Uncle Mover, formerly known as Mike The Mover (born Michael Patrick Shanks, March 17, 1953), is an American

perennial candidate A perennial candidate is a political candidate who frequently runs for elected office and rarely, if ever, wins. Perennial candidates' existence lies in the fact that in some countries, there are no laws that limit a number of times a person can ...

and business owner from

Washington State Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

. Shanks legally changed his name to Mike the Mover in 1990 to help promote his furniture moving business.

Politics

According to Mover, he has run for public office more than 17 times but has never been elected. 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 of his company's annual revenue came from name familiarity generated by his ballot appearances. Never endorsed by a political party, he has sought office as both a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

and a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

. In the 2014 election for U.S. Congress from

Washington's 1st congressional district Washington's 1st congressional district encompasses the majority of Whatcom, Skagit, and Snohomish counties, as well as nearly one-third of King County. The eastern edge of the district follows county lines from the Canada–US border down to ...

, Mover, a

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

enthusiast, 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). Changing his name again to Uncle Mover, Mover filed to run for U.S. Senate in 2016.

Personal life

Mike the Mover grew up as one of twelve children born to Richard and Patricia Shanks. His father was the former Mayor of Lake City prior to it becoming part of

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

in the 1950s. Mover resides in

Snohomish County Snohomish County () is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. With a population of 827,957 as of the 2020 census, it is the third-most populous county in Washington, after nearby King and Pierce counties, and the 75th-most populous ...

near

Lynnwood, Washington Lynnwood is a city in Snohomish County, Washington, United States. The city is part of the Seattle metropolitan area and is located north of Seattle and south of Everett, near the junction of Interstate 5 and Interstate 405. It is the fou ...

. 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.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mover, Uncle 1953 births Living people People from Snohomish County, Washington Reform Party of the United States of America politicians Washington (state) Democrats Washington (state) Republicans

Politics

Personal life

See also

References