Ellen McCormack

Ellen Cullen McCormack (born circa 1926)cite news |title=Uproar over Abortion |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,918011,00.html |work=Time |date=1976-02-16 |accessdate=2008-01-20 |quote=Ellen McCormack, 49, a housewife from Merrick, N.Y., is running hard in the Democratic primary... ] was a candidate for the Democratic Party's Presidential nomination in 1976. McCormack was one of the first serious female candidates for President, alongside women like Shirley Chisholm.

McCormack, generally identified during her 1976 campaign as a "housewife", [cite news |first=Jon |last=Margolis |title=In the end, they all had this in common -- defeat |work=Chicago Tribune |page=6 |date=1976-07-15] appeared on the ballot in 18 states, more than any female candidate to that point (Republican or Democrat).Fact|date=August 2007 She was also the first woman to raise enough money to qualify for Federal matching funds [cite news |first=Jon |last=Margolis |title=Abortion: Issue in primaries |work=Chicago Tribune |page=5 |date=1976-01-28] [cite news |last=United Press International |title=Abortion foe qualifies for U.S. vote cash |work=Chicago Tribune |page=8 |date=1976-02-26] and Secret Service protection. She ran on an exclusively pro-life platform.

She did not win any primaries, but had her name placed into nomination and received 22 votes from delegates at the Democratic National Convention, and engaged in a debate that also included future President Jimmy Carter.

In 1980 she ran again, this time as a third-party pro-life candidate for President in 1980; her running mate was Carroll Driscoll. They received 32,327 votes.

She had been a chairwoman of the New York Right to Life Party, and was their candidate for Lieutenant Governor of New York in 1978.

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