Mike Tompkins (politician)
{{short description|American politician}}
{{for|the musician|Mike Tompkins (musician)}}
{{Infobox person
|birth_name = Mike Tompkins
|birth_date =
|birth_place = Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
|party = Natural Law Party
|alma_mater = Harvard University
}}
Mike Tompkins is a U.S. politician who was the Natural Law Party vice presidential candidate during the 1992 and 1996 presidential elections.
Education and career
Born in Boston, Massachusetts,[http://www.iowastatedaily.com/articles/1996/10/28/import/19961028-archive8.txt "Iowan looks to solve problems as president," Iowa State Daily, October 28, 1996] he graduated from Harvard University in 1970 and completed his post-graduate studies at Maharishi European Research University (MERU) in Seelisberg, Switzerland in 1984, where he received a doctorate in the Science of Creative Intelligence.[http://www.elections.alaska.gov/96oep/tompkins.htm "Alaska Division of Elections: UNITED STATES VICE PRESIDENT DR. MIKE TOMPKINS," Alaska Division of Elections] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081107160059/http://www.elections.alaska.gov/96oep/tompkins.htm |date=November 7, 2008 }} He became an associate director of the Institute of Science, Technology and Public Policy, a nonprofit organization affiliated with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi that defines itself as a "progressive policy think tank."{{cite web|last=Waldman |first=Amy |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE6DC1638F934A35754C0A9669C8B63 |title="The Presidential Candidate From Maharishi U.," New York Times, July 7, 2000 |work=New York Times |date=2000-07-07 |access-date=2011-01-15}}
Political campaigns
In 1992, Tompkins joined John Hagelin as the first national candidates for the Natural Law Party. Hagelin, a quantum physicist, was the director of the Institute of Science, Technology and Public Policy and director of the physics department at the Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, Iowa. Hagelin and Tompkins received ballot placement in 32 states and their campaign qualified for federal matching funds.{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/politics/july-dec00/nlp_history.html |title="NATURAL LAW PARTY HISTORY," The NewsHour with Jim Lerhrer/PBS, September 3, 2000 |publisher=Pbs.org |access-date=2011-01-15}}
In 1996, Hagelin and Tompkins ran again as the presidential and vice presidential candidates on the Natural Law Party. During a campaign stop at the University of Houston, Tompkins defended the party's place in the U.S. political landscape by stating, "The Natural Law Party was founded as an alternative to the Republicans and Democrats, and an answer to the great many issues and great many solutions that were not being brought to the public. We are building this party as a permanent part of the American political landscape. We want to win and influence debate…(America has) the least democratic society. We have made a political system that excludes new voices, new people and new ideas."[http://www.thedailycougar.com/static/vol62/42/Features/feat3/feat3.html "Natural Law veep candidate Tompkins speaks at UH," Daily Cougar, October 16, 1996] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081219180659/http://www.thedailycougar.com/static/vol62/42/Features/feat3/feat3.html |date=December 19, 2008 }}
Hagelin and Tomkins received 39,000 votes, or 0.04% of the total voter input, in 1992. In 1996, they were on the ballot in 44 states and received 110,000 votes, or 0.1% of the total voter input. In 2000, Hagelin ran for president again on the Natural Law Party, but Tompkins was replaced as the vice presidential candidate by Internet entrepreneur Nat Goldhaber.
References
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{{succession box| title=Natural Law Party vice presidential candidate| before=(none)| after=Nat Goldhaber| years=1992 (lost) 1996 (lost)}}
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{{United States presidential election, 1992}}
{{United States presidential election, 1996}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tompkins, Mike}}
Category:American expatriates in Switzerland
Category:Harvard University alumni
Category:Politicians from Boston
Category:1992 United States vice-presidential candidates
Category:1996 United States vice-presidential candidates