Andrew Verne Marrou (; December 4, 1938) is an American politician who served in the
Alaska House of Representatives from the 5th district as a member of the
Libertarian Party from 1985 to 1987. He was the Libertarian vice-presidential nominee in the
1988 election and presidential nominee in the
1992 election.
Marrou was born in
Nixon, Texas, and educated at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...
. He lived in Massachusetts until he moved to Alaska in 1973. He joined the
Alaska Libertarian Party in 1976, and became its vice chair. He unsuccessfully sought a seat in the state house in 1982, before being elected in 1984, but lost reelection.
Early life
Andrew Verne Marrou was born in
Nixon, Texas, on December 4, 1938, to Andrew Noil Marrou. He graduated from San Marcos High School and considered becoming a
Methodist
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...
minister. He was one of the first people to receive a
National Merit Scholarship and graduated from the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...
with a bachelor's degree in 1962.
He was given the nickname Andre by French roommates at MIT.
Marrou was a member of the
United States Coast Guard Auxiliary in Massachusetts and
Civil Air Patrol
Civil Air Patrol (CAP) is a Congressional charter, congressionally chartered, federally supported Nonprofit corporation, non-profit corporation that serves as the official civilian auxiliaries, auxiliary of the United States Air Force (USAF). CA ...
in Alaska.
He lived in Boston until he moved to Alaska in 1973.
Marrou joined the
Libertarian Party in September 1976 after being handed a brochure in Anchorage. He became vice chair of the
Alaska Libertarian Party. He moved to
Homer
Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...
and established a Libertarian affiliate there. They moved onto
Perl Island in 1978, before returning to Homer in 1980.
In 1986, he moved to
Las Vegas
Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...
,
Nevada
Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...
, where he worked as a real estate broker.
Career
Alaska House of Representatives
Marrou ran for Seat B from the 5th district in the
Alaska House of Representatives in 1982, but placed second out of three candidates. He was elected to the state house in 1984, after defeating incumbent Republican Representative Milo Fritz by 56 votes. Marrou was the third Libertarian member of the state house after
Dick Randolph and
Ken Fanning.
Marrou spent $21,600 during the campaign, with television advertising costing $10,150. Fritz asked Lieutenant Governor
Steve McAlpine to decertify Marrou's victory claiming that Marrou knowingly lied on his conflict-of-interest form, but McAlpine declined. Marrou lost reelection to Democratic nominee C.E. Swackhammer in 1986.
Marrou declined to join the Democratic and Republican caucuses.
During his tenure in the state legislature he served on the Community and Regional Affairs and Transportation committees. He introduced more bills than any other member of the state house, but only one was passed.
Vice presidential campaign

In February 1987, Marrou announced at the
Libertarian Party of California's state convention that he would seek the party's vice presidential nomination. John Vernon nominated Marrou for the presidential nomination, but he declined. Three delegates voted for him on the presidential ballot.
Ron Paul
Ronald Ernest Paul (born August 20, 1935) is an American author, activist, and politician who served as the U.S. representative for Texas's 22nd congressional district from 1976 to 1977, and again from 1979 to 1985, as well as for Texas' ...
won the presidential nomination while Marrou, after being nominated by
David Bergland and seconded by
Tonie Nathan and Michael Emerling, won the vice presidential nomination. Perry Willis was the chair of Marrou's vice-presidential campaign.
Marrou received one write-in vote in the New Hampshire Libertarian vice-presidential primary during the
1996 presidential election.
Irwin Schiff won with a plurality of write-in votes.
Presidential campaign
Marrou announced his presidential campaign to ''LP News'' and launched it on November 7, 1990, with
James A. Lewis as his campaign manager. He won the Libertarian presidential nomination for the
1992 presidential election at the
national convention
The National Convention () was the constituent assembly of the Kingdom of France for one day and the French First Republic for its first three years during the French Revolution, following the two-year National Constituent Assembly and the ...
on August 31, 1991. He wanted a woman to serve as his vice-presidential running mate and favored
Mary Ruwart, but she lost the nomination to
Nancy Lord.
Marrou spent $30,000 in New Hampshire during the 1992 primary.
He won the Libertarian presidential primary without opposition, received 99 write-in votes in the Republican votes, and 70 write-in votes in the Democratic primary. He received more votes in
Dixville Notch's
midnight vote than the winners of the Republican and Democratic primaries. He also won the California and Nebraska primaries without opposition.
Members of Marrou's campaign staff resign during the summer of 1992. Several of his former campaign staffers sought to have him removed as the party's presidential nominee because he had unpaid child support, could not enter Massachusetts without being arrested for outstanding contempt of court charges, claimed to have been married twice when it was in fact four times, investigated for campaign improprieties from his time in Alaska, was reportedly running up unpaid credit card bills in a campaign PAC's name without their approval, and was habitually months late in making his house payments. The national committee decided to take no action for fear it ruin the party's reputation.
Marrou meant to participate in a debate in Richmond, Virginia, with
Lenora Fulani and a representative for
Lyndon LaRouche
Lyndon Hermyle LaRouche Jr. (September 8, 1922 – February 12, 2019) was an American political activist who founded the LaRouche movement and its main organization, the National Caucus of Labor Committees (NCLC). He was a prominent conspiracy ...
on October 15. However, he had a commitment in California and was instead represented by Steve Givot.
Marrou wanted to accept
matching funds
Matching funds are funds that are set to be paid in proportion to funds available from other sources. Matching fund payments usually arise in situations of charity or public good. The terms cost sharing, in-kind, and matching can be used inter ...
as "it is a moral imperative that we reclaim looted tax money and use it to defend ourselves". However, he failed to qualify for the funds. He raised $824,168.00 and spent $830,840.00 during the campaign. He placed fourth in the election with 291,628 votes worth 0.28% of the popular vote.
Personal life
Marrou divorced four times.
He had two sons and adopted one with a wife he divorced in 1971. He married Norma Segal, the former chair of the
Libertarian Party of New York.
His brother is American television news personality and Judge
Chris Marrou.
Political positions
Marrou supports abolishing the
Internal Revenue Service
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting Taxation in the United States, U.S. federal taxes and administerin ...
,
Federal Reserve
The Federal Reserve System (often shortened to the Federal Reserve, or simply the Fed) is the central banking system of the United States. It was created on December 23, 1913, with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, after a series of ...
, and income tax.
He supports abortion and gay rights. He supported eliminating all
border restrictions. He supported repealing the
Merchant Marine Act of 1920 and eliminating all tariffs.
Marrou supported limiting members of the Alaska state house and senate to four two-year terms and two four-year terms respectively.
He proposed legislation to abolish the
Alaska Transportation Commission. He opposed legislation requiring
drivers to wear seatbelts.
Electoral history
References
Works cited
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
Short notes on members of the 1962 MIT class*
*
*
Andre Marrouat ''100 Years of Alaska's Legislature''
, -
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marrou, Andre
1938 births
Living people
1988 United States vice-presidential candidates
Alaska Libertarians
Candidates in the 1992 United States presidential election
Libertarian Party (United States) officeholders
Libertarian Party (United States) presidential nominees
Libertarian Party (United States) vice presidential nominees
Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni
Members of the Alaska House of Representatives
People from Homer, Alaska
People from Nixon, Texas
Politicians from San Antonio
Politicians from the Las Vegas Valley
20th-century members of the Alaska Legislature