Vietnam Veterans Against the War were brought on federal charges for conspiring to disrupt the Republican convention. They were acquitted by a federal jury in Gainesville, Florida. Democratic nomination Overall, fifteen people declared their candidacy for the Democratic Party nomination. They were: George McGovern, senator from South Dakota Hubert Humphrey, senator from Minnesota, former vice president, and presidential nominee in 1968 George Wallace, Governor of Alabama Edmund Muskie, senator from Maine, vice presidential nominee in 1968 Eugene J. McCarthy, former senator from Minnesota Henry M. Jackson, senator from Washington Shirley Chisholm, Representative of New York's 12th congressional district Terry Sanford, former governor of North Carolina John Lindsay, Mayor of New York City Wilbur Mills, representative of Arkansas's 2nd congressional district Vance Hartke, senator from Indiana Fred Harris, senator from Oklahoma Sam Yorty, Mayor of Los Angeles Patsy Mink, representative of Hawaii's 2nd congressional district Walter Fauntroy, Delegate from Washington, D. C. Primaries Senate Majority Whip Ted Kennedy, the youngest brother of late President John F. Kennedy and late United States Senator Robert F. Kennedy, was the favorite to win the 1972 nomination, but he announced he would not be a candidate. The favorite for the Democratic nomination then became Senator Ed Muskie, the 1968 vice-presidential nominee. Muskie's momentum collapsed just prior to the New Hampshire primary, when the so-called "Canuck letter" was published in the Manchester Union-Leader. The letter, actually a forgery from Nixon's "dirty tricks" unit, claimed that Muskie had made disparaging remarks about French-Canadians – a remark likely to injure Muskie's support among the French-American population in northern New England. Subsequently, the paper published an attack on the character of Muskie's wife Jane, reporting that she drank and used off-color language during the campaign. Muskie made an emotional defense of his wife in a speech outside the newspaper's offices during a snowstorm. Though Muskie later stated that what had appeared to the press as tears were actually melted snowflakes, the press reported that Muskie broke down and cried, shattering the candidate's image as calm and reasoned. Nearly two years before the election, South Dakota Senator George McGovern entered the race as an anti-war, progressive candidate. McGovern was able to pull together support from the anti-war movement and other grassroots support to win the nomination in a primary system he had played a significant part in designing. On January 25, 1972, New York Representative Shirley Chisholm announced she would