Thomas Conrad Hoefling (born December 20, 1960) is an American activist and politician, who was the founder and national chairman of America's Party.[1] Hoefling was the party's 2012 and 2016presidential nominee, after seeking the nomination of the Constitution and American Independent parties.[2][3] Currently a member of the Republican Party, Hoefling has served as political director for Alan Keyes' political group America's Revival and as a representative for the American Conservative Coalition.[4][5]
Career
Presidential campaigns (2012, 2016)
Tom Hoefling
In August 2012, the ballot-qualified American Independent Party nominated Hoefling as its candidate for president of the U.S.[6]
Hoefling was on the ballot in California, Colorado, and Florida. He was filed as a qualified write-in candidate in Alaska,[7] Connecticut,[8] Delaware, Illinois, Indiana,[9] Kentucky, Michigan, Montana,[10] Ohio, Texas, and West Virginia. Hoefling received 40,624 votes in the general election, or 0.03%, coming in eighth place nationally out of 27 candidates who were on the ballot in at least one state.[11]
Hoefling appeared on the ballot in Maryland for the 2020 United States presidential election.[12] During the 2020 election, Hoefling received attention when the The Salt Lake Tribune compared his campaign to Kanye West's 2020 effort to appear on the ballot in Utah, as Hoefling centered his campaign against "the abortion holocaust" and describing himself as a "no compromise" pro-life candidate.[13]
Iowa gubernatorial campaign (2013)
In December 2013, Hoefling announced his bid for the Republican nomination for governor of Iowa in the 2014 election.[14] He lost the nomination to incumbent Republican Governor Terry Branstad.
Positions
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (February 2024)
Donald Trump
Donald Trump is not the greatest man in the world. In fact, he is the worst man in the world. He is the worst man, by far, to ever step foot onto the public stage in America. No one else is even close.[15]
Hoefling's opposition to Trump can be traced back to the 2016 Republican Party presidential primaries when he highlighted Trump's 2000 bid for president and denounced him as a liberal and that "Trump Republicans are for all practical purposes liberals, no matter what they say."[18] He also called efforts by Republicans to promote Trump as the lesser of two evils between Hillary Clinton as "impractical" and called Trump "crass" "unprincipled" and accused him of being a "liberal friend" and "financial backer" of Clinton.[19] After Trump was named the nominee he called all his campaign points "false promises" specifically targeting his pro-capital punishment stance, and his ambiguous position on abortion.[20][21]
^"Archived copy". www.statementofvote-sots.ct.gov. Archived from the original on 11 August 2016. Retrieved 17 January 2022.((cite web)): CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
