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Keith Russell Judd
Judd’s Mug shot, 2013
Born	(1958-05-23) May 23, 1958 (age 66) Pasadena, California, U.S.
Occupation	Perennial candidate
Criminal status	Supervised release
Criminal charge	Threatened extortion
Penalty	210 months in federal prison

Keith Russell Judd (born May 23, 1958) is an American convicted criminal and perennial candidate for political office. His nicknames include "Dark Priest" and "Mtr. President". He claims to have run for president of the United States in every election since 1996. In the 2012 Democratic primary in West Virginia, Judd won 41% of the vote against incumbent Barack Obama, then the highest single-state vote share that any of Obama's primary opponents had achieved in 2012.

Early life

Judd was born May 23, 1958, in Pasadena, California. He is married and has professed to be a Rasta-Christian. Judd has claimed to be a former member of the Federation of Super Heroes.

He has claimed to have run in every United States presidential election since 1996. He ran for mayor of Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1993 and 1997 and for the Republican nomination for Governor of New Mexico in 1994.

As of November 1997, Judd was listed as a third-year business student at the University of New Mexico (UNM).

As of 1999, he claimed to be self-employed as a musician and bandleader and to suffer from bipolar disorder.

Outside of his political campaigns and his music career, Judd has also occupied his time with vexatious litigation. At least two of his appeals have been considered by the Supreme Court of the United States. In a per curiam opinion in 1999, the Court noted that he had filed a dozen frivolous petitions for certiorari and extraordinary writs in the federal courts in the span of a few years.

Crime

In November 1992, Judd was arrested after threatening UNM administrators and student newspaper staff with guns and being questioned by the United States Secret Service related to the visit of a Vice Presidential candidate to the school. Judd was expelled from the school, banned from campus, had two guns confiscated and was committed to the UNM Hospital's mental health facility.

In 1999, Judd was convicted of two counts of "mailing a threatening communication with intent to extort money or something of value" and sentenced to 210 months (17½ years) in federal prison. The conviction has been falsely connected to litigation involving UNM which was a civil rights complaint he initiated. His actual crime involved postcards that stated "Send the money back now, Keith Judd, Last Chance or Dead." and a package containing a semen-stained Playboy, a knife inside the magazine, a key chain, and his father's military discharge papers. He also sent letters to jurors after his trial. He has appealed his conviction no fewer than 36 times, but each appeal has been dismissed for various reasons.

Judd was released in June 2013 on a supervised release program. In October, his probation office sought a warrant for his arrest for violating the terms of his supervision. He was sentenced to 12 months in prison, with another 24 months of supervised release. He has since been released a second time under supervision.

Presidential candidacies

As a perennial candidate, Judd has thrice run for president in the Democratic Party's primaries, in 2008, 2012 and 2016. Each time Judd has managed to qualify to be included on the ballot of at least one Democratic Party primary or caucus.

2008 Democratic presidential primary campaign

In the 2008 presidential election he filed to run as a Democrat in 14 states but only appeared on the ballot in Idaho.

Judd finished third in the May 27, 2008, non-binding Idaho Democratic presidential preference primary with 1.7 percent of the vote, behind Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. No delegates to the Democratic National Convention were at stake in the primary as Idaho's delegation was determined at the February 5 Democratic caucus, which Judd unsuccessfully contested.

Below is a table of Judd's performance in the primaries.

2012 Democratic presidential primary campaign

Judd filed to run for president again in the 2012 general election. Running again for the Democratic nomination, Judd only qualified for ballot status in the West Virginia primary. On May 8, 2012, Judd won 41% of the vote against incumbent Barack Obama, a higher percentage of the vote in one state than any other primary opponent of Obama had hitherto achieved in 2012 (a figure later surpassed by John Wolfe, Jr.'s showing in the Arkansas primary). While this showing would normally have entitled Judd to delegates at the 2012 Democratic National Convention, state officials expressed some uncertainty as to whether Judd had completed the required formalities, such as filing a slate of delegates and completing paperwork. Judd, who did not qualify for any other primary ballots, contested the ballot count, alleging that ballot workers suppressed the actual total (which he said showed him in the lead) in an effort to cover up an Obama loss.

Below is a table of Judd's performance in the primaries.

2016 Democratic presidential primary campaign

Judd sent a handwritten note to the FEC announcing his 2016 presidential candidacy as a Democrat on August 16, 2014. He filed his official documents with the FEC in September 2015. As of January 1, 2016, Judd had been officially added to the ballot in the Louisiana, Missouri, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, and Texas Democratic Primaries. On January 12, 2016, Judd's paperwork was filed to be on the primary ballot in West Virginia.

Below is a table of the primaries Judd competed in, and his performance in them.

References

1. ^ Gutierrez Krueger, Joline (28 September 1999). "Ex-candidate gets 17 years in prison". The Albuquerque Tribune. p. 3. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
2. Dana Milbank, Richard Mourdock and Keith Judd vs. Washington, The Washington Post, May 11, 2012.
3. ^ "Keith Judd's Biography". Vote Smart. Retrieved 2021-08-02.
4. "Musician Joins Race for Mayor's Job". Albuquerque Journal. 3 July 1997. p. E2. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
5. ^ Bellard, Gene (12 November 1992). "UNM Police Commit Man To Hospital After Arrests". Albuquerque Journal. p. E1. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
6. Judd v. United States District Court for the Western District of Texas, 528 U.S. 5 (Supreme Court of the United States October 12, 1999) ("We also direct the Clerk not to accept any further petitions for certiorari or petitions for extraordinary writs from Judd in noncriminal matters ... Judd has abused this Court's certiorari and extraordinary writ processes ... The instant petition for certiorari thus brings Judd's total number of frivolous filings to 12 ... The order will, however, allow this Court to devote its limited resources to the claims of petitioners who have not abused our processes.").
7. Texas Prisoner Keith Russell Judd Gets His Name Listed On Idaho Democratic Primary Ballot With Obama, Clinton
8. ^ "Texas inmate cons way onto Idaho ballot". USA Today. April 16, 2008. Retrieved April 6, 2012.
9. Judd v. University of New Mexico, 52 F.3d 337 (10th Cir April 17, 1995).
10. "United States v. Judd, - CourtListener.com". CourtListener. Retrieved 2015-12-29.
11. 99-2008a -- Judd v. University of New Mexico -- 29 February 2000
12. U.S. v. Keith Russell Judd (Fifth Circuit November 4, 2014), Text.
13. Raby, John. "After 2012 stunner, ex-con makes another White House run". AP News. Retrieved 2021-05-27.
14. "A Con For America". Boise Weekly. April 9, 2008. Retrieved April 6, 2012.
15. Winger, Richard (April 17, 2008). "Third Choice on Idaho Democratic Presidential Primary is a Prisoner". Ballot Access News. Retrieved April 6, 2012.
16. May 27, 2008 Primary Election Results Archived April 16, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
17. Hoffman, Nathaniel (June 18, 2008). "Inmate candidate sues Dems". Boise Weekly. Retrieved April 6, 2012.
18. "Keith Russell Judd: Would-be Presidential candidate sits in a Beaumont prison". Beaumont Enterprise. July 6, 2011. Archived from the original on March 3, 2012. Retrieved April 6, 2012.
19. Asbury, Kyla (July 6, 2011). "Texas prisoner says he should be on 2012 ballot". West Virginia Record. Retrieved April 6, 2012.
20. Porterfield, Mannix (March 27, 2012). "Texas convict on W.Va. ballot for president". The Register-Herald. Retrieved April 6, 2012.
21. "Hail to the chief! Beaumont "resident" on the ballot in West Virginia". Beaumont Enterprise. March 27, 2012. Archived from the original on May 12, 2012. Retrieved April 6, 2012.
22. Weigel, David (May 8, 2012). "Meet Keith Judd, the Superhero Inmate Winning Delegates Against Barack Obama". Slate. Retrieved May 9, 2012.
23. Little, M. (May 9, 2012). "Texas inmate wins 41% of vote vs. Obama in West Virginia primary". LA Times. Retrieved May 9, 2012.
24. Messina, Lawrence (May 8, 2012). "Keith Judd, Texas Inmate, Gets 40 Percent Of Votes Against Obama In West Virginia Democratic Primary". The Huffington Post. Retrieved May 9, 2012.
25. Kabler, Phil (May 28, 2012). Statehouse Beat, May 27, 2011: Judd claims he won. Charleston Gazette-Mail. Retrieved May 28, 2012.
26. "Keith Russell Judd Miscellaneous Report to FEC" (PDF). FEC. August 16, 2014. Retrieved October 20, 2015.
27. "Keith Judd FEC filing" (PDF). FEC. May 23, 2015. Retrieved October 20, 2015.
28. "WV SOS - Elections - Candidate - Online Data Services". apps.sos.wv.gov. Retrieved 2016-01-20.

External links

• Judd's Site at Voice for Inmates

• 1958 births
• Living people
• American extortionists
• American prisoners and detainees
• Politicians from Pasadena, California
• Prisoners and detainees of the United States federal government
• Candidates in the 2008 United States presidential election
• Candidates in the 2012 United States presidential election
• Candidates in the 2016 United States presidential election
• New Mexico Democrats
• Vexatious litigants
• People with bipolar disorder
• Musicians from Albuquerque, New Mexico
• University of New Mexico alumni