Thomas Van Lear (socialist) led two unsuccessful campaigns and refused to approve a law that would ban the Industrial Workers of the World (founded in 1905)
Van Lear was a member of the Socialist Party of America. Van Lear led two unsuccessful campaigns for the mayoralty before he was elected on November 7, 1916, with over 33,000 votes. In office, Van Lear welcomed the People's Council of America for Democracy and the Terms of Peace to Minneapolis and refused to approve a law that would effectively ban the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), members of which are commonly termed "Wobblies", is an international labor union that was founded in 1905 in Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. 
