Harley Mikkelson

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Five candidates to appear on Massachusetts Green-Rainbow Party presidential primary ballot

Posted on by GPW

candidatesThe Massachusetts Green-Rainbow Party presidential primary ballot will include all five current or likely candidates for the Green nomination: Darryl Cherney, Sedinam Kinamo Christin Moyowasifza Curry, William Kreml, Kent Mesplay, and Jill Stein. The ballot order will be determined by a random drawing on Tuesday.

The Green-Rainbow Party is the only party other than the Democrats and Republicans that will have a Massachusetts presidential primary. The voting takes place on March 1.

Stein won the 2012 Massachusetts Green-Rainbow primary over Mesplay and Harley Mikkelson.

9

2012 Green Party US Senate Candidates

Posted on by Ronald Hardy

This year there are six candidates on the ballot for US Senate on the Green Party line and one registered write-in candidate.

The first Green Party candidates for US Senate were Mary Jordan (AK) and Linda Martin (HI) in 1992, 20 years ago. Jordan got 8.37% of the vote, while Martin pulled 13.73% in a four way race. Since then there have been 67 US Senate campaigns by the Green Party, with 13 candidates in 2006 as the peak. The most votes won by a Green US Senate candidate was 326,000 by Media Benjamin in California in 2000. The highest percent of the vote received by a Green US Senate candidate was 20.56% by Rebekah Kennedy in Arkansas in 2008.

In 2010, 11 Green Party candidates ran for US Senate, with Tom Clements winning 9.37% of the vote in South Carolina and all candidates combined won over 500,000 votes.

2012 Green Party US Senate candidates:

Colia Clark (NY)

Colia Clark, a long  time civil rights, peace and women activist, was a Green Party nominee for U.S.  Senate in 2010 for the seat presently held by Chuck  Schumer. She won 39,000 votes for 1%, finishing 3rd of four candidates. Clark, a  resident of Manhattan, is a chair of Grandmothers for the Release of Mumia Abu  Jamal. During the Civil Rights era, Clark was a Special Assistant to Medgar W.  Evers, field Secretary for the NAACP. Clark later joined the Mississippi Student  Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) doing voter registration work. She was  the founder  and Coordinator for Poor Women Against  Vietnam War, and the former coordinator of the Social Justice Center in  Albany.

Colia Clark has been an outspoken critic of hydro-fracking, and the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant.

Here is Colia Clark after being endorsed by the Green Party of New York:

Martin Pleasant (TN)

Marty Pleasant lives in South Knoxville and is an employee with the Knox County Engineering and Public Works department where he works to implement green practices in storm water management. He and his wife also operate a small organic farm and community garden space. He has been a volunteer with Americorps, Community Creek Clean-ups, River Rescue and as a youth sports coach. He has degrees in Civil Engineering and Environmental Engineering.

Pleasant is running on the Green New Deal – supporting the restoration of the Glass-Steagall Act, phasing out non-renewable energy, ending US involvement in foreign wars, and fully funding public education.

David Collins (TX)

David Collins is a former teacher and current information services employee who lives in Houston Texas. He has been active with the Green Party since 1995, with the Harris County Green Party since 2000, and serves on the Board of Directors for the Houston Peace and Justice Center.

Collins is running for US Senate on the Green New Deal, and is an outspoken critic of the environmental damage being caused by the Keystone Pipeline as well as nuclear power plants across Texas. Breaking the US addiction to fossil fuels is one of his main policy positions, as well as ending wasteful military involvements and ending the war on drugs.

Harley Mikkelson (MI)

Harley Mikkelson is a retired public employee, Vietnam veteran, and active union member with AFSCME and UAW. Mikkelson has been active with the Michigan Green Party since 2000, and has run for office five times on the Green Party ticket. In 2002 he got 5,000 votes running for the House of Representatives, and 2,400 votes for the same office in 2004. In 2008 he was the Michigan Green Party candidate for US Senate, winning 43,000 votes, coming in 4th of 6 candidates. In 2010 he was the Michigan Green Party candidate for Governor, winning 20,000 votes and coming in 5th place. Mikkelson sought the Green Party nomination for President this year, losing that bid to Jill Stein.

The Green Party of Michigan has selected me to be their 2012 U.S. Senate candidate. This is a very important election. Social Security, Medicare, and public education are all under attack. Health care is becoming unaffordable. We have soldiers stationed all over the world, we are still involved in a war in Afghanistan, and the stage has been set for a war with Iran. Our environment is being ruined. There are way too many people unemployed. I am a working class person and it is the working class perspective I hope to bring to this race. I do not want the Green Party to be the party of a small group of left wing intellectuals. I want to represent people who shop at Walmart as well as Macy’s. During this campaign I will present Green alternatives to the policies of the Republicans and Democrats in power.

This video is from Mikkelson’s 2010 campaign for Governor:

Ken Wolski – NJ

Ken Wolski is the Executive Director of the Coalition for Medical Marijuana – New Jersey, where he works to craft legislation and build support for the medical marijuana bill that passed in 2009 and was signed into law in 2010. Wolski has continued to push for implementation of the bill in the face of the Christie administration’s resistance. Wolksi is a public service nurse with a Masters degree in Public Administration. He is a strong advocate for a single payer health care system.

Andrew Groff – DE

Andrew Groff is a small business owner, running his own computer consulting business. Last fall he became involved with the growing Occupy movement, and joined the Occupy Delaware movement working on advocacy for home foreclosure victims. Groff wants to “return a citizen-representative to the US Senate to protect the needs of Delaware citizens and Delaware law. We endeavor to demonstrate that money need not be the deciding factor in electing a senator to Washington…We will not be slaves to corporate political party manipulation and will truly represent a government by the people and for the people.”

Jeff Russell – CT

Jeff Russell is running his second write-in campaign for US Senate in Connecticut. In 2010 he received 45 votes as a write-in candidate. He is also running on the ballot for Connecticut State Senate District 1.

0

Michigan Greens Nominate 22 Candidates

Posted on by Ronald Hardy

The Green Party of Michigan this last weekend nominated 22 candidates for office across the state, from US Senate to local County Commissioner seats. Harley Mikkelson, who had thrown his hat into the Presidential Race, was nominated to run for US Senate. There are also seven candidates for US House of Representative seats.

The Green Party of Michigan also polled its members for Presidential Preference, the results of which will guide the Michigan delegation to the Presidential Nominating Convention. The results of that process translates to 9 of Michigan’s 16 Delegates for Jill Stein, three for Roseanne Barr, and two each for Kent Mesplay and Michigan Green Harley Mikkelson.

See below (or here) for the full report on the Michigan Convention.

Continue Reading →

27

Stein & Barr Enter Final Stretch of Primary Campaign

Posted on by Ronald Hardy

After winning nine of ten Delegates in Delaware and Maryland on May 12, Jill Stein picked up 30.5 Delegates last weekend out of 42 available, from six states. The other 11.5 went to Roseanne Barr.

Our unofficial Delegate count now shows Jill Stein has secured 138 Delegates out of the 185 that have been determined, 74.5%. Roseanne Barr has been increasing her numbers, and currently has secured 32 Delegates, for 17%. Kent Mesplay has 6.5 Delegates, Harley Mikkelson 1.5 Delegates, and there are 7 uncommitted Delegates.

The breakdown from the weekend of May 19:

  • Hawaii – 2 delegates for Stein, 2 delegates for Barr (THIS IS A CORRECTION, PREVIOUSLY STATED 4 DELEGATES FOR STEIN – RKH)
  • Minnesota – 4 delegates for Stein, 3 delegates for Barr
  • Mississippi – 4 delegates for Stein
  • New York – 14 delegates for Stein, 2 delegates for Barr
  • Pennsylvania – 4 delegates for Stein, 3 delegates for Barr
  • Tennessee – 2.5 delegates for Stein, 1.5 delegates for Barr

Given that Jill Stein has a 100 delegate lead in a contest that has a maximum of 400 delegates, is she now the presumptive nominee? That would depend on who you ask.  On the one hand, there are a number of states and territories that have been assigned delegates that have no active Green Party chapters, and will likely not be sending Delegates. I would include in this list  Alaska, Idaho, South Dakota, Wyoming, Puerto Rico, Guam, Northern Marianas, and the US Virgin Islands – for 24 total.  There are another group of states that are wild cards – we know there are Greens there, but we can’t find any indication of when and how they will select their delegates.  Those states hold an additional 48 Delegates that may not be allocated.  If those states and territories fail to allocate Delegates, then the total number may drop to as low as 330.  However, there could be surprises, there is word out that a Green Party will be meeting in North Dakota soon, a state that has been difficult to organize in the past.

There are four tests coming up for both Jill Stein and Roseanne Barr.

First, this coming weekend we may hear delegate results from Iowa (4), Florida (8), North Carolina (4), and Washington (4).

Second, Michigan’s state convention is June 2-3. Michigan has 16 Delegates, one of the five largest delegations. Also meeting that weekend is Georgia (4 delegates).

Third is California, which not only has the largest delegation size (65), but has a state run primary on June 5.  Roseanne Barr has been on CNN asking voters to change registration to vote for her, and may very well give Jill Stein a run for her money. 65 Delegates could be a “game changer”.

Fourth, the great state of Texas holds their state convention on June 9-10, possibly the last state to determine their delegates before the July 15th Presidential Convention. Texas has 12 Delegates.

So on one hand, based on a realist perspective on the total possible number of delegates, Jill Stein may only need to secure a few dozen more to get the nomination. But on the other hand, there are 117 Delegates that will be determined over the next four weeks, and Greens can be an unpredictable lot.

12

Green Party Presidential Race, Delegate Counts, & Ballot Access

Posted on by Ronald Hardy

With the official certification of the Illinois Green Party primary results, Jill Stein has locked in 22 Delegates to the Presidential Nominating Convention (PNC), Roseanne Barr has 5, Kent Mesplay 2, and 2 are Uncommitted.

These numbers are based on a Delegation Formula that is currently being voted on by the Green Party’s National Committee, with the vote concluding this Sunday. The allocation is currently passing by a 43-9 margin, however there is an effort to defeat it and vote on an alternative. If this allocation is passed, there will be approximately 350-400 Delegates allocated, with the largest Delegations to the PNC coming from California (65), Illinois (31), New York (16), Michigan (16), Maine (13), Texas (12), Massachusetts (11), Arkansas (10) and Connecticut (10). The full list of proposed Delegation sizes is listed below.

The only other state besides Illinois that has held a State Convention to determine Presidential Delegations so far is Ohio, which may be allocated 9 Delegates. Given that Jill Stein won 90% of the vote there, she likely will receive 8 or 9 of Ohio’s 9 Delegates, while the 9th Delegate could wind up either Uncommitted or going to Roseanne Barr, who won 4.7%.

Minnesota’s caucuses earlier this month were largely a straw poll, and apparently not binding on Delegate support. The final numbers of that straw poll bear witnessing though: Stein: 92, Barr: 26, Mesplay: 22. If these proportions of support eventually turn into Delegates, Minnesota’s 7 Delegates might go 5 for Stein and one a piece for Barr and Mesplay.

Considering Illinois and Ohio only, at this point Jill Stein has 30 Delegates, Roseanne Barr 5, Kent Mesplay 2, and 3 Uncommitted or Unknown.

The next Primary for the Green Party is in Arizona on February 28, where six names appear on the Green Party ballot: Kent Mesplay & Jill Stein, who are both running nationally, along with Gary Swing, a Congressional candidate from Colorado, and three Arizonans: Gerald Davis, Richard Grayson, and Michael Oatman. Roseanne Barr had not qualified for the Arizona Primary ballot in time, but given the 18% write-in vote she received in Illinois, gaining votes, and delegates from Arizona is not impossible. Arizona would be allocated 5 Delegates under the proposed plan. A debate in Arizona this weekend features Kent Mesplay and Jill Stein.

Over the next three weeks, many more State Green Parties will be holding Conventions and Primaries to determine Delegates for the candidates seeking the Green Party nomination. While Jill Stein appears to be the early on favorite, it is too early to tell whether she will secure enough Delegates prior to the Presidential Nominating Convention to become the presumptive nominee. Stein’s success so far can be attributed in part to her organized campaign, and her willingness to campaign across the States such as Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, California, Arizona, Wisconsin, New York, Vermont, etc. meeting with “Greens on the Ground.”

Another major force is the Stein Campaign’s serious commitment to Ballot Access. The Stein Campaign got the Vermont Green Party re-established and the Utah Green Party on the ballot, and is actively committing funds and resources to put the Green Party on the ballot in 46 states. This is a costly exercise, but a necessary one. States that benefit from the Stein Campaign’s efforts will certainly reciprocate with votes, and Presidential Delegates. Petition drives are costly, and the Green Party’s Ballot Access Committee has been starved for funds. The Green Party could use a wealthy donor to make a significant contribution earmarked for Ballot Access and the money would be very well spent.

The Roseanne Barr Campaign is by no means sitting on the campaign sidelines. Roseanne’s website prominently states “OCCUPY THE GREEN PARTY!” and encourages people to participate in the Wisconsin Green Party Primary, currently underway. Roseanne Barr’s entry into the Green Party race resulted in hundreds of mainstream press pieces, and her inclusion in a Public Policy Poll, where she polled at 6% versus Barack Obama (47%) and Mitt Romney (42%). Given that the California Secretary of State has added Roseanne Barr to the Green Party’s Primary there in June, and California’s possible 65 Presidential Delegates (16% of the total number), it is safest to say that anything can happen. If nothing else, Roseanne Barr should book herself a ticket to Baltimore in July, because she has earned a prominent role at the Green Party’s Presidential Nominating Convention.

Kent Mesplay is also running for the nomination, and despite setbacks such as being “un-recognized” by the Green Party’s Presidential Campaign Support Committee (PCSC) due to low fund raising numbers, Kent is campaigning as best he can given his limited resources. Mesplay and Stein will be debating in Arizona this weekend, and Mesplay has been clicking for votes in Illinois and Wisconsin via email and Facebook. He is still hoping to raise the funds necessary to become “re-recognized” by the PCSC, but the further behind he falls in the Delegate count, the harder it will be to raise those funds. Mesplay points out that he is on the ballot in Texas, California, Massachusetts, & Arizona, and that he is stumping for votes in other states that meet and vote by Convention.

Harley Mikkelson of Michigan has yet to receive a Delegate, and has not made a significant effort to appear on Presidential Primary ballots such as Arizona that require simply a signed affidavit expressing interest. Although he is not currently recognized by the PCSC due to several measures, he is on the Wisconsin ballot and will likely be on others.

Green Party Watch will continue to provide coverage and commentary about the Green Party Presidential race throughout the year.

by Ronald Kane Hardy
Continue Reading →

5

UPDATED: Unofficial Minnesota Greens Caucus Results

Posted on by Ronald Hardy

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.

13

Decisive victory for Jill Stein in Ohio Green presidential primary

Posted on by Dave Schwab

From Jill Stein for President:

Jill Stein scored a very big win at the state convention of the Ohio Green Party on Saturday, winning 90% of the vote in a four-way race in presidential balloting. The convention met in Columbus to select delegates to be sent to the Green Party presidential nominating convention in Baltimore this July.

Ohio’s presidential preference vote was the nation’s first, and was Stein’s first test in the race for delegates. As a result, it provides an early indication of how Green Party members are assessing the candidates seeking the party nomination. The other candidates included on the Ohio ballot were Roseanne Barr, Kent Mesplay, and Harley Mikkelson. Continue Reading →
16

Jill Stein Over Roseanne Barr in Green Party Watch Poll

Posted on by Ronald Hardy

Our Feb. 1-2 Presidential Poll closed earlier tonight, and of the 1,792 votes cast, Jill Stein received 1,223 of them, or 68%. Roseanne Barr, who had just entered the race in the last week, picked up 526 votes, or 29%. There were 35 votes for Kent Mesplay, and 8 votes for Harley Mikkelson.

Word of Roseanne Barr’s declaration of candidacy for the Green Party Presidential Nomination just went national tonight with an Associated Press piece that is getting picked up by all the major media outlets. For example, see CBS News, or see the post in the Huffington Post and browse the comments. Roseanne Barr seems to have something in common with 2008 Green Party Presidential nominee Cynthia McKinney – people either love her or hate her. You can put me in the “love her” category, by the way. “Long time fan, first time caller!”

Roseanne Barr is very active on Twitter, and had tweeted a challenge to Bill Maher, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert to have both herself and Jill Stein on their programs. Barr, who supported the Cynthia McKinney / Rosa Clemente Power to the People campaign in 2008 and Cindy Sheehan’s Independent campaign against Democrat Nancy Pelosi in 2010, has been promoting the Green Party via Twitter and her websites.

Nonetheless, there is clearly a very significant amount of support in the Green Party for Jill Stein, who has been a Green Party organizer since 2000, a Green Party candidate for State Office since 2002, a medical physician and advocate for single payer universal health care, and who has been building a network of support for her campaign since November of 2011. The Jill Stein Campaign is actively fundraising, has hired at least 3 staff onto the campaign, and has campaigned so far in California, Colorado, Delaware, DC, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Virginia, Wisconsin, and other additional states as well. Jill Stein has been speaking at Occupy Wall Street encampments from Boston to Sacramento.

The Green Party will select their Presidential nominee at the Green Party Presidential Nominating Convention July 12-15 in Baltimore, Maryland. Between now and then, state Green Party chapters and caucuses will be meeting and voting and selecting Delegates to the Presidential Nominating Convention. Local caucuses in Minnesota are meeting next week, and Arizona holds their state primary on February 28.

Green Party Watch will continue to provide updates to the Green Party Presidential Race, including more polls, through the July Convention.

62

Green Party Watch Presidential Poll February 2012

Posted on by Ronald Hardy

There are four candidates currently seeking the Green Party nomination for the Presidential Election in 2012: Kent Mesplay (CA), Jill Stein (MA), Harley Mikkelson (MI), and Roseanne Barr (CA).

This poll will stay open until Sunday February 5. Thursday, Feb 2, at 6 P.M. Eastern. In this poll, you can vote for one of the four choices. Next week we will put up an Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) or Ranked Choice Poll.

For brief information about all four candidates and the nomination process, see this post.

[poll id=”16″]

17

Four Candidates Seeking 2012 Green Party Presidential Nomination

Posted on by Ronald Hardy

With the late addition of Roseanne Barr to the race, we are now looking at a four way Green Party Presidential race.

The Green Party nominates its Presidential slate at the Green Party Presidential Nominating Convention (PNC) in Baltimore, July 12-15, 2012. Delegates to the Green Party’s PNC are elected by the various State Green Parties and Caucuses. The exact number of Delegates and the distribution of them among the states and caucuses has not been determined since the last proposal on the matter was rejected in October 2011.

Although some State Parties will have state run primaries, namely Arizona (Feb. 28), Massachusetts (Mar. 6), DC-Statehood (Apr. 3), and California (June 5), most state parties and caucuses will elect their delegates at state conventions. If you don’t know when and where your state party’s convention is, go here, find your state, and find out.

Here are the candidates:

Kent Mesplay – Dr. Kent Mesplay is an air quality inspector in San Diego County. Dr. Mesplay has a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from Northwestern University. He was born in Papua New Guinea, raised there for the first 10 years of his life. He identifies as 1/16th Blackfoot, and has a strong identification with indigenous peoples and their struggles around the world. Environmental issues and working towards sustainable, localized communities is at the core of Mesplay’s Campaign.

“Sustainability is Security. Humanity must do everything possible to stabilize the climate. Climate change is a public health and safety issue of epic proportions. It has been called the World War III of our time. Cutting way back on carbon emissions is a key step, requiring a change in our lifestyle as U.S. citizens. Scientifically, there is no debate that this is a real issue, that human behavior affects the climate, and that public policy and private action must be geared toward recognizing and correcting the problem.”

Dr. Mesplay previously sought the Green Party nomination in 2004 and 2008.

Jill Stein – Dr. Jill Stein is a mother, housewife, physician, longtime teacher of internal medicine, and pioneering environmental-health advocate. She was the Massachusetts Green-Rainbow Party’s candidate for Governor in 2002 and in 2010, and ran for Massachusetts Secretary of State in 2006 and picked up 350,000 votes. She has twice been elected to town meeting in Lexington, Massachusetts. Jill Stein has built a strong campaign team, led by former Green Party co-chair Ben Manski, that has hired on three staff and raised over $40,000 through mid-January. Jill’s campaign has already committed staff to national ballot access, and Dr. Stein has campaigned so far in California, Illinois, Wisconsin, Maryland, Virginia, DC, Massachusetts and Delaware. She has spoken at Occupy Wall Street events from Dover to Sacramento. The “Green New Deal” is at the center of the Stein Campaign. In her words:

“First, we will guarantee the economic rights of all Americans, beginning with the right to a job at a living wage for every American willing and able to work. Second, we will transition to a sustainable, green economy for the 21st century, by adopting green technologies and sustainable production. Third, we will reboot and reprogram the financial sector so that it serves everyday people and our communities, and not the other way around. Fourth, we will protect these gains by expanding and strengthening our democracy so that our government and our economy finally serve We the People.”

Harley Mikkelson – Harley Mikkelson is retired from a 26 year career with the Michigan Departments of Community Health, Education, and Human Services. He graduated from Michigan State University, served in the U. S. Army and spent one year in South Vietnam. He was an active American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) and United Auto Workers (UAW) member, and he has held several union offices. Labor issues are at the core of his platform:

“It is the working class perspective I hope to bring to this race. I do not want the Green Party to be the party of a small group of left wing intellectuals. I want to represent people who shop at Walmart as well as Macy’s. I want to represent working people such as teachers, factory workers, farmers, government employees, health care workers, etc…”

Harley Mikkelson has not filed with the FEC to date.

Roseanne Barr – Comedian, Actress, and Author Roseanne Barr first announced her intent to run for President on the Green “Tea” Party ticket last summer, and made her intent to seek the Green Party nomination official in the last week. Her late entry into the race has prevented her from appearing on primary ballots in California, Arizona, Massachusetts and DC. Roseanne Barr may be more commonly known as a comedian, but she has been an outspoken social justice advocate for decades.

“Both the Democratic and Republican parties are bought and paid for by corporate America and cater to the needs of the highest bidder as opposed to the people they claim to represent. I cannot be bought. I have been a tireless advocate of Occupy Wall Street since Day 1 when I delivered my campaign speech in Liberty Plaza on September 17th, 2011.”

She supported the 2008 Green Party slate of Cynthia McKinney and Rosa Clemente, and supported Cindy Sheehan’s 2010 congressional run against Democrat Nancy Pelosi. Ms. Barr lives in Southern California. You can find out more about Roseanne Barr at her personal website, Roseanneworld.

Additionally, in Arizona, which has very open ballot access laws for Presidential Primaries, six candidates will appear on their ballot. Besides Jill Stein and Kent Mesplay, on the ballot will be Gary Swing, who is also a Congressional Candidate in Colorado, and three Arizonans: Gerald Davis, Michael Oatman, and Richard Grayson. Grayson was a candidate for Congress in 2010,
but was embroiled in a controversy with the Arizona Green Party, which had identified him as a “sham” candidate.

Green Party Watch will be providing regular updates to the Green Party Presidential nomination news section as we hear it.

We will also be posting a Presidential Poll on Wednesday February 1.