Illinois Greens Participate In Its 2nd Statewide Primary
Voters in Illinois will be going to the polls tomorrow to select nominees for each of the respective established parties who will then go on to the general election this November. There are three established parties in Illinois: The Democrats, Republicans, and the Greens. Illinois has a semi-open primary system whereby voters must declare publicly which party ballot they wish to receive.
This will be the 2nd primary in the Illinois Green Party’s history and it’s pretty historic for the party. Each party receives voter lists of those who pulled their party’s ballot. Having the Greens run in a second primary enables the state party to identify those who pulled a Green ballot both in in 2008 and in 2010. This will help the party with membership mailers and getting donors. Also, the more that voters see GREEN PARTY on election ballots the more visible the Green Party name/brand becomes. It legitimizes us in ways. Not surprisingly, not everyone has heard of the Green Party…
The Illinois Green Party will be running a full slate of statewide officers with Rich Whitney and LeAlan Jones leading the ticket for Governor and U.S. Senate respectively. Whitney received 10% in 2006 in his 1st bid for IL governor and established the IL Greens as the third political party in Illinois. With that 10% that Whitney and the Greens earned came much credibility in the eyes of the public and the media. Usually Greens are excluded from mainstream articles, but since the spectacular 2006 election result the IL media has gotten better of including IL Green candidates in many of the news reports. Just a Google search of “Green Party Illinois” will produce a number media articles where the Greens are mentioned. This is a good sign that the IL Green Party and its candidates are now being considered viable or at least relevant candidates. My hope is that Rich Whitney will be included in a televised debate with Republican and Democratic gubernatorial nominees. This is crucial for a Green victory in November.
In all the 46 Greens are will be on the primary ballot tomorrow (not all are recognized by a local though) with a few contested race which include:
2nd Congress: Michael Mayden, Anthony Williams
5th Congress: Matt Reichel, Andy Williams, Terrence A. Gilhooly
9th Congress: Moe Shanfield, Simon Ribeiro
16th Cook County Commissioner: Alex Matos, Alejandro Reyes
17th Cook County Commissioner: Richard Dalka, Matthew J. Ogean
Please refer to http://www.ilgp.org/ and newmenu.org for a full list of the Greens running in the primary tomorrow.
I will be poll watching around the Chicago area. Check back at Green Party Watch tomorrow for up-to-date election results. Polls close at 7p central time zone in Illinois.
Will you be in Carbondale or Chicago tomorrow? Greens will be holding election viewing parties in both cities as results come in. Here are the details:
O’Shaunessy’s Public House, 4557 N. Ravenswood, Chicago
Hosted by Matt Reichel (5th Congress), with candidates Jeff Adams (1st Congress), Tom Tresser (Cook County Board President), Scott Summers (State Treasurer), and others likely to attend.Varsity Theater, Intermission Room, 418 S. Illinois Ave., Carbondale
Hosted by Rich Whitney and Charlie Howe (115th State Rep).
Good luck to all the Greens tomorrow!
[Full Disclosure: I will soon get more involved in the Whitney for Governor campaign.]
I’m running to be the next President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners and deal a death blow to “Da Chicago Machine.” I can use your help – will you contribute $10, $25 or even $50?
Whitney is the biggest hope for the Green Party this year!!
I’d say Whitney’s Illinois’ strongest candidate right now, but we do have several other solid candidates, including (but not limited to) Tom Tresser for President of the Cook County Board, Jeremy Karpen for State Rep, Matt Reichel for Congress, and LeAlan Jones for Senate.