Robert Andrew Crawford Wells (born April 10, 1968) is an American politician and former college

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach. He was the head football coach at

Savannah State University Savannah State University (SSU) is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically black university in Savannah, Georgia, United States. It is the oldest historically black public university in the state. Th ...

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Brita ...

for the 2008 and 2009 seasons. Wells unsuccessfully sought the Constitution Party's nomination for President of the United States in the 2012 presidential election. He ran as an independent in the 2016 presidential election. He was a candidate in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries. In January 2024, Wells ran in

Virginia's 6th congressional district Virginia's sixth congressional district is a List of United States congressional districts, United States congressional district in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It covers much of the west-central portion of the state, including Roanoke, Virg ...

as an independent.

College football career

Wells played football at

Furman University Furman University is a private university in Greenville, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1826 and named after Baptist pastor Richard Furman, the Liberal arts college, liberal arts university is the oldest private institution of higher l ...

, playing fullback and wide receiver. He was a member of the 1988

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

Division I-AA national championship team.

Coaching career

Wells coached football from 1990 to 2009. He began his career as an assistant coach at Greer High School in

Greer, South Carolina Greer is a city in Greenville County, South Carolina, Greenville and Spartanburg County, South Carolina, Spartanburg counties in the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 35,308, making ...

from 1990 to 1994. He served as the head football coach at C. E. Murray High School in Greeleyville, South Carolina from 1995 to 1997. Wells moved to the

University of South Carolina The University of South Carolina (USC, SC, or Carolina) is a Public university, public research university in Columbia, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1801 as South Carolina College, It is the flagship of the University of South Car ...

as a

graduate assistant A graduate assistant serves in a support role at a university, usually while completing post-graduate education. The assistant typically helps professors with instructional responsibilities as teaching assistants or with academic research resp ...

for four seasons. He worked with the defensive backs (1998–1999) and middle linebackers (2000). Wells moved on to become the defensive coordinator at South Carolina State University in 2002. His Bulldogs defenses attained numerous national rankings and contributed to a

Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC ) is a List of NCAA conferences, collegiate athletic conference whose full members are historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and the Mid-A ...

(MEAC) championship in 2004. In 2006, Wells was hired as the general manager for the Augusta Spartans arena football team where his duties included coaching, player personnel decisions, player development, team travel, fund raising and media relations. Wells' final position before joining Savannah State was as the defensive coordinator and football marketing director for one season at

Benedict College Benedict College is a private historically black college in Columbia, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1870 by northern Baptists, it was originally a teachers' college. It has since expanded to offer majors in many disciplines across ...

Columbia, South Carolina Columbia is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is List of municipalities in South Carolina, the second-mo ...

Savannah State

Wells was hired as head football coach on . In his first season as head coach, the team saw as many victories as the previous four seasons combined. Wells resigned his position on January 28, 2010, citing personal reasons. He subsequently filed a lawsuit against SSU for

reverse discrimination Reverse discrimination is a term used to describe discrimination against members of a dominant or majority group, in favor of members of a minority or historically disadvantaged group. Reverse discrimination based on race or ethnicity is also c ...

, alleging that his resignation as head coach was forced. The lawsuit was settled in November 2011.

Head coaching record

College

Electoral bids

2012

''See: Constitution Party National Convention'' On November 21, 2011, Wells announced his candidacy for President of the United States in the 2012 general election. He initially stated that he would run as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

, saying "Our party system is broken. We need a third option". In December, he became a candidate for the presidential nomination of the Reform Party. In January 2012, Wells withdrew his bid for the Reform Party nomination and announced that he would instead seek the presidential nomination of the Constitution Party. At the Constitution Party National Convention, Wells received 58 of 402 votes (14.39%) for the party's presidential nomination, which was won on the first ballot by former U.S. Congressman

Virgil Goode Virgil Hamlin Goode Jr. ( born October 17, 1946) is an American politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 5th congressional district of Virginia from 1997 to 2009. He was initially a Democrat, but beca ...

2016

Wells announced on November 3, 2012, that he would run for President of the United States again in

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

as an independent candidate. On July 17, 2013, he held a conference call to address a variety of accusations by his former campaign managers. On September 24, 2013, Wells announced that he would discontinue campaigning as an independent candidate and would instead seek the presidential nomination of the Democratic Party. On March 9, 2016, a press release on Wells' website claimed that Wells is no longer running as a Democrat, but as an independent once again.

2020

''See 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries'' In 2018, Wells filed with the

Federal Election Commission The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is an independent agency of the United States government that enforces U.S. campaign finance laws and oversees U.S. federal elections. Created in 1974 through amendments to the Federal Election Campaign ...

to run for President in the 2020 Democratic Party primary. He filed in person at the office of Secretary of State Bill Gardner to enter the New Hampshire Democratic primary on November 13, 2019. He then went on to get on the ballot in the Texas and Louisiana Democratic primaries.

2024

In February 2024, Wells announced he would run for the United States House of Representatives in Virginia's 6th district. Wells was also available as a

write-in A write-in candidate is a candidate whose name does not appear on the ballot but seeks election by asking voters to cast a vote for the candidate by physically writing in the person's name on the ballot. Depending on electoral law it may be poss ...

presidential candidate in eight states along with vice-presidential running mate (and Party Partyhttps://www.partyparty.vote/ founder) Tony Jones. The Wells/Jones Party Party ticket had

ballot access Ballot access is rules and procedures regulating the right to candidacy, the conditions under which a candidate, political party, or ballot measure is entitled to appear on voters' ballots in elections in the United States. The jurisprudence o ...

Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...

(4 electors) and appeared in the fourth slot on the 2024 Rhode Island presidential ballot.https://vote.sos.ri.gov/Candidates/CandidateSearchSummary?OfficeType=790&Election=18061https://independentpoliticalreport.com/2024/08/rhode-islands-party-party-begins-returning-petitions-for-ballot-access/

References

External links

Official 2024 presidential campaign website

Official 2020 presidential campaign website

Official 2016 presidential campaign website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wells, Robby 1968 births Living people American athlete-politicians Furman Paladins football players Savannah State Tigers football coaches South Carolina Gamecocks football coaches South Carolina State Bulldogs football coaches High school football coaches in South Carolina Candidates in the 2012 United States presidential election Candidates in the 2016 United States presidential election Candidates in the 2020 United States presidential election Candidates in the 2024 United States presidential election Georgia (U.S. state) Democrats North Carolina Constitutionalists North Carolina Democrats North Carolina independents Reform Party of the United States of America politicians University of South Carolina alumni People from Jefferson County, Georgia Coaches of American football from Georgia (U.S. state) Players of American football from Georgia (U.S. state)