Benjamin Calvin Bubar Jr. (June 17, 1917 – May 15, 1995), also known as Ben Bubar, was an ordained minister who was the youngest person ever to win election to the

Maine House of Representatives The Maine House of Representatives is the lower house of the Maine Legislature. The House consists of 151 voting members and three nonvoting members. The voting members represent an equal number of districts across the state and are elected via ...

at age twenty-one and served as the

Prohibition Party The Prohibition Party (PRO) is a Political parties in the United States, political party in the United States known for its historic opposition to the sale or consumption of alcoholic beverages and as an integral part of the temperance movemen ...

's presidential candidate in 1976 and 1980 and was the last elected official to do so until James Hedges in 2016.

Life

Benjamin Calvin Bubar Jr. was born on June 17, 1917, in Blaine, Maine to Benjamin Bubar Sr. and Mary Louise Heal. His father was the first ordained United Baptist minister in Maine and was active in politics. His father served as a member of the

, ran as an independent candidate in the 1936 gubernatorial election receiving 5,862 votes, and was a speaker at

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to KKK or Klan, is an American Protestant-led Christian terrorism, Christian extremist, white supremacist, Right-wing terrorism, far-right hate group. It was founded in 1865 during Reconstruction era, ...

rallies. On February 14, 1946, he married Virginia Ireland, with whom he had two children. He moved to China, Maine in 1952, and began working for the Maine Christian Civic League where he would serve as superintendent from 1954 to 1984. Bubar ran for a seat in the state house in the 1938 election, despite not being able to vote as his twenty-first birthday was three days after the primary election, as a member of the Republican Party. He and his three friends were critical of the incumbent, who was sixty years old, and drew straws to decide who should run against him with Bubar winning. He won in the election becoming the youngest person to serve in the state legislature and served from 1939 to 1945. He was serving as the chair of the

board of selectmen The select board or board of selectmen is commonly the Executive (government), executive arm of the government of New England towns in the United States. The board typically consists of three or five members, with or without staggered terms. Three ...

in his area by 1945. He created a weekly newspaper in

Mars Hill, Maine Mars Hill is a town in Aroostook County, Maine, Aroostook County, Maine, United States, nestled at the foot of Mars Hill (Maine), Mars Hill Mountain. The town borders Wicklow Parish, New Brunswick, Wicklow Parish, New Brunswick, Canada. The regio ...

, and later sold it. Bubar's father and grandfather had been members of the

and Bubar Sr. cast his first vote for a Prohibitionist candidate. Bubar joined the party in the 1950s. During the

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

and 1980 presidential elections he was the National Statesman Party's presidential nominee with chairman Earl Dodge as his vice presidential running mate and is the most recent nominee to receive over 10,000 votes. He was on the ballot in fourteen states in the 1976 election and campaigned in all of them, but was only on the ballot in eight states in the 1980 election and did not actively campaign due to a lack of funds. He criticized Dodge's leadership of the party and blamed him for its decreased support in presidential elections due to his mismanagement of funds and possible theft which would eventually result in him being ousted as chairman in 2003. Bubar died on May 15, 1995, in Waterville, Maine from a heart attack after suffering from

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor system, motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become ...

References

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bubar, Ben 1917 births 1995 deaths People from Aroostook County, Maine Temperance activists from Maine Maine Prohibitionists Republican Party members of the Maine House of Representatives Prohibition Party (United States) presidential nominees Candidates in the 1976 United States presidential election Candidates in the 1980 United States presidential election 20th-century members of the Maine Legislature