Green Party National Political Director Brent McMillan sent Green Party Watch a full range of reports on election day results. GPW is grateful for the reports.
Bruce Samuels won his race for Oak Park (IL) Village Library Board. He finished first of five candidates for four seats with 3,747 votes or 21.51%. This is a four year term.
Bradley Kairis finished eleventh of eleven candidates for four seats for Elgin Township Trustee, Kane County, IL with 588 votes or 1.91%.
Dan Kairis finished third of three candidates for one seat for Elgin Township Supervisor, Kane County, IL with 631 votes or 8.19%.
Julie Schmitt finished ninth of eleven candidates for four seats for Elgin Township Trustee, Kane County, IL with 917 votes or 2.97%.
Dan Todd finished tenth of eleven candidates for four seats for Elgin Township Trustee, Kane County, IL with 716 votes or 2.32%.
Joshua Rodgers finished second of two candidates for Mayor of Robinson, Crawford County, IL with 221 votes or 17.82%.
Paul Jasinevicius finished second of two candidates for one seat for Rich Township Highway Commissioner, Cook County, IL with 2,015 votes or 23.76%.
Paul Jasinevicius finished seventh of nine candidates for four seats on the Rich 227 High School Board, Cook County, IL.
Mike Drennan finished third of three candidates for Evanston City Council Ward 9, Cook County, IL with 154 votes or 12.82%.
Valeria “Val” Densmore finished second of two candidates for one seat for Rich Township Clerk, Cook County, IL with 2,621 votes or 31.47%
Jesus Correa VII finished fourth of four candidates with 394 votes or 1.77% for Mayor of Rockford, IL. (Winnebago County)
Paula Bradshaw finished fifth of five candidates for four seats with 640 votes or 14.65%. She ran for Carbondale Township Trustee, Jackson County, IL.
Steve Alesch finished sixth of six candidates for four seats with 1,405 votes or 8.94%. Steve ran for Winfield Township Trustee, Dupage County, IL.
13 responses so far ↓
1 PTK // Apr 10, 2009 at 3:57 pm
So how many Green Party elected offices are there so far in the nation?
2 Val Densmore // Apr 10, 2009 at 7:26 pm
I will be back.
3 Ronald Hardy // Apr 10, 2009 at 8:03 pm
Val: “I will be back”
Me: Hooray!!!
4 Ronald Hardy // Apr 10, 2009 at 8:05 pm
Number of Greens in office as of today: 157
This number is down from several years ago when there was over 225.
http://gp.org/elections.shtml
5 PTK // Apr 10, 2009 at 8:48 pm
That’s strange for the number to go down that much. I just hope that one day the Green Party will become as major as the main duopoly two, and I hope the same with every other minor political party.
6 Ross Levin // Apr 10, 2009 at 11:40 pm
PTK, I don’t hope that at all, because if there were that many major parties the government would have to be 100x the size it is today!
Val - don’t give up!
7 Gregg Jocoy // Apr 11, 2009 at 7:41 am
Ross,
Growth in the influence of the currently smaller parties to match that of the Republicans and Democrats does not have to mean more cooks in the kitchen. If all the smaller parties were to grow in influence I imagine a lot of that would come at the expense of the bigger parties. I would argue that the government would shrink if the smaller parties grew and the bigger ones shrunk in influence. While most non-Greens would try to convince us that Greens are “big government” types, a real look at our principles, platform, and the effoprts of our elected officials would show that this is not the case.
Of course, it’s easier to act all high and mighty, declaring Greens to be “typical liberals” and such that to actually look with an unprejudiced eye at our goals.
8 Ross Levin // Apr 11, 2009 at 12:46 pm
I meant that if they were all the size of today’s major parties the government would have to expand to accommodate them.
9 PTK // Apr 11, 2009 at 11:23 pm
Well I’m not saying that EVERY political party should be up in DC, but just that they should have just a little time up there to see how they work and switch out every once in a while.
10 Green Ferret // Apr 12, 2009 at 8:45 am
As the military-industrial-congressional complex, to use Nader’s phrase (or the War Party, to use Orwell’s) is constantly growing and taking more and more of our tax money, it’s not accurate to call Greens a big-government party. Instead, one could say that Republicrats want to spend more money to kill and control people, while Greens would spend it on things that would enable humanity to flourish: education, healthcare, sustainability, and peace.
11 Green Ferret // Apr 12, 2009 at 8:52 am
I think the current poll on what level of races the Greens should focus on has it basically right. Not that we should focus only on a single level… but it would be smart to divide our efforts and resources proportionally so that local races are prioritized, followed by state legislative races (especially the non-contested ones), then statewide and congressional races. I think that governor’s races are always worth running, as they are good at publicizing the platform/party and giving more people a chance to vote Green. Any race that is important for ballot access also deserves a good effort.
In general, I think local and state-leg races are where Greens are going to start breaking through and proving themselves, especially in places that are currently one-party Democratic-ruled, like Massachusetts or NYC.
12 Gregg Jocoy // Apr 12, 2009 at 9:14 pm
Ross…on that one we agree 100%!
I’d personally prefer four or five (or more) smaller political parties, none big enough to do too much damage.
My personal mantra is, Small is Beautiful.
13 Gregg Jocoy // Apr 13, 2009 at 10:17 am
GF, I agree with your analysis above. In fact, I am one who believes that our goals are important enough that every Green should undertake some efforts, however small, to advance the Green Party’s goals. A small contribution, a letter to the editor, a yard sign, a “thank you” email or phone call to a Green Party candidate will all go some distance towards our goals.
Remember the Grand Canyon…etched miles deep into the ground by centuries of water slowly following it’s natural path to the ocean. If we Greens can be persistent and follow our natural path, we too will wear down the stone hearts of those only looking out for “number 1″.
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