Bill Van Auken is a politician and activist for the Socialist Equality Party and was a presidential candidate in the U.S. presidential election of 2004, announcing his candidacy on January 27, 2004. His running mate was Jim Lawrence. He came in 15th for the popular vote, receiving 1,857 votes. In November 2006, Van Auken ran for the United States Senate seat held by Hillary Clinton. He finished in sixth place, with 6,004 votes.