Green Change: 7 Green Campaigns to Watch

From GreenChange.org:

Here are seven growing Green campaigns to watch this week. Our Green candidates are the true leaders of the Green movement.  They are working hard for all of us, and need your help.  Please support them by donating and volunteering today. There are only 38 days until Election Day.

7 GROWING GREEN CAMPAIGNS

GAYLE MCLAUGHLIN FOR MAYOR (CA)

Gayle McLaughlin is up for reelection in Richmond, California, America’s largest city with a Green mayor. Her Green approach to development has drawn challenges from two conservative, developer-backed Democrats. McLaughlin’s first-term accomplishments include increasing tax revenue from the city’s Chevron oil refinery while lowering small business fees, hiring more community police officers, and making Richmond a center of the emerging solar industry. McLaughlin’s supporters include local unions, the trans-partisan Richmond Progressive Alliance, and Green For All founder Van Jones, who has said, “For those of us who are champions for a green economy, there is no more important race in the country.” Learn more about Gayle McLaughlin’s campaign for reelection and how you can help.

BEN MANSKI FOR ASSEMBLY (WI)

When Ben Manski declared his candidacy for the Wisconsin Assembly, the Madison Capital Times wrote that the “veteran Green Party activist and nationally recognized advocate for democratic reform, [has] entered the competition in the west side district where he cut his political teeth.” Since then, the former national Green Party co-chair’s campaign has taken off. Manski has won the endorsement of the teachers union, student groups, and 21 local elected officials. Leading Democrats are supporting Manski, in part because his opponent works for the coal and ethanol lobbies. A member of the Dane County Democratic Party’s Executive Committee said, “If Ben were 50% better than Hulsey, then I would support Hulsey because he is the Democratic nominee… but Ben is more than 50% better than Hulsey.” Manski has raised and spent nearly $20,000, and needs another $25,000 to pay for printing, mailing and radio, tv, and print advertising by October 15th. Learn more about Ben Manski’s insurgent campaign and how you can help.

DAN HAMBURG FOR MENDOCINO COUNTY SUPERVISOR (CA)

Dan Hamburg is running for Supervisor in the 5th District of Mendocino County, California. He was the first former Member of Congress to become a Green. Hamburg is Executive Director of Voice Of The Environment, and a committed advocate for sustainable, community-based economics. He finished first in the four-way blanket primary in June, and is now in a head-to-head race with a conservative, developer-backed Democrat, Wendy Roberts, who finished second. Hamburg has earned endorsements from SEIU Local 1021, the North Bay Labor Council AFL-CIO, and Jim Mastin, who finished third in the primary, as well as many others. Learn more about Dan Hamburg’s campaign and how you can help.

HOWIE HAWKINS FOR GOVERNOR (NY)

Howie Hawkins is a union Teamster who has spent decades organizing for peace, the environment, and social justice. Hawkins is the only candidate in the NY governor’s race to support single-payer health care, banning hydrofracking, and taxing Wall Street to invest in Main Street. He has been traveling New York State to build support for his “Green New Deal” proposal to stimulate the economy with green public works jobs. If Hawkins receives 50,000 votes, the New York Green Party will gain a ballot line for the next 4 years, enabling them to run candidates for peace, justice, democracy and ecology at every level of government. Learn more about Howie Hawkins’ campaign and how you can help.

JEREMY KARPEN FOR STATE ASSEMBLY (IL)

Jeremy Karpen is running for Illinois State Assembly in the 39th District, which covers Chicago’s Logan Square neighborhood. Karpen won 21% of the vote in 2008 against incumbent Toni Berrios, the daughter of gambling lobbyist and Chicago Democratic machine insider Joseph Berrios. This year, Karpen’s grassroots campaign and commitment to clean, progressive politics have earned him endorsements from Independent Voters of Illinois, Chicago Progressive Democrats of America, and the Chicago Tribune. Karpen needs money to get his message to voters and pull off an upset. Learn more about Jeremy Karpen’s campaign and how you can help.

ANNIE YOUNG FOR STATE AUDITOR (MN)

Annie Young is running for Minnesota State Auditor. She is one of the longest-serving elected Greens in the US, currently in her sixth term on the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board. She is an advocate for using life-cycle cost accounting to make sustainability a key goal of the auditor’s office, which oversees more than $20 billion spent annually by local governments in Minnesota. Among Young’s supporters is renowned environmental and economic justice activist Winona LaDuke. If she earns 5% of the vote, the Minnesota Green Party will regain “major party” status. That means Minnesota Green candidates won’t need to collect petitions signatures to appear on the ballot.  “Major party” status will also help Green candidates meet political debate requirements. Learn more about Annie Young’s campaign and how you can help.

HUGH GIORDANO FOR STATE HOUSE (PA)

Hugh Giordano is running for Pennsylvania House of Representatives in the 194th District, which covers northwest Philadelphia and parts of Montgomery County. A union organizer who advocates for education, jobs, ethics reform and single-payer health care, Giordano is drawing strong support from organized labor and progressives unimpressed with Democrat Pam DeLissio, a CEO and management consultant. He has been endorsed by United Food and Commercial Workers Local 152 as well as Bill Morris, a Democratic union supporter who lost in the May primary. Watch the compelling video endorsement from “Mothers for Hugh.” Learn more about Hugh Giordano’s campaign and how you can help.