Lost Elections

Updated July 24, 2020 | Infoplease Staff

The Question:

What candidate has run in the most U.S. presidential elections?

The Answer:

American socialist Norman M. Thomas entered and lost presidential elections in 1928, 1932, 1936, 1940, 1944, and 1948. He received his greatest number of votes (880,000) in 1932.

Thomas-who took over the leadership of the American socialist party in 1926 after the death of Eugene V. Debs-also lost elections for governor of New York (1924, 1938) and mayor of New York City (1925, 1929). Thomas died in 1968.

-The Editors

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