Alyson Kennedy is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 politician, a member of the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) and was the party's candidate for vice president

Vice President of the United States

The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...

 in the 2008 United States presidential election

United States presidential election, 2008

The United States presidential election of 2008 was the 56th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on November 4, 2008. Democrat Barack Obama, then the junior United States Senator from Illinois, defeated Republican John McCain, the senior U.S. Senator from Arizona. Obama received 365...

. The ticket campaigned for young voters especially. At the head of the ticket were two different candidates, Roger Calero

Róger Calero

Róger Calero is a Nicaraguan American journalist and one of the leaders of the Socialist Workers Party. He was SWP candidate for President of the United States in 2004 and 2008, and for the United States Senate in New York in 2006....

 and James Harris

James Harris (politician)

James Harris is an African American communist politician and member of the National Committee of the Socialist Workers Party. He was the party's candidate for President of the United States in 1996 receiving 8,463 votes and again in 2000 when his ticket received 7,378 votes...

; Harris was an alternate in some states because Calero was Constitutionally ineligible because he is a lawful permanent resident of the United States (holding a green card

United States Permanent Resident Card

United States lawful permanent residency refers to a person's immigration status: the person is authorized to live and work in the United States of America on a permanent basis....

), and not a US Citizen. They were the first pair to qualify for the ballot in Louisiana

Louisiana

Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...

  Calero/Kennedy won 5,127 votes and Harris/Kennedy 2,424.

Originally from Indianapolis

Indianapolis

Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...

, Kennedy joined the socialist movement in 1973 in Louisville, Kentucky

Louisville, Kentucky

Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...

. She has worked in coal mines in Alabama, Colorado, Utah, and West Virginia. In 1977 she ran as the SWP candidate for mayor of Cleveland, Ohio

Cleveland, Ohio

Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...

 against incumbent Republican Ralph Perk, garnering 1,225 votes and losing by a wide margin to Dennis Kucinich

Dennis Kucinich

Dennis John Kucinich is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1997. He was furthermore a candidate for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in the 2004 and 2008 presidential elections....

. She first joined the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) in 1981, and was one of the leaders of a strike in Utah

Utah

Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...

 2004, also being involved in litigation. In 2000, she ran for United States Senate

United States Senate

The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

 as a certified write-in candidate

Write-in candidate

A write-in candidate is a candidate in an election whose name does not appear on the ballot, but for whom voters may vote nonetheless by writing in the person's name. Some states and local jurisdictions allow a voter to affix a sticker with a write-in candidate's name on it to the ballot in lieu...

 in a race prompted by the death of candidate and former Governor of Missouri Mel Carnahan

Mel Carnahan

Melvin Eugene "Mel" Carnahan was an American politician. A Democrat, he served as the 51st Governor of Missouri from 1993 to 2000. He died in a plane crash on the Pevely and Hillsboro, Missouri border during a campaign for the U.S...

. Kennedy is currently employed as a garment worker.

External links

• "Alyson Kennedy, Socialist Workers Party candidate for U.S. vice president", The Militant, 14 January 2008 (accessed 15 February 2008).