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Nader Chooses Former SF Pol as Running Mate

Green Party stalwart Matt Gonzalez rounds out independent ticket

By Amy Wilkinson,  Newser User

Posted Feb 28, 2008 4:35 PM CST
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(Newser) – Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader today selected Matt Gonzalez as his running mate, the San Francisco Business Times reports. Gonzalez, 42, was elected San Francisco supervisor on the Green Party ticket in 2000, with the famously hippy Haight-Ashbury neighborhood part of his district. A last-minute campaign for mayor in 2003 saw him lose by less than 15,000 votes.

Dubbed a "floppy-haired, slump-shouldered champion of the counterculture" by the Christian Science Monitor, Gonzalez championed a boost in minimum wage, didn't own a car and played bass in a band. "I have no illusions about what's happening here today," Gonzalez said of the ticket's chances, though "I've never entered a political contest with the idea that it couldn't be won."

Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader, accompanied by Matt Gonzalez, right, announces his selection of Gonzalez, a former member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, to be his running mate. (AP Photo/Lawrence Jackson)
Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader, accompanied by Matt Gonzalez, right, announces his selection of Gonzalez, a former member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, to be his running mate....   (Associated Press)
Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader announces his selection of Matt Gonzalez, a former member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, not shown, to be his running mate, during a news conference at the National Press Club in Washington. (AP Photo/Lawrence Jackson)
Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader announces his selection of Matt Gonzalez, a former member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, not shown, to be his running mate, during a news conference...   (Associated Press)
Matt Gonzalez, a former member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, speaks at the National Press Club in Washington. (AP Photo/Lawrence Jackson)
Matt Gonzalez, a former member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, speaks at the National Press Club in Washington. (AP Photo/Lawrence Jackson)   (Associated Press)
Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader, right, announces his selection of Matt Gonzalez, a former member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, left, to be his running mate. (AP Photo/Lawrence Jackson)
Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader, right, announces his selection of Matt Gonzalez, a former member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, left, to be his running mate. (AP Photo/Lawrence...   (Associated Press)
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Gonzalez's law firm web site
Gonzalez & Leigh LLP

Gonzalez's mayoral campaign web site
Matt Gonzalez for Mayor of San Francisco

Editorial board interview with Gonzalez
San Francisco Chronicle

Mayoral candidate profile
San Francisco Chronicle

 
San Francisco • candidacy • candidate • Ralph Nader • independent presidential candidates • third party candidacy • presidential candidates • running mate • Election 2008 • Independent Party • Matt Gonzalez

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