David Duke 1988 Presidential Campaign

In 1988, David Duke unsuccessfully ran for the presidency of the United States. Duke, a perennial Democratic candidate and Grand Wizard in the Ku Klux Klan announced his intention to seek Democratic nomination for 1988 presidential election on June 8, 1987.

Duke faced opposition from the Democratic Party and appeared on the primary ballot only in a few states. Duke was excluded from the primary debates and lost multiple lawsuits regarding his debate inclusion. His best performance in the Democratic primaries was 3.74% of the popular vote in the Louisiana primary although he did win the New Hampshire vice-presidential primary, but he had mistakenly filed for the vice-presidential primary believing that it had binding delegates.

Duke switched parties and became the presidential candidate for the Populist Party after former Representative George V. Hansen had rejected the party's nomination. Bo Gritz was initially selected to serve as his vice-presidential running mate, but withdrew as he had been told that Representative James Traficant was given the presidential nomination not Duke. Floyd Parker was selected to replace Gritz as Duke's running mate. Duke received 47,047 votes in the general election worth 0.05% of the popular vote.

After his presidential campaign Duke joined the Republican Party and was elected to the Louisiana House of Representatives. He ran for United States Senate as a Republican in 1990, 1996, and 2016. He also ran in the 1991 gubernatorial election and in the 1999 special election in Louisiana's 1st congressional district. Duke later ran for president again in the 1992 Republican primary.

Campaign

Background

David Duke became the Grand Wizard of the white supremacist Knights of the Ku Klux Klan in 1974 and held the position until 1980. He ran for a seat in the Louisiana State Senate in 1975 and 1979, but lost both times. He left the Ku Klux Klan in 1980, after he was accused of trying to sell the organization's mailing list for $35,000. He founded the National Association for the Advancement of White People and served as its president after leaving the Klan.

He ran for the Democratic presidential nomination during the 1980 presidential election. Despite being six years younger than the required 35 years of age to run for president, Duke attempted to place his name onto the ballot in twelve states stating that he wanted to be a power broker who could "select issues and form a platform representing the majority of this country" at the Democratic National Convention.

Announcement

On June 8, 1987, Duke, standing beside around thirty supporters, announced on the steps of the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta, Georgia, that he would run for the Democratic nomination for president. Duke had attempted to announce his campaign at two Atlanta hotels, but his reservation at both were cancelled as the hotel management stated that his appearance posed a threat to their safety. His candidacy was attacked with Paul G. Kirk, the Democratic National Committee chairman, stating that Duke's attempt at the party's nomination was "fraud on the process and the public", and that they would attempt to prevent him from gaining primary ballot access. Kirk compared Duke's candidacy to that of Lyndon LaRouche's many attempts at the Democratic nomination and how the Democratic Party had fought against LaRouche during his presidential campaigns as well.

Democratic primaries

Shortly after his announcement Duke appeared on an Atlanta WSGT radio station which caused multiple protests around the station and call-ins meant to disrupt the radio station. A week later he pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of obstruction of a roadway from when he was involved in an incident during a civil rights march in Forsyth County in January.

Duke and Representative Pat Schroeder were excluded from a primary debate hosted on Firing Line and sponsored by PBS. He filed a lawsuit in US district court claiming that he was unfairly excluded from the debate, but it was rejected by Judge Gabrielle Kirk McDonald who stated that Duke had failed to pursue his lawsuit after filing it. When he was excluded from a debate hosted at Tulane University, he filed a lawsuit, but lost in two federal court cases and the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals refused to stop the debate until Duke pressed his lawsuit further. He filed another lawsuit against the Democratic Party for not allowing him to participate at the debate at Tulane University stating that his right to freedom of speech was violated which was worth $100 million due to his demands of $10,000 for every registered Democratic voter in Louisiana, $1 million for his presidential committee, and $10,000 for each day he was denied "his candidacy equal rights". However, it was dismissed by a New Orleans federal judge in March 1988.

When Duke registered to appear on the New Hampshire presidential primary ballot, he attempted to hold two press conferences at the New Hampshire State House, but both failed due to a lack of media coverage. Republican presidential candidate Jack Kemp registered to appear on the ballot, becoming the first major candidate to do so, and held a press conference. Duke yelled "What are you going to do to end the massive racial discrimination against white people in America? When are you going to end affirmative action, which is a racial program discriminating against white people?" at Kemp while he was attempting to leave the room. Kemp told Duke that "I'm not a racist and I don't appreciate you asking!". Afterwards Duke held another press conference which received media coverage.

Duke attempted to speak before the Oklahoma Senate

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