Alice Raatama Tripp (August 22, 1918 - September 11, 2014) was an American anti-

power line An overhead power line is a structure used in electric power transmission and Electric power distribution, distribution to transmit electrical energy along large distances. It consists of one or more electrical conductor, conductors (commonly mu ...

activist, English teacher, and farmer who ran for

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

in the 1980 Democratic party presidential primary, receiving two delegates at the convention. Tripp also ran for

Governor of Minnesota The governor of Minnesota is the head of government of the U.S. state of Minnesota, leading the state's executive branch. Forty people have been governor of Minnesota, though historically there were also three governors of Minnesota Territory ...

in the 1978 election as a primary challenger to incumbent governor

Rudy Perpich Rudolph George Perpich Sr. (born Rudolph George Prpić; June 27, 1928 September 21, 1995) was an American politician who served as the governor of Minnesota from 1976 to 1979 and again from 1983 to 1991. A member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor ...

but was defeated.

Early life and career

Alice Raattama Tripp was born on August 22, 1918, in

Nashwauk, Minnesota Nashwauk ( ) is a town in Itasca County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 970 at the 2020 census. U.S. Highway 169 and Minnesota State Highway 65 are two of the main routes in Nashwauk. Geography According to the United States Ce ...

to Finnish and Swedish immigrant, Republican parents. She attended Hibbing Junior College where she fell in love with her chemistry lab partner, John Tripp. The couple married in 1942 after Tripp graduated from

Lawrence College Lawrence College may refer to: * Lawrence College Ghora Gali, a boarding school in Punjab, Pakistan * Lawrence University, a private liberal arts college in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States, named "Lawrence College" from 1913 until 1964 * Sarah L ...

. The couple briefly lived in Detroit and Chicago before moving back to Minnesota and buying a 250-acre farm in 1957. She taught English in Belgrade, Minnesota for over ten years.

Anti-power line movement

In the early 1970s, the proposed CU Powerline would have cut across 8,000 acres of farmland in

North Dakota North Dakota ( ) is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota people, Dakota and Sioux peoples. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minneso ...

and

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

, which caused much controversy in rural areas. In an April 1978 poll, the ''

Minneapolis Tribune ''The Minnesota Star Tribune'', formerly the ''Minneapolis Star Tribune'', is an American daily newspaper based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. As of 2023, it is Minnesota's largest newspaper and the seventh-largest in the United States by circula ...

'' asked Minnesotans whether they sided with the farmers or the utilities. Sixty-three percent said they sided with the farmers. Among rural Minnesotans, support for the farmers ran at 70 percent. Tripp led opposition to the power line and campaigned against it, supported by Karen Clark. In order to gain publicity, she performed stunts such as presenting an armed

state trooper State police, provincial police or regional police are a type of sub-national territorial police force found in nations organized as federations, typically in North America, South Asia, and Oceania. These forces typically have jurisdiction ...

with flowers and throwing snow into a

cement truck A concrete mixer (also cement mixer) is a device that homogeneously combines cement, Construction aggregate, aggregate (e.g. sand or gravel), and water to form concrete. A typical concrete mixer uses a revolving drum to mix the components. For ...

to delay construction. While campaigning against the power line, she was arrested three times, being known to resist arrest. Tripp was a member of the

National People's Action People's Action is a national progressive advocacy and political organization in the United States made up of 40 organizations in 30 states. The group's stated goal is to "build the power of poor and working people, in rural, suburban, and urban ...

group. The CU Powerline became fully operational in August 1979.

Personal life

Tripp passed away on September 11, 2014. She was married to her husband until he died of a heart-irregularity in 2005.

Political campaigns

1978 gubernatorial campaign

leftist Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social hierarchies. Left-wing politi ...

, Tripp ran for

in the 1978 election as a primary challenger to incumbent governor

as part of her anti-power line activism, she received a total of 19.96%, performing well in rural areas and winning over 97,000 thousand votes despite spending only $5,000 on her campaign. Her running mate was

Carleton College Carleton College ( ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Northfield, Minnesota, United States. Founded in 1866, the main campus is between Northfield and the approximately Carleton ...

physics professor, Mike Casper. The Democratic Party of Pope County had encouraged her to run and endorsed her campaign, she finished with nearly 44% in the county. She campaigned on anti-war sentiment, abortion rights, and women's rights.

1980 presidential campaign

In 1980, Tripp ran for

in the Democratic Party primary in order to garner support for the anti-power line movement. She was unable to gain the required number of delegate signatures and endorsed

Ron Dellums Ronald Vernie Dellums (November 24, 1935 – July 30, 2018) was an American politician who served as Mayor of Oakland from 2007 to 2011. He had previously served thirteen terms as a Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California ...

and spoke in his support at the

1980 Democratic National Convention The 1980 Democratic National Convention nominated President Jimmy Carter and Vice President Walter Mondale for reelection. The convention was held in Madison Square Garden in New York City from August 11 to August 14, 1980. The 1980 convention ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. She received votes of two delegates at the convention.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tripp, Alice 1917 births 2014 deaths American activists 20th-century American women politicians 20th-century American politicians