Uncle Mover
{{Short description|American perennial candidate and business owner}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2023}}
{{Use American English|date=June 2023}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Uncle Mover
| image = Mike the Mover RV.jpg
| caption = Uncle Mover's RV
| birth_name = Michael Patrick Shanks
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1953|3|17}}
| birth_place = United States
| nickname = Mike the Mover (formerly)
| party = Independent
| otherparty = Democratic
Republican
National Union Party
Moderate GOP Party {{Cite web|url=https://ballotpedia.org/Uncle_Mover|title=Uncle Mover |work=Ballotpedia|date= August 7, 2018 |access-date=June 14, 2025}}
| occupation = Businessman
}}
Uncle Mover (born Michael Patrick Shanks, March 17, 1953), formerly known as Mike The Mover, is an American perennial candidate and business owner from Washington State.{{cite news|first=Dan|last=Raley|title=Where Are They Now: Mike The Mover|url=http://www.seattlepi.com/default/article/Where-Are-They-Now-Mike-The-Mover-1154134.php|publisher=Seattle Post-Intelligencer|date=14 September 2004|access-date=13 May 2014}} In 1990, Shanks legally changed his name to Mike the Mover to help promote his furniture moving business.{{cite news|first=Emily|last=Heffter|title=If there's a ballot, there's "Mover"|archive-date=2014-05-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140515035748/http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2002027646_mover06m.html|url=http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2002027646_mover06m.html|publisher=Seattle Times|date=6 September 2004|access-date=13 May 2014}}
Politics
According to Mover, he has run for public office more than 17 times but has never been elected.{{cite web |url=http://theoriginalmikethemover.com/about-mike |title=About Mike |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180819224819/http://theoriginalmikethemover.com/about-mike/ |archive-date=19 August 2018 |website=theoriginalmikethemover.com| publisher=The Original Mike the Mover |access-date=31 March 2024}}
File:Mike the Mover face on RV.jpg
Though originally motivated to run for office in order to draw attention to Washington's complex regulations for movers, Mover's more recent campaigns have been a marketing tactic to promote his business. In 2004, he estimated $150,000 (~${{Format price|{{Inflation|index=US-GDP|value=150000|start_year=2004}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}) of his company's annual revenue came from the name-familiarity generated by his ballot appearances. Never endorsed by a political party, he has sought office as both a Democrat and a Republican. In the 2014 election for U.S. Congress from Washington's 1st congressional district, Mover, a Civil War enthusiast,{{cite news|title=Congressional District No. 1 Representative|url=http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/congressional-district-no-1-representative/Content?oid=11929|publisher=The Stranger|date=12 September 2002|access-date=13 May 2014}} ran as a candidate of the "National Union Party" (under Washington elections law, candidates can declare themselves a member of any party, whether the party exists or not).{{cite web|url=http://www.kingcounty.gov/elections/candidatefiling/whohasfiled.aspx|title=2014 Unofficial Candidate Filing|website=kingcounty.gov|publisher=King County Elections Office|access-date=13 May 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140515070440/http://www.kingcounty.gov/elections/candidatefiling/whohasfiled.aspx|archive-date=15 May 2014}} Changing his name again to Uncle Mover, Mover filed to run for U.S. Senate in 2016.{{cite web |url=http://weiapplets.sos.wa.gov/elections/Candidates/WhoFiled |url-status=deviated |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161110063819/http://weiapplets.sos.wa.gov/elections/Candidates/WhoFiled |archive-date=10 November 2016 |access-date=31 March 2024 |title=2016 Candidates Who Have Filed}}
Personal life
Mike the Mover grew up as one of twelve children born to Richard and Patricia Shanks.{{cite news |last1=Strickland |first1=Daryl |title=Richard Shanks Devoted Time To Family, Community Service |url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19940612/1915282/richard-shanks-devoted-time-to-family-community-service |access-date=8 June 2019 |newspaper=The Seattle Times |date=1994}} His father was the former Mayor of Lake City prior to it becoming incorporated into Seattle in the 1950s.
Mover resides in Snohomish County near Lynnwood, Washington.
In 1977, Mover started moving professionally. Unable to receive a state permit, he was charged 89 times with gross misdemeanors and was convicted of in two of these cases for operating an illegal moving business.