'Deez Nuts' Isn't The Only Fictional Candidate Running for President

image
Published: 20 Aug, 2015
1 min read

WASHINGTON -- With the crowded presidential field, which features 22 Democratic and Republican candidates, not a great deal of attention has been paid to the 585 individuals officially registered on the FEC website as 2016 hopefuls.

Among them is "Deez Nuts," who, according to the campaign's FEC form, lives in Iowa and is running as an independent. According to Public Policy Polling, Nuts is putting up decent numbers in North Carolina and Minnesota.

COURTESY OF THE FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION

The number of presidential candidates -- real or fictitious -- is the result of the relatively simple process of declaring one's candidacy for the office. All that is required is filling out FEC Form 2, the official Statement of Candidacy. The form is one page long and requires basic information, like name and address, and a place to register an official campaign committee.

The FEC does not screen the forms or verify any candidate's identity, and treats each submitted form equally. So long as the information is completed and submitted by mail or online, the forms are placed on the FEC's candidate website.

The race also features at least one cat, named "Limberbutt McCubbins," who was the 192nd entrant filed. McCubbins was registered by Isaac Weiss of Louisville, Ky., and is a declared "Demo-cat" and carries the slogan, "Together, we cat."

Weiss, who serves as McCubbins' campaign manager, says that McCubbins believes in environmental preservation and the legalization of catnip. McCubbins would also have opposed the invasion of Iraq because the "climate is not favorable for a house cat."

While anyone can submit the form, the FEC does not officially consider someone a candidate until he or she raises or spends at least $5,000.

Honorable mentions for the 585 candidates also include Sydneys Voluptuous Buttocks of New York and Mr. Crawfish B. Crawfish of Louisiana.

You Might Also Like

Ballrooms, Ballots, and a Three-Way Fight for New York
Ballrooms, Ballots, and a Three-Way Fight for New York
The latest Independent Voter Podcast episode takes listeners through the messy intersections of politics, reform, and public perception. Chad and Cara open with the irony of partisan outrage over trivial issues like a White House ballroom while overlooking the deeper dysfunctions in our democracy. From California to Maine, they unpack how the very words on a ballot can tilt entire elections and how both major parties manipulate language and process to maintain power....
30 Oct, 2025
-
1 min read
California Prop 50 gets an F
Princeton Gerrymandering Project Gives California Prop 50 an 'F'
The special election for California Prop 50 wraps up November 4 and recent polling shows the odds strongly favor its passage. The measure suspends the state’s independent congressional map for a legislative gerrymander that Princeton grades as one of the worst in the nation....
30 Oct, 2025
-
3 min read
bucking party on gerrymandering
5 Politicians Bucking Their Party on Gerrymandering
Across the country, both parties are weighing whether to redraw congressional maps ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. Texas, California, Missouri, North Carolina, Utah, Indiana, Colorado, Illinois, and Virginia are all in various stages of the action. Here are five politicians who have declined to support redistricting efforts promoted by their own parties....
31 Oct, 2025
-
4 min read