Foster first ran for office in 1986, securing the Republican nomination for the California Assembly's 48th district. In the general election, she faced incumbent assemblywoman Maxine Waters; a third candidate, Libertarian José "Joe" Castañeda, was also in the race.[3] In the three-person race, Foster placed second, securing 12.77 percent of the vote but losing to Waters by 72 percentage points.[3] In 1992, she was a staunch defender of the police officers in the Rodney King beating case and organized a testimonial dinner for Laurence Powell, one of the convicted officers, in 1995.[4]
In 1994, while teaching at Bell High School in Bell, California, Foster was a public advocate of Proposition 187, a California ballot initiative to deny government programs of social services, health care, and public education to illegal immigrants. Her position was extremely unpopular at the school where she taught, which was 90 percent Hispanic.[5] In 1996, she appeared on PBS's MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour to promote her new political book, What's Right for All Americans. During her appearance, she argued that illegal immigration was responsible for the low quality of Los Angeles schools; some of her colleagues at the school condemned her in an open letter.[5] Two days later, she attended an anti-illegal immigration rally where several of her supporters were attacked by members of the Progressive Labor Party, who allegedly wanted to harm Foster herself.[5] Shortly thereafter, she left her job, which she calls a necessity resulting from her treatment at work.[5] She went on speaking tours for the John Birch Society and took workers' compensation for an undisclosed mental disorder—which she describes as "stress" and "anxiety"—until her official retirement as a teacher in 1998.[5]
Pat Buchanan, noting Foster's conservative media credentials and public speaking ability, asked her to be his running mate after Jim Traficant of Ohio, Teamsters Union president James P. Hoffa, and others declined his request. His critics claimed Foster, who had never held political office, was chosen because she was African American; they likened it to affirmative action, a diversity-increasing policy that Buchanan had always opposed.[4]
Foster, who supported Buchanan's campaigns in 1992 and 1996, quit her speaking tour to join the race. While Buchanan was hospitalized during part of the campaign, Foster was the face of the campaign, making television and radio appearances. She is the first African American and second woman (after Geraldine Ferraro) to be nominated for vice president by a party that was recognized and funded by the Federal Election Commission.[4] During the campaign, Foster was the source of some controversy, drawing criticism for her membership with the John Birch Society and for her alleged mental illness which kept her from teaching.[5]
Congressional run
Foster ran for Congress in the June 5, 2001, special election in California's 32nd district to replace deceased representative Julian Dixon as the Reform Party candidate and garnered 1.5% of the vote.[7]
Personal life
Foster was Catholic. Her first marriage ended in annulment, she said, when she found out that her husband was a convicted felon.[8] In 1977 she married Chuck Foster, a truck driver.[9]
