Theodora “Tonie” Nathan

Theodora Nathalia "Tonie" Nathan was the first woman and the first Jewish person to have received an electoral vote in a United States presidential election, as the 1972 vice presidential nominee of the Libertarian Party.

Nathan was born February 9, 1923, in New York City. She owned an insurance agency, a music publishing firm and a decorating service in California before moving to Oregon. She earned a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Oregon in 1971, then worked as a radio and television producer.

Nathan was a founding member of the Libertarian Party, and their vice presidential nominee in the 1972 presidential election along with presidential candidate John Hospers. In the general election, Hospers and Nathan received only 3,674 official votes, but a Republican elector from Virginia chose to vote for Hospers and Nathan instead of Nixon and Agnew, making Nathan the first woman and the first Jewish person to receive an electoral vote in a U.S. presidential election.

Following her vice-presidential run, Nathan was a Libertarian candidate for several offices, including the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. She was a speaker at the 2012 Libertarian National Convention, where she announced Gary Johnson as the 2012 Libertarian Party presidential nominee

Nathan died on March 20, 2014.

Source:

Archives West (n.d.). Tonie Nathan papers, 1930-2011. Retrieved on Feb. 25, 2020, from http://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:/80444/xv04113.