Richard Vincent Campagna (born May 5, 1952) of

Iowa City, Iowa Iowa City is the largest city in Johnson County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. At the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the population was 74,828, making it the state's List of cities in Iowa, fifth-most populous c ...

is an American political figure who was the vice-presidential running mate of Michael Badnarik of the Libertarian Party in the 2004 U.S. presidential election.

Early life, education, and career

Richard Campagna is from

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 ...

, and grew up in the Midwood section of

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

. Campagna has degrees from

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

(BA),

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

(MA), St. John's University (JD), and

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

(MA), and a PhD. After completing his undergraduate degree from Brown University, where he majored in political science, he enrolled at both St. John's University School of Law and New York University for a master's in Latin American Studies. In the mid-1970s, he practiced in

Caracas, Venezuela Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...

and

Paris, France Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

with companies like Ford and Schlumberger, Ltd. In the roles of Latin American counsel and international counsel for the latter. He oversaw legal operations in approximately 190 countries. After returning to the United States in the early 1980s, he worked as lead counsel for the

Motion Picture Association The Motion Picture Association (MPA) is an American trade association representing the Major film studios, five major film studios of the Cinema of the United States, United States, the Major film studios#Mini-majors, mini-major Amazon MGM Stud ...

under movie mogul Jack Valenti. Richard then served as general counsel for Fairchild Camera and Instruments in

Mountain View, California Mountain View is a city in Santa Clara County, California, United States, part of the San Francisco Bay Area. Named for its views of the Santa Cruz Mountains, the population was 82,376 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Mountain V ...

before they headed back east to New York City in the mid 1980's. He and his wife, also an attorney, started their own international legal consulting firm in the early-1990s, and Richard also wrote and published travel books during this time. After moving to

in the early 1990s, he completed doctoral coursework at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...

. He is a consultant in a range of fields, including psychological counseling, legal advisement, teaching, interpretation, and stress management consulting. Richard also participated on the Columbia University's Alumni Council.

Politics

In 2002, Campagna ran on the Libertarian Party ticket for lieutenant governor of

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

with gubernatorial candidate Clyde Cleveland. Together they placed fourth, receiving 13,098 votes, 1.3% of the total votes cast. In mid-2003, Campagna became the first candidate to enter the race for the Libertarian Party's vice-presidential nomination (the Libertarian party chooses its presidential and vice-presidential nominees in the convention on separate ballots). He defeated his closest competitor, Missouri libertarian Tamara Millay, on the first ballot at the May 2004 Libertarian National Convention, which selected Michael Badnarik as the Libertarian Party presidential nominee. The ticket of Badnarik and Campagna placed fourth in the 2004 presidential election, receiving just under 400,000 votes nationwide and no electoral votes.

Personal

Campagna lives in

with his wife, Odalys. He is an active proponent of existentialism.

References

https://www.tc.columbia.edu/articles/2005/march/richard-campagna/ https://lpedia.org/wiki/Richard_Campagna

External links

Biography by the Libertarian Party of Iowa
{{DEFAULTSORT:Campagna, Richard 21st-century American politicians Brown University alumni Columbia University alumni Iowa Libertarians Libertarian Party (United States) vice presidential nominees Living people Midwood High School alumni New York University Graduate School of Arts and Science alumni Politicians from Iowa City, Iowa St. John's University (New York City) alumni 2004 United States vice-presidential candidates 1952 births