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Jimmy McMillan | |
|---|---|
.jpg) McMillan in 2011 | |
| Chairman and leader of theRent Is Too Damn High Party | |
| Assumed office 2005 | |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1946-12-01)December 1, 1946 (age 78) |
| Political party | Rent Is Too Damn High Party |
| Other political affiliations | Republican Democratic (formerly) |
| Children | 2 |
| Residence(s) | Flatbush, Brooklyn, New York City, U.S. |
| Occupation | Political activist Perennial candidate Pilot |
James McMillan III (born December 1, 1946)[1] is an American political activist andVietnam War veteran. He was aperennial candidate in New York City.
McMillan is best known as the founder of theRent Is Too Damn High Party, a New York–based political party. McMillan ran for office at least six times since 1993, most notably in the2010 New York gubernatorial election.[2][3] He declared in December 2010 that he would run in the2012 U.S. presidential election as a Republican. He did not appear on the ballot in any state and suspended his campaign to return to the Rent Is Too Damn High Party and run forMayor of New York City in the2013 election. He attempted to run for governor again in the2014 election but did not make the ballot.
McMillan announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination for President of the United States in the 2016 election,[4] but withdrew from the campaign on December 9, 2015. He subsequently announced that he was retiring from politics[5] before endorsing Republican candidateDonald Trump.[6] The Rent Is Too Damn High Party website announced that McMillan would come out of retirement to make a fourth run for governor.[7] His petitions were challenged and ruled invalid in September 2018.
Originally fromNew Smyrna Beach, Florida,[8] McMillan served in theU.S. Army during theVietnam War after which he briefly spent time in the 1970s as anR&B recording artist.[9] He graduated from Barkley Private Security Investigations Academy[where?] prior to 1993.[10]
McMillan's first run for political office came in1993, when he ran forMayor of New York on the Rent Is Too Damn High ticket. In the course of that campaign, McMillan was at one point tied to a tree and doused with gasoline;[11] he later climbed theBrooklyn Bridge and refused to come down from it unless television stations broadcast his message.[12] He was disqualified from the ballot for coming 300 petition signatures short of the 7,500 needed to qualify for the general election ballot.
McMillan next ran forGovernor of New York in1994 by traveling from his home in Brooklyn throughupstate New York to Buffalo on foot, staying in homeless shelters along the way; he had planned to walk back to Brooklyn, but an injury in Rochester led to him taking a bus home.[13] When he arrived in Buffalo, the site of the state Democratic convention, McMillan disrupted a speech by incumbent GovernorMario Cuomo at the convention and was thrown out because of it.[14] After failing to collect enough signatures to get onto the ballot, he continued in awrite-in campaign.
McMillan ran for theUnited States Senate in the2000 election in New York but was removed from the ballot.[15]
McMillan qualified for the November general election ballot for Mayor of New York City in2005 and2009.[16][17] In 2005, he received over 4,111 votes (0.32%)[18] and in 2009, he received 2,332 votes (0.2%).[19]
McMillan received 13,355 votes (0.3%) in the2006 gubernatorial election, coming fifth out of six candidates.[20]
For the 2010 campaign, McMillan filed petitions to appear on the Democratic primary ballot and the Rent Is Too Damn High line. However, he put very little effort into the Democratic petitions, and the vast majority of the 13,350 signatures bearing his name were collected byRandy Credico, who had partnered with McMillan for a joint Democratic petition.[21] Credico had counted on McMillan to collect 10,000 signatures to put his total at over 20,000, above the 15,000 required to get onto the ballot, but McMillan never followed through, leaving both candidates short of the necessary signatures to force a Democratic primary againststate Attorney GeneralAndrew Cuomo, who was thus unopposed. Credico, in response, called McMillan a "jack-off" and a "sorry ass", accusing him of "working against me", "turn[ing] in a wagonload of blank pages and then [leaving] Albany in brand new automobiles."[22] McMillan did file the necessary signatures to get onto the "Rent Is 2 Damn High" line; the petitions were technically invalid because they did not include a lieutenant governor candidate, but McMillan was allowed onto the ballot anyway because nobody challenged the petitions.
During an appearance at a 2010 gubernatorial debate in which McMillan figured prominently, he stated his views on gay marriage, by saying "The Rent Is Too Damn High Party believes that if you want to marry a shoe, I'll marry you." After the debate, McMillan garnered significant attention from the media. TheDemocratic nominee, Andrew Cuomo responded to one of his statements during this appearance by saying "I'm with Jimmy; the rentis too damn high." The appearance inspired a song byThe Gregory Brothers.[23][24][25]
McMillan, perceived by many as aprotest vote, garnered 41,129 votes (0.88%), enough to finish in fifth place out of seven, compared to winning Andrew Cuomo's 2.5 million votes and second-placeCarl Paladino's 1.4 million votes. McMillan gained almost as many votes asLibertarian Party candidateWarren Redlich (48,359 votes), and nearly double the votes of Anti-Prohibition Party candidateKristin M. Davis (20,421 votes).[26][27][25]
Regarding his use of black gloves during the debate, "I'm a war vet," McMillan said. "Don't forget I was inVietnam for two and half years and I have threeBronze Stars, but the chemicals ofAgent Orange—dioxin and a lot of other chemicals mixed up—I would get sick. When I get home tonight, I know I'm not going to be able to breathe if I take them off. It could be psychological, I don't know, but I just put em on and wear them anyway."[28]
McMillan's gubernatorial campaign was the subject of an independent, feature-length documentary titledDAMN!.[29] Filmmakers Aaron Fisher-Cohen and Kristian Almgren documented McMillan throughout his campaign for Governor of New York, as well as the events immediately following McMillan's loss of the election. The film was an official selection at theLittle Rock Film Festival in Arkansas, as well as at theBrooklyn Film Festival, but did not officially premiere until August 2011.[30][31]
McMillan was a registered member of theDemocratic Party.[32] Then, on December 23, 2010, he said that he would switch parties and run as aRepublican in the 2012 U.S. presidential election, to avoid a primary challenge from PresidentBarack Obama.[33] He also campaigned with performance artist and activistVermin Supreme and appeared as Supreme's presidential running mate in the 2014 documentary about Supreme's 2012 presidential campaign,Who Is Vermin Supreme? An Outsider Odyssey, directed by Steve Onderick. McMillan and Supreme made a pact, each agreeing to act as vice president for the other if either were elected.[34][35] He believes that his greatest political strengths include a mastery of social media, an ability to pinch pennies, and inimitable political vision.[36]
McMillan appeared at theConservative Political Action Conference in February 2011.[37] He also appeared at Northeastern University in March 2011, through the Political Science Student Association, where he discussed key issues. McMillan campaigned during theOccupy Wall Street protests, criticizing the protesters for voting for the wrong person but defending the protesters' right to protest. On November 15, 2011, McMillan held court on the 23rd floor of theFinancial Industry Regulatory Authority offices kibbitzing with his legal staff and media representatives.[38] McMillan was the keynote speaker at Occupy Tenafly onMay Day 2012. There, he told protesters that college tuition is also "too damn high".
He was not invited to any of theRepublican debates and did not appear on any primary ballots. However, he did appear in a debate against comedian Connor Ratliff onThe Chris Gethard Show, a public access program in New York City. Ratliff was also running for president on the platform of him being old enough to be elected president. On September 13, 2012, McMillan suspended his candidacy to run forMayor of New York City in the2013 election, and endorsed President Barack Obama.[39]
McMillan announced his fourth campaign forMayor of New York City on September 13, 2012. On April 24, 2013, McMillan released a song and video called "Rent Is Too Damn High" on YouTube. In the song, McMillan raps about the problems of the American economy. In one part of the song, he says, "Rent and the deficit is too damn high. Poverty and unemployment both up in the sky. Wages and education is too damn low, economic recovery is too damn slow." McMillan's video received over 300,000 views in its two first days after being uploaded.[40][41]
McMillan endorsedAnthony Weiner in the Democratic primary.[42] In the general election, McMillan received 1,990 votes (0.18%).
On May 22, 2014, McMillan announced his intentions to again run for Governor of New York.[43] However, his petition to be on the ballot was challenged, and he was later thrown off the ballot by the state board of elections, which claimed his petition contained too many photocopied pages to meet the signature threshold.[44][45]
Subsequently, McMillan endorsed the Libertarian Party candidate,Michael McDermott, for governor.[46]
McMillan ran forNew York City Council in 2017 as a Republican/Rent Is Too Damn High fusion ticket.[47] He lost toCarlina Rivera, a Democrat, finishing second with 12% of the vote,[48] beating out three other candidates of various parties includingLiberal andGreen.
McMillan announced another run for governor in 2018, accusing then-incumbentAndrew Cuomo and theMoreland Commission of violating federal civil rights laws.[7] He submitted his petitions on August 21.[49] They were challenged and ruled invalid in September.[50]
McMillan's political positions are largelypopulist:
Originally fromNew Smyrna Beach, Florida, McMillan is single and has two adult children. McMillan claims his eldest child, a daughter, developed disabilities as a result of his exposure toAgent Orange. His younger son (James McMillan IV) served in the U.S. military.[8] The elder McMillan served in theUnited States Army during theVietnam War. After his time in Vietnam, he briefly spent time in the 1970s as an R&B recording artist; he claims to have spent a brief time atBrunswick Records before leaving the label to do independent work.[9] McMillan graduated from Barkley Private Security Investigations Academy prior to 1993.[10] McMillan has worked as amale stripper,[61] and considersDeep Throat his favorite film.[62]
According to a 2010 interview with theNew York Times, McMillan did not pay rent on aFlatbush apartment he was claiming as his residence and had not done so since the 1980s. His landlord apparently allowed him to reside in his apartment for free inexchange for performing maintenance work on his apartment building. He had previously told theWall Street Journal that he paid rent of $800 a month for his apartment. He paid the rent for an apartment McMillan shared with his son in theEast Village inManhattan, which was $900 per month under rent controls.[63] The landlord of the East Village apartment was moving to evict McMillan on the grounds that McMillan lived in the Flatbush apartment and not in the East Village one; McMillan, who held the East Village apartment lease since 1977, claimed that the Flatbush apartment was not his residence but instead an office for the Rent Is Too Damn High Party.[64]
As of October 2022, McMillan was living in a nursing home in Queens.[65]
McMillan was portrayed byKenan Thompson in theWeekend Update segment of the sketch comedy showSaturday Night Live on October 23, 2010. Thompson, as McMillan, kept saying "the rent is too damn high" in response to most of the questions put to him. He also referred to himself as abilly goat and "the blackLorax," and said that, if elected, he would be the country's "last black President." The real McMillan praised the portrayal, saying that "that put me over the top... this election is over. Jimmy's gonna win it."[66]
A character parodying McMillan was portrayed in Season 3 Episode 7 ofRick and Morty, "The Ricklantis Mixup".
McMillan's tagline has been quoted by several prominent New Yorkers, includingRitchie Torres[67] andMatthew Yglesias.
McMillan guest starred in the music video for "Punx Not Dead, I Am" byMorning Glory.[68]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican/Liberal | Michael Bloomberg | 678,444 | 52.6 | ||
| Independence | Michael Bloomberg | 74,645 | 5.8 | ||
| Total | Michael Bloomberg (incumbent) | 753,089 | 58.4 | +8.1 | |
| Democratic | Fernando Ferrer | 503,219 | 39.0 | −8.9 | |
| Conservative | Thomas Ognibene | 14,630 | 1.1 | +0.9 | |
| Green | Anthony Gronowicz | 8,297 | 0.6 | +0.1 | |
| Rent Is Too Damn High | Jimmy McMillan | 4,111 | 0.3 | +0.3 | |
| Libertarian | Audrey Silk | 2,888 | 0.2 | +0.1 | |
| Socialist Workers | Martin Koppel | 2,256 | 0.2 | +0.2 | |
| Education | Seth Blum | 1,176 | 0.1 | +0.1 | |
| Write-Ins | 269 | 0.02 | +0.02 | ||
| Majority | 249,870 | 19.4 | +17.0 | ||
| Turnout | 1,289,935 | ||||
| Republicanhold | Swing | +8.5 | |||
| 2006 gubernatorial election in New York[70] | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Running mate | Votes | Percentage | Swing | |
| Democratic | Eliot Spitzer | 2,740,864 | 58.34% |  26.84% | ||
| Independence | Eliot Spitzer | 190,661 | 4.06% |  10.22% | ||
| Working Families | Eliot Spitzer | 155,184 | 3.30% | 1.32% | ||
| Total | Eliot Spitzer | David Paterson | 3,086,709 | 65.70% | 32.20% | |
| Republican | John Faso | 1,105,681 | 23.54% | 22.00% | ||
| Conservative | John Faso | 168,654 | 3.59% | 0.27% | ||
| Total | John Faso | C. Scott Vanderhoef | 1,274,335 | 27.12% | 22.28% | |
| Green | Malachy McCourt | Brian Jones | 42,166 | 0.89% | 0.02% | |
| Libertarian | John Clifton | Chris Edes | 14,736 | 0.31% | 0.20% | |
| Rent Is Too Damn High | Jimmy McMillan | None | 13,355 | 0.28% | N/A | |
| Socialist Workers | Maura DeLuca | Ben O'Shaughnessy | 5,919 | 0.13% | N/A | |
| Blank, Void, Scattering | 116,622 | 5.55% | ||||
| Majority | 1,812,374 | 38.58% | 22.68% | |||
| Totals | 4,437,220 | 100.00% | ||||
| Democraticgain fromRepublican | Swing | |||||
| 2009 general election | party | Manhattan | The Bronx | Brooklyn | Queens | Staten Island | Total | % |
| Bloomberg's margin overMark Green (2001) | – 22,777 | – 21,683 | – 28,182 | + 46,904 | + 61,227 | + 35,489 | + 2.4% | |
| change in Bloomberg's margin of victory, 2001–2005 | + 98,973 | – 19,634 | + 97,622 | + 48,125 | – 10,705 | + 214,381 | + 17.0% | |
| Bloomberg's margin overFernando Ferrer (2005) | + 76,196 | – 41,317 | + 69,440 | + 95,029 | + 50,522 | + 249,870 | + 19.4% | |
| change in Bloomberg's margin of victory, 2005–2009 | – 35,010 | + 6,268 | – 91,392 | – 59,742 | – 19,397 | – 199,273 | – 15.0% | |
| Bloomberg's margin over Bill Thompson (2009) | + 41,186 | – 35,049 | – 21,952 | +35,287 | + 31,125 | + 50,597 | + 4.4% | |
| net change in Bloomberg's margin, 2001–2009 | + 63,963 | – 13,366 | + 6,230 | – 11,617 | – 30,102 | + 15,108 | + 2.0% | |
| Michael R. Bloomberg | Republican | 102,903 | 42,066 | 117,706 | 126,569 | 46,149 | 435,393 | 37.7% |
| 35.9% | 29.0% | 34.6% | 42.3% | 55.4% | ||||
| Independence/Jobs & Education | 56,934 | 11,730 | 36,033 | 36,364 | 9,012 | 150,073 | 13.0% | |
| 19.9% | 8.1% | 10.6% | 12.2% | 10.8% | ||||
| Total | 159,837 | 53,796 | 153,739 | 162,933 | 55,161 | 585,466 | 50.7% | |
| 55.8% | 37.0% | 45.1% | 54.5% | 66.2% | ||||
| Bill Thompson | Democratic | 110,975 | 86,899 | 163,230 | 122,935 | 22,956 | 506,995 | 43.9% |
| 38.7% | 59.8% | 47.9% | 41.1% | 27.5% | ||||
| Working Families Party | 7,676 | 1,946 | 12,461 | 4,711 | 1,080 | 27,874 | 2.4% | |
| 2.7% | 1.3% | 3.7% | 1.6% | 1.3% | ||||
| Total | 118,651 | 88,845 | 175,691 | 127,646 | 24,036 | 534,869 | 46.3% | |
| 41.4% | 61.2% | 51.6% | 42.7% | 28.8% | ||||
| Stephen Christopher | Conservative | 2,217 | 1,480 | 5,690 | 5,267 | 3,359 | 18,013 | 1.6% |
| 0.8% | 1.0% | 1.7% | 1.8% | 4.0% | ||||
| Billy Talen | Green | 3,083 | 434 | 3,338 | 1,680 | 367 | 8,902 | 0.8% |
| 1.1% | 0.3% | 1.0% | 0.6% | 0.4% | ||||
| Jimmy McMillan | Rent Is Too High | 823 | 217 | 764 | 404 | 124 | 2,332 | 0.2% |
| Francisca Villar | Socialism & Liberation | 674 | 253 | 577 | 420 | 72 | 1,996 | 0.2% |
| Joseph Dobrian | Libertarian | 556 | 104 | 413 | 388 | 155 | 1,616 | 0.1% |
| Dan Fein | Socialist Workers | 493 | 120 | 376 | 263 | 59 | 1,311 | 0.1% |
| Joseph Leon Reuben-Levy Simon | Twenty-Four Party | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Write-ins † | 100 | 30 | 77 | 60 | 30 | 297 | .03% | |
| Total recorded votes | 286,434 | 145,279 | 340,665 | 299,061 | 83,363 | 1,154,802 | 100.00% | |
| unrecorded ballots | 5,172 | 3,659 | 6,645 | 6,254 | 1,525 | 23,255 | ||
| Total ballots cast | 291,606 | 148,938 | 347,310 | 305,315 | 84,888 | 1,178,057 | ||
| †The three candidates who received more than 7 write-in votes each wereC. Montgomery Burns (Homer Simpson's fictional boss), 27; City CouncilmanTony Avella (who lost the Democratic mayoral primary), 13; and former MayorRudy Giuliani (Republican), 11. | ||||||||
| Source:Board of Elections in the City of New YorkArchived 2010-01-06 at theWayback Machine, November 24, 2009[71] | ||||||||
| Gubernatorial election in New York, 2010[72] | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Running mate | Votes | Percentage | Swing | |
| Democratic | Andrew Cuomo | 2,609,465 | 56.52% | 1.82% | ||
| Working Families | Andrew Cuomo | 154,835 | 3.35% | 0.05% | ||
| Independence | Andrew Cuomo | 146,576 | 3.17% | 0.89% | ||
| Total | Andrew Cuomo | Robert Duffy | 2,910,876 | 63.05% | 2.65% | |
| Republican | Carl Paladino | 1,289,817 | 27.94% | 4.40% | ||
| Conservative | Carl Paladino | 232,215 | 5.03% | 1.44% | ||
| Taxpayers | Carl Paladino | 25,825 | 0.56% | |||
| Total | Carl Paladino | Greg Edwards | 1,547,857 | 33.53% | 6.41% | |
| Green | Howie Hawkins | Gloria Mattera | 59,906 | 1.30% | 0.41% | |
| Libertarian | Warren Redlich | Alden Link | 48,359 | 1.05% | 0.74% | |
| Rent Is Too Damn High | Jimmy McMillan | James D. Schultz | 41,129 | 0.89% | 0.61% | |
| Freedom | Charles Barron | Eva M. Doyle | 24,571 | 0.53% | ||
| Anti-Prohibition | Kristin M. Davis | Tanya Gendelman | 20,421 | 0.44% | ||
| Scattering | 4,836 | 0.10% | N/A | |||
| Majority | 1,363,019 | 29.52% | 9.06% | |||
| Totals | 4,769,741 | 100.00% | ||||
| Democratic hold | ||||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Bill de Blasio | 753,039 | 69.23% | +25.3% | |
| Working Families | Bill de Blasio | 42,640 | 3.92% | +1.5% | |
| Total | Bill de Blasio | 795,679 | 73.15% | +26.9% | |
| Republican | Joe Lhota | 236,212 | 21.72% | −16.0% | |
| Conservative | Joe Lhota | 24,888 | 2.29% | +0.7% | |
| Taxes 2 High | Joe Lhota | 2,500 | 0.23% | N/A | |
| Students First | Joe Lhota | 820 | 0.08% | N/A | |
| Total | Joe Lhota | 264,420 | 24.31% | −26.4% | |
| Independence | Adolfo Carrion | 8,675 | 0.80% | −12.2% | |
| Green | Anthony Gronowicz | 4,983 | 0.46% | −0.3% | |
| Jobs & Education | Jack Hidary | 2,922 | 0.27% | N/A | |
| Common Sense | Jack Hidary | 718 | 0.07% | N/A | |
| Total | Jack Hidary | 3,640 | 0.33% | N/A | |
| Rent Is Too Damn High | Jimmy McMillan | 1,990 | 0.18% | 0.0% | |
| School Choice | Erick Salgado | 1,946 | 0.18% | N/A | |
| Libertarian | Michael Sanchez | 1,746 | 0.16% | +0.1% | |
| Socialist Workers | Dan Fein | 758 | 0.07% | 0.0% | |
| Tax Wall Street | Randy Credico | 690 | 0.06% | N/A | |
| Freedom Party | Michael K. Greys | 575 | 0.05% | N/A | |
| Reform | Carl Person | 306 | 0.03% | N/A | |
| Affordable Tomorrow | Joseph Melaragno | 289 | 0.03% | N/A | |
| War Veterans | Sam Sloan | 166 | 0.02% | ||
| Flourish Every Person | Michael J. Dilger | 55 | 0.01% | N/A | |
| Write-in | 1,792 | 0.16% | N/A | ||
| Total votes | 1,087,710 | 100.00% | N/A | ||
| Democraticgain fromIndependent | Swing | 53.2% | |||
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