Riley A. Bender
Riley Alvin Bender was a United States businessman and political candidate.
Born in Chicago, Illinois, to Josephine and Edward Bender, he was a lifelong resident of his native city. Bender was an entrepreuer in the areas of hotel and music store management. He was also a prize fighter.
He ran in the Democratic primary for the Illinois Senate in 1938 and lost.
Bender is perhaps best known for his three bids for Republican Party Presidential nomination in the elections of 1944, 1948 and
1952. In all three occasions he appeared only in his native Illinois ballot.
Although he was never a major candidate in these races, he won the 1948 Illinois primary in a landslide, with 96.90% of votes against Douglas MacArthur and other well-known figures such as Harold Stassen, Thomas E. Dewey and Robert A. Taft, though only Bender was on the ballot as the rest were write-in votes.
Bender, who had German and Irish heritage, died in Chicago's Central Hospital and was buried in Onarga Cemetery.
Electoral history
Illinois Republican presidential primary, 1944- Douglas MacArthur – 550,354
- Riley A. Bender – 37,575
- Thomas E. Dewey – 9,192
- Everett Dirksen – 581
- John W. Bricker – 148
- Harold Stassen – 111
- Wendell Willkie – 107
- Riley A. Bender – 324,029
- Douglas MacArthur – 6,672
- Harold Stassen – 1,572
- Thomas E. Dewey – 953
- Robert A. Taft – 705
Illinois Republican presidential primary, 1952
- Robert A. Taft – 935,867
- Harold Stassen – 155,041
- Dwight D. Eisenhower – 147,518
- Riley A. Bender – 22,321
- Douglas MacArthur – 7,504
- Earl Warren – 2,841
- Others – 1,229