Populist Campaigns. In 1892 the Populist Party ran James B. Weaver of Iowa as its first presidential candidate. In Georgia the party nominated William L. Peek of Rockdale County for governor. By far, however, the party's most exciting candidate was Tom Watson of McDuffie County. Watson, who was one of the state's most promising young politicians, had been elected to Congress in 1890 as a Southern Alliance Democrat.