Editing Al Sharpton (section)

== Political campaigns ==
Sharpton has run unsuccessfully for elected office on multiple occasions. Of his unsuccessful runs, he said that winning office may not have been his goal, saying in an interview: "Much of the media criticism of me assumes their goals and they impose them on me. Well, those might not be my goals. So they will say, 'Well, Sharpton has not won a political office.' But that might not be my goal! Maybe I ran for political office to change the debate, or to raise the social justice question."<ref name=DS/> Sharpton ran for a [[United States Senate]] seat from New York in [[1988 United States Senate election in New York|1988]], [[1992 United States Senate election in New York|1992]], and [[1994 United States Senate election in New York|1994]]. In [[1997 New York City mayoral election|1997]], he ran for Mayor of New York City. During his 1992 bid, he and his wife lived in a home in [[Englewood, New Jersey]], though he said his residence was an apartment in [[Brooklyn]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=6eUcAAAAIBAJ&dq=al-sharpton%20englewood&pg=6468%2C2435939|title=Sharpton to run for U.S. Senate|newspaper=[[Pittsburgh Press]]|publisher=E.W. Scripts Company|location=Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania|date=January 21, 1992|access-date=February 17, 2011|quote=Sharpton, who lives with his wife and two daughters in Englewood, N.J., and also shares an apartment in Brooklyn with a friend, said his legal residence was New York.}}</ref>

On December 15, 2005, Sharpton agreed to repay $100,000 in public funds he received from the federal government for his 2004 presidential campaign. The repayment was required because Sharpton had exceeded federal limits on personal expenditures for his campaign. At that time, his most recent [[Federal Election Commission]] filings (from January 1, 2005) stated that Sharpton's campaign still had debts of $479,050 and owed Sharpton himself $145,146 for an item listed as "Fundraising Letter Preparation — Kinko's".<ref>{{cite news |title=Sharpton Returns Public Funds |date=December 16, 2007 |location=Washington, D.C.|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/15/AR2005121501824.html |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |access-date=April 6, 2007}}</ref>

In 2009, the Federal Election Commission announced it had levied a fine of $285,000 against Sharpton's 2004 presidential campaign team for breaking campaign finance rules during his bid for President.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fec.gov/press/press2009/20090430MUR_Sharpton.shtml |title=FEC Reaches Settlement with Rev. Al Sharpton, Sharpton 2004 and Non-profit Corporation |date=April 30, 2009 |access-date=September 5, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090813023318/http://fec.gov/press/press2009/20090430MUR_Sharpton.shtml |archive-date=August 13, 2009 |url-status=dead  }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2009154219_apussharptoncampaignfine.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120714054617/http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2009154219_apussharptoncampaignfine.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 14, 2012 |title=Sharpton fined, but feels vindicated in FEC probe |first=David B.|last=Caruso |date=April 30, 2009 |access-date=April 15, 2012 |work=[[The Seattle Times]]}}</ref>

Sharpton said in 2007 that he would not enter the 2008 presidential race.<ref name="dailynews">{{cite news|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/wn_report/2007/04/02/2007-04-02_rev_al_is_bowing_out.html|title=Rev. Al is Bowing Out|newspaper=Daily News|location=New York City|date=April 2, 2007|access-date=April 7, 2007}}</ref>

=== Electoral history ===
==== U.S. Senate (1992, 1994) ====
{{election box begin no change
 | title      = [[1992 United States Senate election in New York|1992 U.S. Senate election in New York]], Democratic primary<ref>{{cite web|date=September 15, 1992|title=U.S. Senate Democratic primary election results (New York, 1992)|url=https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=26017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200830223038/https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=26017|archive-date=August 30, 2020|access-date=February 7, 2022|website=Our Campaigns}}</ref>
}}
{{election box winning candidate with party link no change
 | party      = Democratic Party (United States)
 | candidate  = [[Robert Abrams]]
 | votes      = 426,904
 | percentage = 37.02%
}}
{{election box candidate with party link no change
 | party      = Democratic Party (United States)
 | candidate  = [[Geraldine Ferraro]]
 | votes      = 415,650
 | percentage = 36.04%
}}
{{election box candidate with party link no change
 | party      = Democratic Party (United States)
 | candidate  = Al Sharpton
 | votes      = 166,665
 | percentage = 14.45%
}}
{{election box candidate with party link no change
 | party      = Democratic Party (United States)
 | candidate  = [[Elizabeth Holtzman]]
 | votes      = 144,026
 | percentage = 12.49%
}}
{{election box total no change
 | votes      = 1,153,245
 | percentage = 100.00%
}}
{{election box end}}

{{election box begin no change
 | title      = [[1994 United States Senate election in New York|1994 U.S. Senate election in New York]], Democratic primary<ref>{{cite web|date=September 13, 1994|title=U.S. Senate Democratic primary election results (New York, 1994)|url=https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=88211|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160314203717/https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=88211|archive-date=March 14, 2016|access-date=February 7, 2022|website=Our Campaigns}}</ref>
}}
{{election box winning candidate with party link no change
 | candidate  = [[Daniel Patrick Moynihan]] (inc.)
 | party      = Democratic Party (United States)
 | votes      = 526,766
 | percentage = 74.72%
}}
{{election box candidate with party link no change
 | candidate  = Al Sharpton
 | party      = Democratic Party (United States)
 | votes      = 178,231
 | percentage = 25.28%
}}
{{election box total no change
 | votes      = 704,997
 | percentage = 100.00%
}}
{{election box end}}

==== Mayor of New York City (1997) ====
{{election box begin no change
 | title      = [[1997 New York City mayoral election]], Democratic primary<ref>{{cite web|date=September 9, 1997|title=New York City mayoral Democratic primary election results (1997)|url=https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=52545|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211126191233/https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=52545|archive-date=November 26, 2021|access-date=February 7, 2022|website=Our Campaigns}}</ref>
}}
{{election box winning candidate with party link no change
 | party      = Democratic Party (United States)
 | candidate  = [[Ruth Messinger]]
 | votes      = 165,377
 | percentage = 40.19%
}}
{{election box candidate with party link no change
 | party      = Democratic Party (United States)
 | candidate  = Al Sharpton
 | votes      = 131,848
 | percentage = 32.04%
}}
{{election box candidate with party link no change
 | party      = Democratic Party (United States)
 | candidate  = [[Sal Albanese]]
 | votes      = 86,485
 | percentage = 21.02%
}}
{{election box candidate with party link no change
 | party      = Democratic Party (United States)
 | candidate  = Eric Ruano-Melendez
 | votes      = 17,663
 | percentage = 4.29%
}}
{{election box candidate with party link no change
 | party      = Democratic Party (United States)
 | candidate  = Roland Rogers
 | votes      = 10,086
 | percentage = 2.45%
}}
{{election box total no change
 | votes      = 411,459
 | percentage = 100.00%
}}
{{election box end}}

==== President of the United States (2004) ====
{{election box begin no change
 | title      = [[2004 Democratic Party presidential primaries]]<ref>{{cite web|date=July 29, 2004|title=Democratic presidential primary election results (2004)|url=https://www.thegreenpapers.com/P04/D.phtml|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210228055939/https://www.thegreenpapers.com/P04/D.phtml|archive-date=February 28, 2021|access-date=February 7, 2022|website=[[The Green Papers]]}}</ref>
}}
{{election box winning candidate with party link no change
 | party      = Democratic Party (United States)
 | candidate  = [[John Kerry]]
 | votes      = 10,045,891
 | percentage = 60.75%
}}
{{election box candidate with party link no change
 | party      = Democratic Party (United States)
 | candidate  = [[John Edwards]]
 | votes      = 3,207,048
 | percentage = 19.39%
}}
{{election box candidate with party link no change
 | party      = Democratic Party (United States)
 | candidate  = [[Howard Dean]]
 | votes      = 937,015
 | percentage = 5.67%
}}
{{election box candidate with party link no change
 | party      = Democratic Party (United States)
 | candidate  = [[Dennis Kucinich]]
 | votes      = 643,067
 | percentage = 3.89%
}}
{{election box candidate with party link no change
 | party      = Democratic Party (United States)
 | candidate  = [[Wesley Clark]]
 | votes      = 572,207
 | percentage = 3.46%
}}
{{election box candidate with party link no change
 | party      = Democratic Party (United States)
 | candidate  = Al Sharpton
 | votes      = 383,683
 | percentage = 2.32%
}}
{{election box candidate with party link no change
 | party      = Democratic Party (United States)
 | candidate  = ''Uncommitted''
 | votes      = 155,388
 | percentage = 0.94%
}}
{{election box candidate with party link no change
 | party      = Democratic Party (United States)
 | candidate  = ''Others''
 | votes      = 591,524
 | percentage = 3.58%
}}
{{election box total no change
 | votes      = 16,535,823
 | percentage = 100.00%
}}
{{election box end}}