John Wolfe Jr.

John McConnell Wolfe Jr. (April 21, 1954 – September 4, 2023) was an American attorney and perennial political candidate. He was the Democratic nominee for Tennessee's 3rd Congressional District in 2002 and 2004. He was best known for having challenged President Barack Obama for the Democratic Party's 2012 presidential nomination. He ultimately emerged as the most successful challenger, receiving the second-highest number of delegates (23) and popular votes (116,639).

Political campaigns Wolfe made an unsuccessful bid in 1998 for the Democratic congressional nomination in Tennessee's 3rd district. and was again defeated, this time acquiring 33% of the vote.

Wolfe was fined $10,000 in 2008 after he failed to file a fourth-quarter campaign finance disclosure report for his 2007 State Senate campaign with the state as required by law. and lost to Chuck Fleischmann 57%-28%.

Wolfe also made two runs for the Democratic presidential primaries, in 2012 and in 2016.

Congressional campaigns

1998 congressional campaign In 1998 Wolfe ran, unsuccessfully, in the Democratic primary for Tennessee's 3rd congressional district.

2002 congressional campaign In the 2002 race for Tennessee's 3rd district, Wolfe was the Democratic challenger to incumbent Republican Zach Wamp. Wolfe ultimately lost to Wamp.

Below is the result of the general election

2004 congressional campaign Campaign finances Detailed below are the FEC-filed finances of his 2004 congressional campaign committee as of 12/31/2008 Several candidates had withdrawn prior to the primary, including Tom Humphrey, Paula Flowers of Oak Ridge (a former member of Governor Phil Bredesen's cabinet), and Brent Benedict (who was the 2006 Democratic nominee for the 3rd district).

Below is the result of the general election: 2010 election for Tennessee's 3rd congressional district PartyCandidateVotesPercentage RepublicanChuck Fleischmann 92,032 56.79% Democratic John Wolfe Jr 45,387 28.00% Independent Savas T. Kyriakidis 17,077 10.54% Independent Mark DeVol 5,773 3.56% Independent Don Barkman 811 0.50% Independent Gregory C. Goodwin 380 0.24% Independent Robert Humphries 380 0.24% Independent Mo Kiah 216 0.13% Totals 162,056 100.00%

Presidential campaigns

2012 presidential campaign Reception Wolfe took part in the New Hampshire "lesser known candidates forum" in December 2011. He qualified for the ballot in the New Hampshire Democratic primary, in which he received 246 votes, 0.4% of the vote total. In addition to New Hampshire, Louisiana and Arkansas.

In the Louisiana primary, Wolfe polled 11.83% which qualified him to earn a minimum of three delegates to the 2012 Democratic National Convention. Following the primary, officials of the Democratic Party of Louisiana announced that Wolfe was ineligible for the delegates he had apparently won because, according to the party officials, Wolfe had not properly complied with the party's qualification requirements. In response, Wolfe filed a lawsuit against the party, disputing the claim that he did not qualify to receive the delegates. A poll conducted by Hendrix College of Democrats in Arkansas's 4th congressional district showed Wolfe within seven points of Obama there. Wolfe finished second in that primary, garnering 41.6% of the vote. He filed a legal action to have delegates seated at the 2012 Democratic National Convention.

Wolfe contested the Texas Democratic primary, garnering 5.05 percent of the vote, winning one county (Borden County) and tying in another (Sherman County). No delegates were at stake in the contest.

Wolfe lost his court case one week before the convention, and as a result, neither he nor any other candidates other than Obama had their delegates seated.

After Wolfe lost the primary, his name appeared on the ballot in Idaho without his knowledge. Despite this, he did not attain any votes.

Below is a table of the results of primary competitions he competed in during the Democratic primaries.

+ Primaries and Caucus Results Date Contest Votes Place Percent Delegates(hard count) Delegates(floor count) Source(s) Jan 10 Feb 7 Missouri primary The Green Papers Louisiana primary The Green Papers May 22 Arkansas primary The Green Papers May 29 Texas primary The Green PapersTotal

2016 presidential campaign

In November 2015, Wolfe filed for the Arkansas presidential primary.

Below is a table of the results of primary competitions he competed in during the Democratic primaries.

+ Primaries and Caucus Results Date Contest Votes Place Percent Delegates Source(s) Feb 9 The Green Papers March 1 Arkansas primary The Green Papers March 5 Louisiana primary The Green Papers Missouri primary The Green Papers June 7 California primary Total The Green Papers

Senate campaign John Wolfe also announced a run for the United States Senate representing Tennessee on a platform of universal healthcare, increasing the minimum wage, the protection and expansion of social security and withdrawing from Syria. He was interviewed on two E Pluribus Unum's Fireside Chats, a Political podcast run by the YouTube Channel E Pluribus Unum

Results

Personal life and death

Wolfe lived in Chattanooga, Tennessee.