Willa Kenoyer

{{short description|American politician (1933–2020)}}

{{infobox officeholder

|name=Willa Kenoyer

|birth_date={{birth date|1933|12|13}}

|birth_place=Tacoma, Washington, U.S.

|death_date={{death date and age|2020|3|28|1933|12|13}}

|death_place=Albany, Oregon, U.S.

|party=Socialist Party USA

|profession=Politician, freelance journalist

}}

Willa Kenoyer (13 December 1933 – 28 March 2020) was an American politician of the Socialist Party USA (SPUSA) candidate for President of the United States in the 1988 U.S. presidential election.

Candidacy

The SPUSA was not on the ballot in 1984 (the previous election) due to a lack of interest among its members,{{cite news |title=Unknown applicants for White House piling up |newspaper=The Courier [Arizona] |date=June 21, 1987 |page=7A |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=frMOAAAAIBAJ&pg=5833,5062095 |access-date=January 17, 2010 }} {{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}} and only hoped for a vote total of five digits, expecting to do better in the next century, according to the chair Anne Rosenhaft.{{cite news |title=Tired of Bush, Dukakis? 314 others in running |newspaper=The Hour [New London, CT] |date=August 29, 1988 |page=2 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=7yIiAAAAIBAJ&pg=1315,4707107 |access-date=January 17, 2010 }} Kenoyer's running mate was Ron Ehrenreich; they also ran on the Liberty Union Party (LUP) line in Vermont, defeating Herbert G. Lewin of the Internationalist Workers Party by a vote difference of 199–66 in the LUP primary, which socialists use to gauge the relative strength of their campaigns.{{cite journal |title=No Vermont Presidential Primary |date=June 24, 1991 |journal=Ballot Access News |volume=7 |issue=4 |url=http://www.ballot-access.org/1991/06-24-91.pdf }} They hoped to spread their ideas, finding some similarities to the goals of Jesse Jackson's campaign, with significant differences regarding the military and intelligence agencies, and faulted him for, in their opinion, attracting more people to the Democratic Party.{{cite news |title=Willa Kenoyer assesses Jackson's candidacy |newspaper=Ludington Daily News |date=April 28, 1988 |page=2 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=qZELAAAAIBAJ&pg=6720,9301380 |access-date=January 17, 2010 }} The Democratic party's ultimate nominee Michael Dukakis and platform were criticized by the campaign.{{cite news |title=Socialists strive to get candidates on state ballots |newspaper=The Spokesman-Review |date=July 25, 1988 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=xx0SAAAAIBAJ&pg=5760,5965922 |access-date=January 17, 2010 }}

Kenoyer and Ehrenreich received 3,882 votes in the election.{{cite book |title=We Will Be Heard: Women's Struggles for Political Power in the United States |last=Freeman |first=Jo |year=2008 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |location=Lanham, MD |isbn=978-0-7425-5607-2 |page=[https://archive.org/details/wewillbeheardwom0000free/page/96 96] |url=https://archive.org/details/wewillbeheardwom0000free/page/96 }} At the time she was working as a freelance journalist in Shelby, Michigan,{{cite news |title=Socialists nominate 2 for '88 |newspaper=The Day [New London, CT] |date=June 9, 1987 |page=A2 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Ne0gAAAAIBAJ&pg=3760,1942612 |access-date=January 17, 2010 }}e.g. "Shelby Complex is Still Vacant" Muskegon Chronicle August 2, 1981. and had been a co-chair of the Citizens Party.[https://www.nytimes.com/1987/06/09/us/writer-and-teacher-to-head-socialist-s-ticket-for-1988.html?pagewanted=1 "Writer and Teacher to Head Socialist's Ticket for 1988"] New York Times June 9, 1987. She was a divorced mother of four who learned about socialism from her father, a member of the Sawmill Workers. Her mother was a member of the Newspaper Guild.{{cite news |title=Socialists strive to get candidates on state ballots |newspaper=The Spokesman-Review |date=July 25, 1988 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=xx0SAAAAIBAJ&pg=5760,5965922 |access-date=January 17, 2010 }} Prior to running for President, she served a six-year term on the Economic Development Commission for Oceana County, Michigan, to which she was reappointed in 1987.{{cite news |title=In Oceana County: Commissioners reorganize |author=Brown, Janet |newspaper=Lundington Daily News |date=January 9, 1987 |page=3 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=mLcLAAAAIBAJ&pg=6792,460584 |access-date=January 17, 2010 }}

Later career

In 2004, she was appointed to the Van Buren County, Michigan Family Independence Agency Board. She was reappointed for a term expiring in October 2009.[http://www.michigan.gov/documents/dhs/DHS_Bd_Appts_191671_7.pdf "Udow Announces Local DHS Board Appointments] Michigan Department of Human Services. March 30, 2007. Kenoyer died on 28 March 2020, at the age of 86.{{Cite web |title=Willa Kenoyer Obituary (2020) - Corvallis, OR - Corvallis Gazette-Times |url=https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/gazettetimes/name/willa-kenoyer-obituary?id=13504447 |access-date=2024-11-26 |website=Legacy.com}}

References

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