Editing Fred Phelps (section)

===Electoral politics===
[[File:DNC4 7-27-2004.jpg|thumb|Phelps speaking at a picket at the [[2004 Democratic National Convention]]]]
Phelps ran in Kansas [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] primaries five times, but never won. These included races for governor in 1990, 1994, and 1998, receiving about 15 percent of the vote in 1998.<ref>{{citation|url=http://edition.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1998/08/05/kansas.results/|title=Kansas Primary Results|work=[[CNN]]|publisher=August 4, 1998|access-date=December 10, 2012}}</ref> In the 1992 Democratic Party primary for U.S. Senate, Phelps received 31 percent of the vote.<ref>{{citation|url=http://www.kssos.org/elections/elections_statistics.html|title=Election Statistics|publisher=State of Kansas|access-date=December 10, 2012}}</ref> Phelps ran for mayor of Topeka in 1993<ref name="musser1">{{citation|url=http://cjonline.com/indepth/phelps/musser.shtml|title=In-Depth: Fred Phelps|last=Musser|first=Rick|work=[[The Topeka Capital-Journal]]|access-date=December 10, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121230064559/http://cjonline.com/indepth/phelps/musser.shtml|archive-date=December 30, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{citation|url=http://www.religionnewsblog.com/1128/kansas-anti-gay-church-embarrasses-topekans|title=Kansas Anti-gay Church Embarrasses Topekans|last=Evans|first=Melissa|date=November 4, 2002|access-date=December 10, 2012}}</ref> and 1997.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}}

Phelps supported [[Al Gore]] in the [[Democratic Party presidential primaries, 1988|1988 Democratic Party presidential primary]] election. In his [[United States Senate election in Tennessee, 1984|1984 Senate race]], Gore had opposed a "gay bill of rights" and stated that homosexuality was not something that "society should affirm", a position Gore had publicly changed by 2000 as his official position. Phelps stated that he supported Gore because of these earlier comments.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Andrea Drusch|access-date=2020-09-18|title=Fred Phelps: 10 things to know|url=https://www.politico.com/story/2014/03/fred-phelps-westboro-baptist-church-104745.html|website=POLITICO|date=March 17, 2014 }}</ref>

In 1996 Phelps opposed Clinton's (and Gore's) re-election because of the administration's support for [[gay rights]]; the Westboro congregation picketed a 1997 inaugural ball.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.qrd.org/qrd/media/radio/thiswayout/summary/newswrap/1997/461-01.27.97|title=NewsWrap|last=Friedman|first=Cindy|date=January 27, 1997|access-date=December 10, 2012}}</ref>