of elections — 59 as of March 17, 2005. ...

Famous perennial candidates

United States

• Harold Stassen is probably the best known perennial candidate, at least in the United States. The one time governor of Minnesota ran for the Republican Party's nomination for President of the United States on nine occasions between 1948 and 1992. While Stassen was considered a serious candidate in 1948 and 1952, his attempts were increasingly met with derision and then amusement as the decades progressed.

• Gus Hall, leader of the Communist Party USA, ran for governor of Ohio in 1940 and for the U.S. presidency seven times between 1960 and 1984.

• Alan Keyes has run for United States Senate in 1988, 1992 and 2004, and for the Republican nomination for the presidency in 1996 and 2000, despite little or no hope of ever winning an election.

• Lyndon LaRouche, a fringe US political figure, holds the record for the most consecutive attempts at the US presidency. He has run in the last eight elections, beginning in 1976. He ran once as a U.S. Labor Party candidate and seven times as a Democrat. He will tie Stassen's record of nine attempts if he runs again in 2008.

• Pat Paulsen, a comedian best known for his appearances on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, first ran for US President in 1968 as both a joke and a protest. He ran again in 1972, and in succeeding elections until 1996, one year prior to his death.

• Norman Thomas was the Socialist Party's candidate for President of the United States on six occasions from 1928 to 1948 inclusive. Unlike other perennial candidates, Thomas had a degree of influence over American politics and many of his policies were appropriated by Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal.

• Eugene Debs was a presidential candidate for the Social Democratic Party in 1900 and thereafter for the Socialist Party in four more elections: 1904, 1908, 1912, and 1920. In the 1920 election, while in jail for opposing conscription, he received 913,664 votes, the most ever for a Socialist Party presidential candidate.

• John W. Griffin, an Ohioan who has run numerous times for federal, state, and local office, and currently is serving as a member of the Ohio State Board of Education

Harold Edward Stassen (April 13, 1907 – March 4, 2001) was the 25th Governor of Minnesota from 1939 to 1943. ... A governor is also a device that regulates the speed of a machine. ... State nickname: North Star State Other U.S. States Capital Saint Paul Largest city Minneapolis Governor Tim Pawlenty (R) Official languages None Area 225,365 km² (12th)  - Land 206,375 km²  - Water 18,990 km² (8. ... The Republican Party, often called the GOP (for Grand Old Party, although one early citation described it as the Gallant Old Party [1]), is one of the two major political parties in the United States. ... The President of the United States (often abbreviated POTUS) is the head of state of the United States. ... 1948 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1992 was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... 1952 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Gus Hall Gus Hall (October 8, 1910 - October 13, 2000) was a labor organizer, a founder of the United Steelworkers of America trade union, a leader of the Communist Party USA and four-time U.S. presidential candidate on the CPUSA ticket. ... The Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA) is one of several Marxist-Leninist groups in the United States. ... State nickname: The Buckeye State Other U.S. States Capital Columbus Largest city Columbus Governor Bob Taft (R) Official languages None Area 116,096 km² (34th)  - Land 106,154 km²  - Water 10,044 km² (8. ... 1940 was a leap year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1960 was a leap year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1984 is a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Alan Keyes is a former American diplomat and was a Republican presidential candidate in 1996 and 2000. ... Seal of the Senate The United States Senate is one of the two houses of the Congress of the United States, the other being the House of Representatives. ... 1988 is a leap year starting on a Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1992 was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1996 is a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... This article is about the year 2000. ... Lyndon H. LaRouche, Jr. ... 1976 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... See Labor Party (USA) for the modern party which has a similar name but is unconnected with the US Labor Party The U.S. Labor Party was a short lived social democratic political party formed in the mid-1970s by the National Caucus of Labor Committees as a vehicle for... The Democratic Party is one of two major political parties in the United States. ... Leap year starting on Tuesday // Predicted events January-June January 15 - NASAs MESSENGER spacecraft makes the first of three flybys of Mercury. ... Pat Paulsen (6 July 1927- 1997) was a United States comedian and satirist notable for his roles on several of the Smothers Brothers TV shows, and for his supposed campaigns for President of the United States in 1968, 1972, 1976, 1992, and 1996, which had comedic rather than political objectives. ... The Smothers Brothers are an American musical-comedy team, formed by real-life brothers Tom and Dick Smothers. ... 1968 was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1968 calendar). ... 1972 was a leap year that started on a Saturday. ... 1996 is a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... Norman Mattoon Thomas (November 20, 1884 - December 19, 1968) was a leading American socialist, pacifist, and six-time presidential candidate for the Socialist Party. ... The Socialist Party of America is a socialist political party in the United States. ... 1928 was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1948 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882–April 12, 1945), 32nd President of the United States, the longest-serving holder of the office and the only man to be elected President more than twice, was one of the central figures of 20th century history. ... The New Deal was President Franklin D. Roosevelts legislative agenda for rescuing the United States from the Great Depression. ... May refer to the politcal leader Eugene_V._Debs May also be in reference to a a debutante ball, a formal party undertaken by the leaving members of second-level schools in Ireland, most often in the month of August or September. ... The Social Democratic Party (SDP) is a former political party operating in the United States. ... Summary The election was held on November 6, 1900. ... Summary The election was held on November 8, 1904. ... Major party conventions The 1908 Republican Convention was held in Chicago from 16 June to 19 June. ... Presidential electoral votes by state. ... Presidential electoral votes by state. ... 1920 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar) // Events January January 7 - Forces of Russian White admiral Kolchak surrender in Krasnoyarsk. ... John William Griffin (born circa 1927) is an Ohio farmer and a perennial candidate over the last forty years for various local, state, and federal offices in Ohio. ... The Ohio State Board of Education, which has eleven elected members and six appointed members, oversees primary education in the State of Ohio and the Ohio Department of Education. ...

United Kingdom

• David Sutch ran in 39 general elections and by-elections under the name Screaming Lord Sutch for the British House of Commons, as well as one election for the European Parliament, never winning much more than 1,000 votes. He first ran in 1963 for the National Teenage Party in the seat left vacant by the resignation of John Profumo. He founded the Monster Raving Loony Party in 1983 and "led" it until his suicide in 1999.

David Edward Sutch (or Screaming Lord Sutch) (November 10, 1940 - June 16, 1999) was a British politician, musician and maverick. ... A by-election or bye-election is a special election held to fill a political office when the incumbent has died or resigned. ... The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and is now the dominant elected branch of Parliament. ... The European Parliament is the parliamentary body of the European Union (EU), directly elected by EU citizens once every five years. ... 1963 was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... John Dennis Profumo, born January 30, 1915, often called Jack Profumo, was the British Conservative cabinet minister whose indiscretions effectively discredited the government in 1963, before its defeat in 1964. ... The Official Monster Raving Loony Party (OMRLP) is a United Kingdom political party that was founded by musician and anti-politician Screaming Lord Sutch in 1983. ... The Death of Socrates by Jacques-Louis David, 1787 Suicide (from Latin sui caedere, to kill oneself) is the act of willfully ending ones own life; it is sometimes a noun for one who has committed or attempted the act. ... 1999 is a common year starting on Friday Anno Domini (or the Current Era), and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ...

Canada

• Henri-Georges Grenier ran 13 times for election to the Canadian House of Commons between 1945 and 1980 for a variety of political parties, for each of which he was the sole candidate.

• Ben Kerr, a street musician, ran for Mayor of Toronto seven times between 1985 and his death in 2005. He was best known for his country music performances and for advocating the medicinal benefits of drinking a concotion that has cayenne pepper as its main ingredient.

• John C. "The Engineer" Turmel is in the Guinness Book of Records for being the candidate who has lost the largest number of elections: 59 as of 2005.

• Douglas Campbell has run as a fringe candidate for federal parliament in the 1960s, the leadership of both the Ontario and federal New Democratic Party in the 1970s and 1980s, Mayor of North York, Ontario and Mayor of Toronto in 2000 and 2003.

• Reverend (sometimes Archbishop) Michael Baldasaro of the pro-marijuana Church of the Universe has run on numerous occasions for positions at various levels.