Green Party Watch

The California Green Party will host a music benefit on Thursday, 3/22 in Santa Monica featuring Glen Phillips of Toad the Wet Sprocket, John Rzeznik of the Goo Goo Dolls, and much more. Details from the CAGP website:

Thursday, March 22nd from 7:00pm – 10:00pm

V Lounge, 2020 Wilshire Blvd, Santa Monica

Tickets are $10 minimum per person.  When you buy tickets online, you can save time at the event by waiting in the Will Call line.  Please donate more than $10 if you can.  Your contribution helps us build the only progressive party in CA.

We are excited that the following musicians will be performing:

Brains and Eggs reports:

Texas Greens post 56 candidates for state and local offices

20 candidates in Bexar, 16 in Harris, 20 more across Texas, from Justice of the Peace and Constable to President of the United States. Here’s the full list (.pdf) from the Green Party of Texas website. Following I’ll list the statewide candidates and those running for Congress in Harris County, as well as state representatives and county offices. I expect to individually profile each of these leading up to November. Hyperlinks associated with specific candidates provide additional information. The Harris County Green Party site details the timing of county and senate district conventions, where elections for contested offices will occur.

Check out Brains and Eggs for more information and links for Texas Green Party candidates.

The Green Party of New Jersey (GPNJ) will be holding its 16th annual state convention, Saturday, March 17, 9:00 a.m.- 4:30 p.m., at the Rutgers Labor Education Center in New Brunswick.

The convention will hear from all three candidates seeking the Green Party presidential nomination: Roseanne Barr and Kent Mesplay (via Skype) and Jill Stein (in person). Also, Ken Wolski will be kicking off his Green campaign for U.S. Senate. As Director of the Coalition for Medical Marijuana-New Jersey, Wolski was instrumental in getting a medical marijuana bill passed in the New Jersey legislature.

According to Michael Spector, State Chair, Green Party primaries and conventions serve to increase interest and move the party toward becoming a serious alternative to the Democrats and Republicans. The Green Party of the United States will be holding its Presidential Nominating Convention July 12-15 in Baltimore.

“The Green Party appeals to those seeking a better world, voters who realize that their needs will never be considered by corporate power or its paid-off political representatives,” said Spector.

The results of the Wisconsin Green Party Presidential Primary were determined Saturday, March 3 at the Wisconsin Green Party’s Spring Meeting in Madison, Wisconsin.

Out of 75 ballots cast, the results were:

Jill Stein – 55 votes (73%)
Roseanne Barr – 11 votes (15%)
Kent Mesplay – 5 votes (7%)
Harley Mikkelson – 1 vote (1%)
Uncommitted – 3 votes (4%)

Wisconsin has been allotted 9 Delegates to the Green Party (US) Presidential Nominating Convention July 15 in Baltimore, MD. The vote results mean that Jill Stein will receive 7 Delegates, Kent Mesplay & Roseanne Barr will receive 1 Delegate each.

From the DC Statehood Green Party:

WASHINGTON, DC — The DC Statehood Green Party will host a panel discussion on “Lack of Statehood, Women’s Health & Women’s Reproductive Health Rights in DC” on Thursday, March 1, at the University of the District of Columbia (UDC).

The panel’s topics will include the new bill making its way through the Republican-controlled US House of Representatives that would ban most abortions in the District. The bill, titled the “District of Columbia Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act” (HR 3803,
http://www.opencongress.org/bill/112-s2103/show) and sponsored by Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.), would ban abortions in the District after a woman’s 20th week of pregnancy.

The event, which is free and open to media and the public, will take place at the UDC David A. Clarke School of Law, Building 52, 4340 Connecticut Avenue NW in Washington, DC.
read more »

This weekend will see State Green Party meetings in several states.

The Green Party of Pennsylvania meets this weekend in Lancaster, PA:

We’ll be starting at 12 noon on Saturday, March 3 with an introduction and welcome followed by an afternoon of workshops and an evening forum. Workshop topics include: ballot access petition circulation; running a campaign for state office; productive interaction with the Occupy movement; fighting fracking; lobbying legislators on the Voters Choice ballot access bills; and strengthening our local Green parties. Details and additional topics to be announced.

Note – this is *not* a Presidential preference or delegate selection meeting.

The Illinois Green Party State Convention is being held this weekend in Macomb, Illinois, hosted by Western Illinois University Campus Greens:

This year’s convention will involve selection of delegates to the Green National Convention (Baltimore, July 12-15), panels, and planning for our presidential petition drive which begins on March 27. On Saturday night a fundraising dinner will be held at the West-Central Illinois Art Center in downtown Macomb.

The Wisconsin Green Party Spring Meeting and Nominating Convention is on Saturday March 3rd, in Madison, WI.

On March 3rd, the Wisconsin Green Party’s Spring Membership Gathering and Presidential Nominating Convention will be held at Memorial Union, 800 Langdon St., in Madison, Wisconsin. Ballots may be cast at the Convention by Green Party members until 11:30 a.m. The results of the primary will be announced, and Delegates to the Green Party Presidential Nominating Convention in Baltimore, Maryland on July 14-15 will be elected.

Jill Stein, who will be in Madison for the Grand Opening of her National Campaign Headquarters, will be at the meeting, and at 5 PM Greens will head to Capital Square for the opening of the Stein Headquarters. About that:

Special guests include John Nichols of The Nation and George Martin, co-chair of United for Peace and Justice. This is an important fundraiser for the campaign, and donations will be gratefully accepted at the door.

The Arizona Green Party is having its first state run presidential primary on Tuesday. With 5,000 registered Greens, the Party is hoping for a high turnout. Press release from the Arizona Greens:

Arizona Green Party encourages all registered Greens to vote in Presidential Preference Election

For the first time in party history, the Arizona Green Party (AZGP) will participate in the Arizona Presidential Preference Election (PPE), scheduled for this Tuesday, February 28, 2012. AZGP was founded in 1990, but has never held ballot status in time to participate in a Presidential Primary. In 1996 and 2004, AZGP did not have a ballot line. And, in 1992, 2000 and 2008, the party did not achieve ballot status until after the Presidential Primary. State party leaders are encouraging all registered Greens to vote in the PPE.

Angel Torres, AZGP state co-chair says, “For the first time in our 22-year history, Arizona Greens will have the opportunity to vote in a Presidential Primary. This is a big deal for us, and I ask my fellow Greens to remember to vote on Tuesday, February 28.”

The Green Party of Maricopa County (GPMC) and AZGP hosted the Green Party Presidential Debate on Saturday, February 25th, 2012 at the Glendale Public Library (Foothills Branch). Green Party presidential candidates Dr. Kent Mesplay (http://mesplay.org) and Dr. Jill Stein (www.jillstein.org) were invited to speak. Mr. Torres says, “In order to be an officially-recognized candidate for President, the Green Party-US has certain benchmarks and qualifications that need to be achieved. For this reason, we only invited candidates Mesplay and Stein to our Arizona debate. We encourage our registered Arizona Greens to research the candidates before voting.” The actor Roseanne Barr is also an officially-recognized candidate for President by the Green Party-US. However, she did not file a nomination form by the January 9th, 2012 deadline, and will not appear on the ballot in Arizona. For this reason, she was not invited to the Arizona debate. Per Arizona state statute, write-in votes are not permitted in the PPE.

The official canvass (www.azsos.gov/election/2010/Primary/Canvass2010PE.pdf) of the 2010 Primary Election stated that Arizona Greens had the highest participation of any political party, with 56% casting a ballot. Currently, the Arizona Green Party has about 5,000 registered voters. Mr. Torres says, “We would love to be able to improve on that percentage for the PPE. It is very important that all of our registered Greens vote on Tuesday, February 28.”

The Maryland Green Party will be back in court to defend their 15,000 ballot access signatures as the Maryland State Election Board tries to deny them ballot access. From the Green Party:

Maryland Green Party to Defend Ballot Access Petition in State’s High Court

Maryland Green Party members will be in attendance at the Maryland Court of Appeals in Annapolis on Friday, March 2, 2012 as their ballot access lawsuit goes before the state’s high court. The case of Libertarian Party of Maryland and Maryland Green Party v. State Board of Elections will be heard by the court that morning.

The Green Party filed suit in conjunction with the Libertarian Party in March 2011 after the State Board of Elections rejected thousands of signatures intended to extend the party’s status as a recognized political party. An Anne Arundel Circuit Court judge decided in favor of the parties in June 2011 and ordered them placed on the ballot. The Court of Appeals will hear the Board of Elections’ appeal next Friday.

Green Party members are prepared to begin circulating new petitions to meet the 10,000 signature requirement to extend the party’s ballot status. The Green Party is currently ballot-qualified but will have to collect approximately four thousand new valid signatures if the Court of Appeals rules against the two parties.

“We worked for over a year to collect nearly 15,000 signatures,” notes party co-chair Brian Bittner, “and although the Board of Elections was able to identify significantly more than ten thousand voters who had signed the petition, the majority of them were rejected because they had signed without their middle initial or used a nickname like Bill or Betty. We went to court to win Marylanders’ right to place a new political party on the ballot and eventually vote for those candidates. It will be a major disappointment if that win is overturned and we have to go back out on the streets for more signatures, but we are willing to do that to keep what we have struggled for over the last decade.”
read more »

(Madison, WI) – The Wisconsin Green Party is conducting a Presidential Primary by mail, with ballots sent to all dues paying members of the Party this week. Mailed ballots must be returned by March 2nd, the day before the WIGP State Nominating Convention and Spring Membership Meeting.

The Primary ballot includes four candidates. Roseanne Barr (CA) is an actress, author and activist, best known for her 1980s sitcom “Roseanne”. Kent Mesplay (CA) is an air quality inspector in San Diego, California, who also ran for the Green Party nomination in 2004 and 2008. Harley Mikkelson (MI) is a retired state employee and was the Green Party candidate for Governor of Michigan in 2010. Jill Stein (MA) is a physician and environmental health advocate and was the Green-Rainbow Party candidate for Governor of Massachusetts in 2002 and 2010.

Wisconsin does not have party registration, therefore the Presidential Primary ballot is being distributed to dues-paying members of the Wisconsin Green Party. Wisconsinites still have time to join the party ( http://wisconsingreenparty.org/?q=join ) and receive a ballot by mail.

On March 3rd, the Wisconsin Green Party’s Spring Membership Gathering and Presidential Nominating Convention will be held at Memorial Union, 800 Langdon St., in Madison, Wisconsin. Ballots may be cast at the Convention by Green Party members until 11:30 a.m. The results of the primary will be announced, and Delegates to the Green Party Presidential Nominating Convention in Baltimore, Maryland on July 14-15 will be elected. It is anticipated that Wisconsin will receive nine Delegates to the Green Party Convention, who will be committed to Presidential Candidates in proportion to their votes received in the Wisconsin Primary.

From the Illinois Green Party:

MLive reports:

The Green Party of Michigan has scheduled its state membership meeting this weekend in Bay City, and several public panel discussions are on the agenda.

The party is one of only five in the state with guaranteed ballot access. Anyone who might be interested in running for office as a Green is encouraged to attend Saturday’s session, which is geared toward party business. read more »

From the Massachusetts Green-Rainbow Party:

The State Committee of the Green Rainbow Party approved a proposal for the formation of a Strategic Planning Working Group at the October 22nd quarterly meeting held in Amherst, Mass. We are pleased to present to you the initial findings in this document.

We believe strongly that the content of this strategic plan suggests a unique template for growing the Green-Rainbow Party.  It includes a consideration of historical approaches, discusses past failures, highlights successes, and puts forth possible solutions that could result in enormous growth in 2012.  Indeed, without growth, we have no power.  We hope all GRP members and leaders will devote attention to and thoughtful contemplation of its contents.

Read the draft strategic plan at the MA Green-Rainbow Party website.

UPDATE: Here are caucus results posted on the Green Party of Minnesota facebook page:

Minus one caucus reporting, here are the results of Tuesday’s straw poll:

Jill Stein, 92 votes
Roseanne Barr, 26 votes
Kent Mesplay, 22 votes
Harvey Mikkelson, 11 votes
No candidate, 9 votes
David Cobb, 2 votes
Ralph Nader, 2 votes
Winona LaDuke, 1 vote

The Green Party of Minnesota held Caucuses yesterday (Tuesday Feb. 7), and as of this afternoon there has been no official Caucus results released.

However, based on very unofficial (and anecdotal) comments on various Facebook pages, including the GP of MN page, it appears that Jill Stein won a number of the individual caucuses.

Green comments on Facebook include Jill Stein winning Washington County, North and South Minneapolis, and winning 3 to 1 in the 4th CD District in St. Paul, and another report indicates Stein splitting 50/50 with Roseanne Barr in another St. Paul Caucus.

Again, these are all UNOFFICIAL, we acknowledge that, but in lieu of an official media release or report on the Caucus results we felt like reporting *whatever* we could find.  The only msm news story we have found post-Caucus is from the Brainerd Dispatch which reports that two Greens showed up for their Caucus, but gave no Presidential results. From Facebook accounts, there were more Greens at other Caucus locations.

If you have any information about Green Party of Minnesota Caucus results we encourage you to post them here in the comments.

The Minnesota Green Party is holding caucuses on Tuesday, February 7th. The caucuses will make decisions about candidates for 2012 elections, including presidential candidates. Here is the list of caucuses from the GPMN website:

According to Ballot Access News, the Green Party and Constitution Party in Tennessee have won access to the Ballot in Tennessee via lawsuit:

On February 3, U.S. District Court Judge William J. Haynes invalidated Tennessee’s new ballot access law for minor parties. The case is Green Party of Tennessee and Constitution Party of Tennessee v Hargett, 3:11-00692. The decision is 90 pages. It strikes down the early April petition deadline, and also strikes down the 40,029 signature petition requirement. And, it says that it is unconstitutional to force minor parties to nominate by primary, at least in the context of an open primary state that doesn’t have party registration. It strikes down the 2011 law that reserves the best positions on the ballot for the two major parties.

The decision also puts the Constitution and Green Parties on the 2012 ballot, based on the evidence that in the recent past, both parties did collect several thousand signatures on petitions to get on the Tennessee ballot.

This is very big for the Green Party, which would have had a very difficult time getting on the Tennessee ballot if the new ballot access law remained in place.