Richard V. Campagna of

Iowa City, Iowa Iowa City, offically the City of Iowa City is a city in Johnson County, Iowa, United States. It is the home of the University of Iowa and county seat of Johnson County, at the center of the Iowa City Metropolitan Statistical Area. At the tim ...

was the vice-presidential running mate of

Michael Badnarik Michael J. Badnarik ( ; August 1, 1954 – August 11, 2022) was an American software engineer, political figure, and radio talk show host. He was the Libertarian Party nominee for President of the United States in the 2004 elections, and plac ...

of the

Libertarian Party Active parties by country Defunct parties by country Organizations associated with Libertarian parties See also * Liberal parties by country * List of libertarian organizations * Lists of political parties Lists of political part ...

in the 2004 U.S. presidential election.

Early life, education, and career

Campagna was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, and grew up in the

Midwood Midwood is a neighborhood in the south-central part of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is bounded on the north by the Bay Ridge Branch tracks just above Avenue I and by the Brooklyn College campus of the City University of New York, a ...

section of

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. Campagna has degrees from Brown University (B.A.),

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

(M.A.), St. John's University (J.D.), and

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

(M.A.), and a PhD from the American College of Metaphysical Theology. After graduation from Saint John's, he worked as lead counsel for the Motion Picture Association under movie mogul Jack Valenti. In addition to working as a lawyer, Campagna has been a psychologist, interpreter, college professor, and briefly owned and operated a specialty travel agency. He now works as a businessman, consultant, and attorney,

Politics

In 2002, Campagna ran on the

ticket for lieutenant governor of

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...

with gubernatorial candidate Clyde Cleveland. Together they placed fourth, receiving 13,098 votes, 1.3% of the total votes cast. In mid-2003, Campagna became the first candidate to enter the race for the Libertarian Party's vice-presidential nomination (the Libertarian party chooses its presidential and vice-presidential nominees in the convention on separate ballots). He defeated his closest competitor, Missouri libertarian

Tamara Millay The 2008 congressional elections in Missouri were held on November 4, 2008 to determine who will represent the state of Missouri in the United States House of Representatives. The primary election for candidates seeking the nomination of the Repu ...

, on the first ballot at the May 2004

Libertarian National Convention The Libertarian National Convention is held every two years by the Libertarian Party (United States) to choose members of the Libertarian National Committee (LNC), and to conduct other party business. In presidential election years, the conventi ...

, which selected

as the Libertarian Party presidential nominee. The ticket of Badnarik and Campagna placed fourth in the 2004 presidential election, receiving just under 400,000 votes nationwide and no electoral votes.

Personal

Campagna lives in

with his wife, Odalys. He is an active proponent of

existentialism Existentialism ( ) is a form of philosophical inquiry that explores the problem of human existence and centers on human thinking, feeling, and acting. Existentialist thinkers frequently explore issues related to the meaning, purpose, and valu ...

References

External links

Biography by the Libertarian Party of Iowa
{{DEFAULTSORT:Campagna, Richard 21st-century American politicians Brown University alumni Columbia University alumni Iowa Libertarians Libertarian Party (United States) vice presidential nominees Living people Midwood High School alumni New York University alumni Politicians from Iowa City, Iowa St. John's University (New York City) alumni 2004 United States vice-presidential candidates Year of birth missing (living people)