Political party Socialist Party USA Party Socialist Party USA | Occupation Labor organizer | |
Born January 19, 1974 (age 43)
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S. ( 1974-01-19 ) Alma mater University of North Florida Education University of North Florida Residence Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States | ||
Why socialism with angela nicole walker
Angela Nicole Walker (born January 19, 1974) is an American school bus driver and labor organizer from Wisconsin. Walker was the vice-presidential nominee of the Socialist Party USA for the 2016 election alongside former SPUSA male co-chair Mimi Soltysik of California.
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Walker previously ran in 2014 as an independent socialist for sheriff of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. She received approximately 67,000 votes (21%) against incumbent Democrat and Fox News pundit David A. Clarke, Jr. During her campaign for sheriff, Walker called for an end to mass incarceration, evictions and anti-immigrant policing.
In March 2015, Walker was recognized by OnMilwaukee.com as a Milwaukee All-Star for her activism.
Background
Angela Walker was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where she lived primarily on the inner city Northside neighborhood. Walker graduated from Bay View High School. While in high school, Walker helped organize students in support of a Black History course at Bay View, which was successful. She studied history at the University of North Florida but dropped out in her final year because she "could make more money as a bus driver than" as a teacher. She then worked for two years as a driver for Greyhound Lines. Describing her life as an "odyssey", Walker then moved to North Carolina, where she married and back to Florida. She finally moved back to Milwaukee in 2009 and was hired as a driver for the Milwaukee County Transit System. In 2011, she became legislative director for her local in the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU), which represented transit system drivers; her position coincided with the rise of the anti-labor union Tea Party and the election of Scott Walker as Wisconsin's 45th Governor. Walker was active in the Occupy movement, which the ATU supported. Walker stepped down from the legislative director position in October 2013. Walker divorced from her husband in 2014. Overall, Walker has worked as a bus driver for over 14 years.
Vice-presidential campaign
In March 2016, Walker stated that she had been recruited to be the Socialist Party USA vice-presidential nominee by future running-mate, Mimi Soltysik following her campaign for sheriff. Walker and Soltysik were nominated at the Socialist Party National Convention in Walker's hometown of Milwaukee, Wisconsin in October 2015. Soltysik-Walker appeared on the ballot in Colorado, Guam and Michigan as well as official write-in candidates in many other states during the general election.
