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Hughes-Meyer 2012
Hughes2012
Campaign 2012 U.S. presidential election
2012 U.S. primary elections
Candidate Stuart Hughes
Governor of Michigan

Selina Meyer
U.S. Senator from Maryland

Status Announced: May 27, 2011

Official Nominee: August 30, 2012 Won election: November 6, 2012

Key people Ben Cafferty (chief of staff)
Kent Davison (senior strategist)

Stuart Hughes, the 47th Governor of Michigan, announced his candidacy for the party's nomination for President of the United States on May 27, 2011. He became the party's presumptive nominee with his victory in the Texas primary on May 29, 2012.

On August 14, 2012, Hughes announced that Senator Selina Meyer of Maryland, would be his running mate for vice president. Hughes and Meyer accepted the party nomination for president and vice president at the 2012 National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. They won the election held on November 6, 2012, and were inaugurated on January 21, 2013.

Campaign[]

See also: 2012 United States presidential primaries

Hughes announced his candidacy on May 27, 2011, and instantly became a frontrunner. He participated in all five primary debates.

Primaries[]

Hughes won the Iowa caucuses held on January 3, 2012. Hughes was defeated in the New Hampshire primary on January 10, 2012. Hughes came in first place on Super Tuesday.

S6stills 0082

Senator Meyer talking with Chief of Staff Ben Cafferty about becoming Hughes's running mate

Sometime before the 2012 National Convention, Hughes was able to clinch the nomination and, during a tenuous hotel conference, met with Meyer to be his running mate. She agreed, and joined the ticket, becoming the fourth woman nominated by a major political party for the vice presidency.

Campaign staff and policy team[]

  • Ben Cafferty, campaign manager and chief of staff.
  • Kent Davidson, chief strategist

General election[]

In the general election campaign, Meyer became bitter with Hughes' senior strategist Kent Davison, primarily for forcing Meyer to appear more familial with her ex-husband Andrew, including a trip going river rafting, where Meyer at night had to hear "Andrew banging that skank on the riverbank". It was later revealed that Andrew's firm funded both sides in the general election.

Meyer would later recall the vice presidential debate in the election, against her vice presidential challenger Abraham Buttrick: "[It] consisted mostly of his extended recounting of his time as a POW in Vietnam and the terrible things that were done to him during it, which I was too respectful of the sacrifices of our brave men and women in uniform to interrupt but which didn't seem to help his side much."

Hughes and Meyer ultimately won the election. On the night of the victory, Davison put Andrew on stage, with Meyer angry because it was her night, according to Meyer.

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