By Cathi Coppinger
This interesting tidbit of news came to me from Steph out in North Carolina! Last week we talked about Hillary Clinton becoming the first female to run for President and that wasn’t exactly correct! In 1872, Victoria Woodhull ran as the first woman for President of the United States of America, representing the Equal Rights Party, supporting suffrage and equal rights. Just days before the election, she was arrested on obscenity charges for publishing an account of an adulterous affair of a prominent minister. Consequently, she did not receive any electoral votes.
In 1884 and 1888, Belva Lockwood ran for President as a candidate for the National Equal Rights Party, her running mate was also a woman. It is believed that she won 4100 votes in 1884, but since women were not allowed to vote, it was believed that there was an error. She petitioned Congress to have her votes counted in 1885 stating she had evidence that voters had seen their ballots tore up after voting.
So, Hillary is the first female to run for a major party and actually stand a chance!
