No running mate?

[Sir Mohamed]

What if a presidential candidate picks no running mate or the his/her convention does not nominate one? Election goes autmaticly to the Senate floor if the candidate wins the general election?

As far as I know, Martin Van Baren didn't have a VP in 1840. But it didn't matter since he lost the election.

[ag]

What if a presidential candidate picks no running mate or the his/her convention does not nominate one? Election goes autmaticly to the Senate floor if the candidate wins the general election?

As far as I know, Martin Van Baren didn't have a VP in 1840. But it didn't matter since he lost the election.

Electors will still have a chance to vote for a VP. If they coordinate on one person, that person will be VP. If not, it goes to the Senate.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Funny thing: you can also have a number of running-mates, varying state by state.

[Nym90]

Funny thing: you can also have a number of running-mates, varying state by state.

Yep, in fact the individual state parties could even have different presidential candidates running in each state. The Whig party tried this in 1836, hoping that collectively they could win a majority between the several regional candidates and then pick one when the Electoral College convened, but they failed to accumulate enough electoral votes.

[SteveRogers]

I'm pretty sure most states' laws require a Vice Presidential candidate to be listed on the ballot, so if the national party didn't pick one, your individual state parties would each pick their own. Obviously if there was no consensus pick it could get thrown to the Senate (which only gets to pick from the top 2 electoral vote recipients for VP).

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Funny thing: you can also have a number of running-mates, varying state by state.

Yep, in fact the individual state parties could even have different presidential candidates running in each state. The Whig party tried this in 1836, hoping that collectively they could win a majority between the several regional candidates and then pick one when the Electoral College convened, but they failed to accumulate enough electoral votes.

Also, in 1948 Thurmond was an official Democratic nominee in states he carried. In 1968, Wallace was an official Democratic nominee on Alabama's ballot, with Humphrey being forced to run as "National Democratic".