Hot Green Party Races on November 4
I am not the only one that has been trying to come up with a list of the hottest Green Party races to watch on November 4. There are so many! There are over 200 Green Party candidates on the ballot around the nation. What criteria can you apply to determine a race is “hot” – and what does “hot” mean anyway? High profile races (Governor, U.S. Senate, President), races with a (slim, good, great) chance of winning, races that have got our attention for some other reason?
The Green Party of the United States has identified a handful of Green Party candidates to watch on November 4. I was brainstorming with the people at Green Change and they have put together a list of 20 “featured” races to watch. But I want more!
What are your favorite races? Which races do you think the Green Party might be able to return a surprise victory? Where are the dark horses? What’s happening in your state or region that isn’t getting enough attention? Will we be caught by surprise when “Lilly Paddy” is elected to some State Assembly seat?
Below the fold, GPUS’s list, and Green Change’s (tentative) list. And in the comments – your list of Green Party candidates to watch.
GPUS:
- Cynthia McKinney / Rosa Clemente – obviously!
- Jesse Johnson – Mountain Party candidate for Governor of West Virginia – endorsed by the Sierra Club, participated in three gubernatorial debates, only candidate to oppose mountain top removal mining in West Virginia.
- Rebekah Kennedy, Green candidate for the US Senate in Arkansas, is competing against Democratic incumbent Mark Pryor, with no Republican in the race. Despite numerous invitations, Sen. Pryor has avoided facing Ms. Kennedy in a candidates’ debate.
- Gordon Clark, Maryland candidate for the US House (District 8, Rep. Chris Van Hollen’s seat), is receiving significant attention for his grassroots campaign against a powerful Democrat. (Mr. Van Hollen, though only in Congress five years, is Chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.) Gordon raised more campaign funds (all individual) during the second quarter than any other candidate nominated for Congress by an alternative party in the US
- Malik Rahim, Louisiana Green candidate for the US House (District 2), is co-founder of the Common Ground Collective, an organization that provides short-term relief to victims of hurricane disasters in the Gulf Coast region. Mr. Rahim is a former Black Panther and ran for New Orleans City Council in 2002 as a Green Party candidate. The election for the 2nd District US House seat will take place on December 6 instead of November 4 because of election delays caused by Hurricanes Gustave and Ike.
- Ross Mirkarimi was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors (District 5) in 2004 and is running for reelection. Mr. Mirkarimi has sponsored about 40 pieces of legislation addressing crime, making streets safer for pedestrians, improving efficiency of city departments, and the environment. He led efforts to promote medical marijuana clubs in San Francisco. In March 2007, he introduced legislation prohibiting large supermarkets and drugstores from providing customers with non-biodegradable plastic bags, making San Francisco the first city to regulate such bags. In June 2008, Mr. Mirkarimi sponsored a one-year pilot plan for solar rebate program that provides $1.5 million to nonprofit organizations and lower income residents for installing solar voltaic power on rooftops. He faces two opponents in the current election.
This is a great hi-light list, but there are so many more. Doing some brainstorming with Green Change, this list came up (in no particular order):
- McKinney/Clemente and Nader/Gonzalez
- Jesse Johnson, Governor of West Virginia
- Rebekah Kennedy, U.S. Senate Arkansas
- Chris Lugo, U.S. Senate Tennessee
- Keith Ware, U.S. Senate Shadow D.C.
- Gordon Clark, U.S. House, Maryland
- Tristin Mock, U.S. House, Oregon
- Jason Wallace, U.S. House, Illinois
- Omar Lopez, U.S. House, Illinois
- Kevin O’Connor – State Rep – Illinois, District 41
- Richard Carroll – State Rep – Arkansas, District 39
- Farheen Hakeem – State Rep – Minnesota, District 61B
- Mark Sanchez – Board of Supervisors – San Francisco, CA
- Linda Piera-Avila – City Council – Santa Monica, CA
- Rick Lass – Public Regulation Commission – New Mexico, PRC District 3
- Daniel Jenkins – State House – Maine, District 119
- Anna Trevorrow – School Committee – Portland, ME
- Cara Jennings – Commissioner – Lake Worth District 2, FL
- John Reeder – County Board – Arlington, VA
- Tina Smith – City Council – Portland, ME
Now we need to add some Green Party Watch races as well! What races are Green Party Watch contributors and readers interested in? Come on – Fan Favorites? Because we want to cover them here! Off the top of my head I would add:
- Bryan Smith – York County Council, Dist.1 – South Carolina (Go Bryan!)
- Wendy Barth – U.S. House, Iowa (Go Wendy!)
- John Wages, Jr. – U.S. House, Mississippi (Go John!)
- State Slates – Arkansas, Connecticut, Illinois, Michigan, Oregon – are all running slates in almost every Congressional race. If I were a state party co-chair of one of these states I’d be making friendly wagers that my state can beat your state!
- Others? Titus North? Howie Hawkins? Bob Kinsey? Steve Larrick? Carol Brouillet? Alan Auguston? Scott Summers? Steve Alesch? Chris Henry?
Who’s on your list to watch?
Thanks!
Got this up at IPR also,
http://www.independentpoliticalreport.com/2008/10/green-party-watch-expands-on-list-of-campaigns-to-watch/
Thanks, Paulie!
It should be a loooooong night Nov. 4!
I have to confess that I will be watching the Illinois candidates, 50 or 60 of them, closely. The Illinois Greens have really stepped up to position themselves as the second party in Illinois.
Malik Rahim’s race for congress in Louisiana is looking hot. Malik is known in New Orleans as the guy who started helping hurricane victims when the government didn’t show up.
The election date has been delayed to December 6th, so we still have a month to canvass money and volunteers for Malik’s campaign after election day. The best part? His likely opponents are a super-lightweight Repub and Willie Jefferson, the Democrat who was caught with $100K in bribes in his freezer.
This is a huge opportunity, Greens – sign up for e-updates at his website http://www.votemalik.com/ and stay tuned.
Arkansas is a personal favorite of mine – me and friends I recruited got them the bulk of their ballot access signatures in 2006 and 2008. That state sorely needs a real alternative.
I agree about Illinois as well. The Libertarians really blew it by not even trying to get on in Illinois in 2006, particularly when it may have been possible to do so with less than the required number of signatures (unique quirk of Illinois law). The Greens are doing a tremendous job in that state.
Malik Rahim and Jesse Johnson are also great candidates.
Here is what I like:
I like that the Midwest has a blossoming Green Party movement! Michigan, Illinois, and Arkansas are really booming. Minnesota and Iowa, check. Wisconsin isn’t running anyone this fall, but is strong locally in Spring elections.
For those who think the Green Party is coastal – West Coast, East Coast – this should be a sign of significance. And for those who used to talk about “paper parties” – not in the heart of the Midwest.
The Great River Green Gathering that was held this summer is going to happen again next summer – same place, mid-August. Maybe we can make that a practical gathering of midwestern Greens coming together to plot the overthrow… I mean… network and learn from each other how to better influence government and politics on a bioregional level.
I’m working on some hot races in Champaign County, Illinois – home of the University of Illinois. We have three great candidates for County Board with a real chance of winning – Walter Pituc, Joe Futrelle, and Mike Lehman. This is our third time running in these districts, so we’ve built up a lot of support. We just finished a commercial that will air on cable TV starting Monday. Check out the ad here (select high quality): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISxFSQiGQco
You can learn more about our candidates here:
http://www.prairiegreens.org/vote
Another hot race that hasn’t been mentioned is Jeremy Karpen in the 39th Illinois State Rep race who’s running against a machine Democrat who was installed in office by her powerful father. Karpen’s running ads on cable and in train stations. He’s been endorsed by the Chicago Sun-Times and the Independent Voters of Illinois – Independent Precinct
Organization.
http://www.jeremykarpen.org/
Another interesting race is for the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, whose boundaries roughly coincide with Cook County. We have three Green candidates for three seats. One of these candidates, Nadine Bopp, has received some important endorsements: Chicago Sun-Times, Independent Voters of Illinois – Independent Precinct
Organization, and the Illinois League of Conservation Voters.
http://www.nadinebopp.org/
Please check out our candidate Rick Lass
http://www.ricklass.net
We love Rick Lass. That’s why he’s on the list of Hot Green Party Candidates to Watch
Should Rick Lass win his race for Public Regulation Commissioner in New Mexico, which is looking very likely if straight party Dems & Reps are paying attention to news and are cognizant that they can still vote for Lass, he will serve one of the largest, if not the largest, number of constituents of any Green office holder in the nation. He deserves much more attention within the Green realm & McKinney should rethink her decsion to ignore New Mexico.
For a more extensive list of Green Party Races to Watch (than what was in the Press Release) go to:
http://www.gp.org/2008-elections/candidate-news.php
Brent – NICE! Looks great!
Zeleni – great races! We should definitely watch those races.
Can you help keep us posted with election results? We’re going to need a lot of group effort to track all these races.