John Wolfe Jr.
Personal details
Born	John McConnell Wolfe Jr. (1954-04-21)April 21, 1954 Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.
Died	September 4, 2023(2023-09-04) (aged 69)
Political party	Democratic
Residence	Chattanooga, Tennessee
Alma mater	University of Tennessee(B.A.) Memphis State University(J.D.)

John McConnell Wolfe Jr. (April 21, 1954 – September 4, 2023) was an American attorney andperennial political candidate. He was theDemocratic nominee forTennessee's 3rd Congressional District in 2002 and 2004. He was best known for having challengedPresidentBarack Obama for theDemocratic Party's2012 presidential nomination. He ultimately emerged as the most successful challenger, receiving the second-highest number of delegates (23) and popular votes (116,639).^[1][2]

Wolfe made an unsuccessful bid in1998 for the Democratic congressional nomination inTennessee's 3rd district.^[1] In 2001, he ran forMayor of Chattanooga, Tennessee, and received 2.8% of the vote in that race, which was won byBob Corker.^[1] In2002, he lost a second congressional bid in the 3rd District to then-U.S. RepresentativeZach Wamp, and garnered 34% of the vote as the Democratic nominee.^[1] Wolfe faced Wamp again in a 2004 congressional rematch,^[3] and was again defeated, this time acquiring 33% of the vote.^[1] In 2007, he ran unsuccessfully in aspecial election for aTennessee State Senate seat.^[1][4]

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.^[1] In2010, he ran for Congress in Tennessee's 3rd district,^[5] and lost toChuck Fleischmann 57%-28%.^[6]

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

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

In the 2002 race forTennessee's 3rd district, Wolfe was theDemocratic challenger to incumbentRepublicanZach Wamp. Wolfe ultimately lost to Wamp.

Below is the result of the general election

In 2004 Wolfe again was nominated to run against Wamp for Tennessee's 3rd congressional district.^[3] Wolfe lost again. Wolfe, however, was able to garner a greater number of votes but a smaller percent of the vote in 2004 than he had in 2002.

Below is the result of the general election

Detailed below are theFEC-filed finances of his 2004 congressional campaign committee as of 12/31/2008^[8]

John McConnel Wolfe Jr for Congress

Campaign	2010 US congressional elections, Tennessee's 3rd district
Candidate	John Wolfe Jr.

In 2010 Wolfe again ran for Congress inTennessee's 3rd congressional district.^[5] He ultimately lost toChuck Fleischmann 57% to 28%.^[6]

Wolfe faced three other candidates for the Democratic nomination. The three other candidates on the August 2010 Democratic primary ballots were Alicia Mitchel of Oak Ridge, Brenda Freeman Short of East Ridge, and Brent Staton of Chattanooga.^[10] Several candidates had withdrawn prior to the primary, including Tom Humphrey,^[11][12] Paula Flowers of Oak Ridge (a former member of GovernorPhil Bredesen's cabinet), and Brent Benedict (who was the 2006 Democratic nominee for the 3rd district).^[13]

Below is the result of the general election:

Wolfe 2012

Campaign	2012 United States presidential election
Candidate	John Wolfe Jr.
Affiliation	Democratic Party
Headquarters	3815 Forest Highlands Drive, Chattanooga, TN 37415[8]

Wikinews has related news:

• Wikinews interviews John Wolfe, Democratic Party presidential challenger to Barack Obama

Wolfe supported a return to theGlass-Steagall Act to separate speculative activity from commercial banking. He favored the use ofAnti-Trust Laws to reduce the size of "megabanks", and proposed a tax onfinancial derivatives. He also proposed an "Alternate Federal Reserve" which would loan to community banks, small business, and individuals, as opposed to theFederal Reserve Bank, which, Wolfe contended, serves primarily the interests of the six largest banks. Wolfe was also a critic of theAffordable Care Act, saying that it is oriented primarily toward helping the insurance and pharmaceutical companies. Instead, he supportedMedicare for All.^[15]

Wolfe took part in theNew Hampshire "lesser known candidates forum" in December 2011.^[16] He qualified for the ballot in theNew Hampshire Democratic primary, in which he received 246 votes, 0.4% of the vote total. In addition to New Hampshire,^[1] he qualified for presidential primary ballots in the states ofMissouri,^[17]Louisiana^[18] andArkansas.^[19]

In theLouisiana primary, Wolfe polled 11.83%^[20] which qualified him to earn a minimum of threedelegates to the2012 Democratic National Convention.^[18][21][22] Following the primary, officials of theDemocratic 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.^[23][24] In response, Wolfe filed a lawsuit against the party, disputing the claim that he did not qualify to receive the delegates.^[23][24]

Following incumbent PresidentBarack Obama's narrower-than-expected primary win inWest Virginia, where convicted felonKeith Russell Judd finished a strong second as aprotest vote, press began to speculate on the possibility of Wolfe, who lacks Judd's criminal record, possibly contending and even winning the state of Arkansas.^[25] A poll conducted byHendrix College of Democrats inArkansas's 4th congressional district showed Wolfe within seven points of Obama there.^[26] Wolfe finished second in that primary, garnering 41.6% of the vote.^[27] He filed a legal action to have delegates seated at the2012 Democratic National Convention.^[28]

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.^[29]

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.^[30][31]

After Wolfe lost the primary, his name appeared on the ballot inIdaho^[32] without his knowledge.^[33] Despite this, he did not attain any votes.

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

In November 2015, Wolfe filed for the Arkansas presidential primary.^[34]

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

John Wolfe also announced a run for theUnited States Senate representingTennessee on a platform ofuniversal healthcare, increasing the minimum wage, the protection and expansion of social security and withdrawing fromSyria.^[35] He was interviewed on twoE Pluribus Unum's Fireside Chats, aPolitical podcast run by theYouTube ChannelE Pluribus Unum^[36][37]

Wikimedia Commons has media related toJohn Wolfe Jr..

Wolfe lived inChattanooga, Tennessee.^[1] He never married and had no children. He died September 4, 2023, at the age of 69.^[38]

• John Wolfe for America, official 2012 campaign site
• Extremely Unofficial John Wolfe Jr. for President 2012 Page
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• 1954 births
• 2023 deaths
• Politicians from Chattanooga, Tennessee
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• Candidates in the 2012 United States presidential election
• Candidates in the 2016 United States presidential election
• Candidates in the 2018 United States Senate elections
• University of Memphis alumni
• University of Tennessee alumni

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