NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Socialist Workers Party leaders John Benson and Susan LaMont, above, filed to put the party’s presidential ticket — Rachele Fruit for president and Dennis Richter for vice president — on the ballot July 8. They turned in the required 11 presidential electors and 774 signatures, well over the requirement of 275, at the Tennessee secretary of state office.
The signatures were gathered from working people throughout the state during a nine-day period in May. Supporters of Fruit campaigned in Nashville, Chattanooga, Memphis and Johnson City, talking to workers at grocery stores in the morning and knocking on doors in working-class neighborhoods in the early evening. They found a good response to the SWP’s call for a party of labor that would organize working people in their millions to fight year round to defend workers’ interests.
While in Memphis, Fruit met with members of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers Local 390G who had just ended a hard-fought strike at International Flavors and Fragrances. She also spoke with members of United Auto Workers Local 2406 at the General Motors ACDelco Parts Distribution Center who were on strike last October. Several endorsed her campaign.
Benson, organizer of the ballot effort, underlined the importance of a working-class alternative appearing on the ballot. “None of the other candidates are addressing the social and economic crisis facing working people,” he said.