Longtime San Francisco labor and anti-war activist Gloria La Riva (pictured at right) was chosen on August 1 as the Peace and Freedom Party nominee for U.S. President. The party’s state central committee cast 62 votes for La Riva and 3 votes for Howie Hawkins, with three abstentions. Anti-racist and disability rights advocate Sunil Freeman (pictured below at right) of Maryland was then chosen without opposition as the party’s nominee for Vice President.

La Riva received over two-thirds of the vote for the nomination in the March primary, but the State Central Committee’s action Saturday will officially place the La Riva/Freeman ticket on California’s November 2020 general election ballot. They will appear in a number of other states on the ballot lines of the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) and the Vermont Liberty Union Party.

Gloria La Riva said “We are honored to be the nominees of the Peace and Freedom Party. We are running not just to represent voters, but to represent the millions without the right to vote: undocumented immigrants, permanent residents, prisoners and parolees who are unable to cast a ballot. This is their country too.”

Kevin Akin of Riverside, the new California State Chair of the party, reports that the ticket expects to get more votes in California than in any other state. “It’s a clear way for a voter to show support for peace, socialism, and the immediate needs of the working class.”