You are browsing the archive for Maine.

Avatar of Ronald Hardy

by Ronald Hardy

Maine Greens Elect Three; Plus Independent to State Assembly

November 8, 2012 in Local Elections, State Party News

The Maine Green Independent Party saw three local candidates win elections on Tuesday:


Greens in Portland won several races: City Councilors David Marshall and Kevin Donoghue easily won re-election to third terms on the City Council while Holly Seeliger won the open seat for the School Board District 2 (West End, Parkside). Congratulations to David, Kevin and Holly for running terrific, grassroots campaigns and for showing that Greens can govern. Are you ready to run in 2013? Form a municipal committee? Contact us today! info@mainegreens.org

While the Greens running for State legislative seats once again performed well but lost, one Green was re-elected to the state assembly as an Independent. Ben Chipman, who is a Green, wound up running for State Assembly in 2010 as an Independent and defeated his Republican and Democratic opponents. This year he won re-election:

Maine House District 119
Herbert C. Adams (D) 1,272 36.63%
Benjamin M. Chipman (I) 1,884 54.25%
Gwendolyne Elissa Tuttle (R) 317 9.13%

Tags: , , , , 3 Comments »

Avatar of Ronald Hardy

by Ronald Hardy

Jill Stein Campaigning in Maine

September 2, 2012 in Presidential Campaign, State Party News

Green Party Presidential candidate Dr Jill Stein has been campaigning tirelessly across the United States, including three days this weekend in Maine:

Thurs.Aug.30th:

Green Party Rally
12-1PM [Monument Square Portland]

Dinner with Local Greens 5PM
[Local Sprouts 649Congress St. Portland]
RSVP: Jacqui jacquio50@yahoo.com [need reservation]

Fri. Aug.31st:

Farmer’s Market 10AM-12PM
[Brunswick Mall]

Dinner with local Greens 4PM
[Frontier Cafe Brunswick]
RSVP:Jacqui jacquio50@yahoo.com [need reservation]

Open House Party 7PM
[Fred Horch's house 44 Pleasant St.Brunswick]

Sat. Sept.1st:

Farmer’s Market 10AM-12PM
[Deering Oaks Park Portland]

Atlantic CannaFest 2PM [Keynote speaker]
[Deering Oaks Park Portland]

Dinner with local Greens 4PM
[Mesa Verde 618 Congress St. Portland]
RSVP: Jacqui jacquio50@yahoo.com [need reservation]

House Party 7PM
RSVP:Jacqui jacquio50@yahoo.com [need reservation]

Tags: , , Comments Off

Avatar of Ronald Hardy

by Ronald Hardy

Punch, Pie & Politics With Asher Platts

July 18, 2012 in Grassroots Democracy, Local Elections

One of our favorite candidates this fall, Asher Platts (a.k.a. the Punk Patriot), is launching a series of house parties for his campaign for a State Senate seat in Maine:

PLATTS CAMPAIGN ANNOUNCES FIRST IN SERIES OF “PUNCH, PIE, & POLITICS” PARTIES TO BE HELD THIS SUMMER

PORTLAND – Asher Platts, Green Independent candidate for Senate District 8 in Portland, will hold the first in a series of campaign house parties on Friday, July 27th from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. at 51 Myrtle Street, the home of Anna Trevorrow and Anthony Zeli in Bayside. Members of the public are invited.

“The aim of the house party series is to get to know all the wonderful folks that make up this district in its many neighborhoods, to get neighbors to meet each other to share food and laughs, and to share my campaign’s message that whether it is addressing climate change, fixing our broken government and economy – together we can get it done,” Platts said. “I’m really interested in building communities of citizen power from the ground up that will last through this election for years to come.”

Platts is known nationally as an Occupier-turned-candidate. He spent the fall of 2011 documenting the Occupy Movement on Wall Street and in D.C. before returning to his hometown of Portland to run for State Senate this year.
Read the rest of this entry →

Tags: , Comments Off

Avatar of Ronald Hardy

by Ronald Hardy

Maine Greens Endorse Fred Horch for State House Seat

July 10, 2012 in Local Elections, State Party News

Two years ago, Brunswick resident Fred Horch finished just 140 votes behind the Democrat in a three way race for the Maine State House District 66. He beat the Republican by over 250 votes in an incredibly close election. From our race round up in 2010:

State Representative District 66, ME
Alexander Cornell du Houx (D) 1,409 (38.08%)
K. Frederick Horch (G) 1,272 (34.38%)
Jonathan Crimmins (R) 1,019 (27.54%)

Here is the story we posted in 2010 about the Fred Horch campaign.

Fred Horch is giving it another shot this year, and I think it will be one of the top races to watch in 2012. From the Maine Green Independent Party:

PRESS ADVISORY, 07/06/2012
CONTACT: ASHER PLATTS, 207-776-5448

Greens Caucus this Sunday for Closely-watched Brunswick House Seat

Fred Horch to Seek Green Party Nomination for District 66 on Sunday

BRUNSWICK, ME – 07/06/12 The Brunswick committee of the Maine Green Independent Party (MGIP) will caucus Sunday, 07/08/2012 to nominate a candidate for State House District 66. The race in the Brunswick district has grasped public attention recently due to criminal allegations surrounding the incumbent Democrat Representative.

Fred Horch, founder of popular Maine Street business, F.W. Horch Sustainable Goods & Supplies, is the only declared candidate for the Green Independent Party ticket. Horch was the Green Independent candidate for the same seat in 2010, finishing a close second in a three-way race and garnering 34% of the overall vote.

“In 2010 Fred Horch came a hair-shy of winning the election. The MGIP is excited that this year, he is already emerging as the district’s favorite,” said Asher Platts, Chair of the MGIP.

Horch lives on Pleasant Street with his wife, Bowdoin Professor and neuroscientist, Hadley Horch and their children. He counts Founder of the Brunswick Sustainability Group and Board Member of the Northwest Brunswick Neighborhood Association among his many roles as a volunteer within the Brunswick community.

“Our Party will be proud to count Fred Horch as our candidate for many reasons from his background and credentials to his deep Brunswick-community roots,” Asher Platts said.

The nominating convention will be held on Sunday, July 8th at the Curtis Memorial Library, beginning at 11:00 a.m.

Tags: , 1 Comment »

Avatar of Ronald Hardy

by Ronald Hardy

Maine Greens Split Delegation – Stein 7, Barr 6

May 7, 2012 in Presidential Campaign, State Party News

According to the Convention Minutes of the Maine Green Independent Party, at the Party’s May 5th meeting in Portland the Party voted by Caucus resulting in 7 Presidential Delegates for Jill Stein and 6 Presidential Delegates for Roseanne Barr. Maine is allotted 13 Delegates to the Green Party Presidential Nominating Convention in July.

The May 5th meeting follows county caucuses that were held between January and March of this year. According to the meeting minutes, “15 caucuses convened, small portion took a vote, most decided not to vote, those that did vote voted unanimously for Jill Stein, excepting Portland which went 90% for Jill Stein.”

An unofficial delegate count, including the latest results from Maine and Arkansas, puts Jill Stein with 78% of allocated presidential delegates:

  • Jill Stein: 96.5
  • Roseanne Barr: 18.5
  • Kent Mesplay: 6.5
  • Harley Mikkelson: 1.5
  • Unassigned: 6

Tags: , , , 3 Comments »

Avatar of Ronald Hardy

by Ronald Hardy

Stein Campaigning in Maine: Free College Education

May 3, 2012 in Presidential Campaign

Jill Stein has taken her campaign from Florida to Maine this week. This coverage is from Maine Public Broadcasting Network:

One presidential candidate has made it part of her campaign platform to erase student debt and make college more affordable. In fact, Green Party candidate Dr. Jill Stein would make enrollment in a public college or university free. It’s all part of what she calls her Green New Deal. Stein was in Maine today for a campaign swing through Portland just two days before the Maine Greens hold their party convention.

Follow the link to the story at MPBN for an audio as well, but here is the text of the article:

With her 150-pound great dane, Bandita, by her side, Dr. Jill Stein (left) strolls into Monument Square looking very little like a traditional presidential candidate.

There’s nothing traditional about Stein, who would cut the defense budget by at least 30 percent, expand Medicare, make health care a human right, end bailouts and free loans to Wall Street and legalize marijuana.
Read the rest of this entry →

Tags: , , 1 Comment »

Avatar of Dave Schwab

by Dave Schwab

Fairvote reports on instant runoff voting elections in 6 cities

November 18, 2011 in Grassroots Democracy

Rob Richie and Dorothy Scheeline of Fairvote have written some interesting analysis of last week’s elections that used instant runoff voting, aka ranked choice voting. Instant runoff voting was used in San Francisco, CA, St. Paul, MN, and Portland, ME; in all three cities, Greens both helped enact IRV and ran in last Tuesday’s elections. For the mayoral elections in Portland and San Francisco, Fairvote has graphs that show the breakdown of votes round by round until someone takes a majority (in Portland, Greens David Marshall and John Eder finished 4th and 12th of 15; in SF, Green Terry Baum finished 11th of 16). In a Huffington Post article, Richie and Scheeline focus on the story of IRV’s success in Portland:

Repeatedly, we are seeing RCV winners being the candidates who do a particularly effective job at reaching out to voters, often with direct contact involving community debates, local events, and door-knocking. One Portland candidate, David Marshall, said he knocked on 20,000 doors. He didn’t win, but it was ballots from his supporters that provided a particularly strong boost to the new mayor’s win total.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , 10 Comments »

Avatar of Ronald Hardy

by Ronald Hardy

Portland Maine’s IRV Mayoral Race has 14 Candidates, 2 Greens

November 3, 2011 in Local Elections, State Party News

On November 8, Portland Maine will hold an election for the first popularly elected Mayor in over 80 years. Furthermore, voters will get to rank the candidates as the election will be using Instant Runoff Voting (IRV), which will be very interesting given that there are 14 candidates on the ballot.

One of those candidates, John Eder, is a former State Legislator, one of a handful of Greens ever elected to State Legislative office in the U.S. Eder, however, did not get the endorsement of the Maine Green Independent Party (MGIP), which has instead endorsed sitting City Councilor David Marshall, also a Green:

“Let there be no mistake about it, David Marshall is the Green choice for Portland’s mayor,” states Nate Shea, MGIP Chair. “His leadership on sustainable transportation, green development, and the creative economy places him among the strongest elected Greens in the nation.”

The Green Independent Party endorses Marshall because of his vision to create a modern streetcar line in Portland, to convert homes and businesses off of oil to cleaner fuels, and to grow the population density to create a more sustainable city as well as his longstanding commitment to helping constituents cut through city bureaucracy. For these reasons, the Green Independent Party strongly urges its members to rank David Marshall as their first choice for Mayor.

On Tuesday, John Eder came out and put his support behind one of his opponents, Ethan Strimling.

The endorsement comes as somewhat of a surprise because of Eder’s background. Eder helped mentor City Councilor David Marshall, the other Green Independent Party candidate running for mayor.

But Eder said Marshall is already on the City Council and “doing great work,” and the city needs fresh leadership. He said with Marshall still there, and Strimling as mayor and Eder advocating from the outside, “we’re going to make a great team for this city.”

There are two more Greens running in Portland on November 8. Josephine Okot is running for Portland School Board, and Jack Safarik is running for Portland Water Board.

Below is Mayoral Candidate David Marshall.

Tags: , , , , 1 Comment »

Avatar of Dave Schwab

by Dave Schwab

Campaign news and more endorsements for Green Party candidates running in the Nov. 8, 2011 general election

October 28, 2011 in Local Elections, Press Release

From the Green Party of the United States:

WASHINGTON, DC — Green Party candidates have continued to receive endorsements in local races across the US.

59 Greens will be on ballots in the November 8, 2011 general election. Ten Greens have been elected to public office in elections held earlier this year, out of 34 candidates who competed.

Green candidates in St. Paul, Minnesota, received several endorsements. For the first time, St. Paul will use Ranked Choice Voting (also called Instant Runofff Voting) in City Council elections, which will increase the chances of a Green election victory.

TakeAction Minnesota, a progressive grassroots coalition, has endorsed Jim Ivey for Ward 2 (http://iveyforsaintpaul.org) and Bee Kevin Xiong (http://xiongforsaintpaul.org) for Ward 6 in City Council races.
http://www.takeactionminnesota.org/_assets/document/St._Paul_City_Council_Endorsements.pdf
http://iveyforsaintpaul.org/news/jim-ivey-endorsed-takeaction-mn

United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1189 has also endorsed Mr. Ivey and Mr. Xiong.
http://www.ufcw789.org/newsletter/vol2issue5.pdf
http://iveyforsaintpaul.org/news/united-food-and-commercial-workers-endorse-jim Read the rest of this entry →

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 3 Comments »

Avatar of Dave Schwab

by Dave Schwab

Two Greens vying to become next mayor of Portland, Maine

October 24, 2011 in Local Elections

In Portland, Maine’s largest city, the city’s first mayoral election in decades features two candidates from the Green Independent Party: former State House member John Eder and City Councilor David Marshall. Both have been featured recently in the Portland Press Herald.

In his interview, Eder said that affordable housing would be the central issue in his administration:

“We’re on the verge of the creative economy toppling the artists and workers who helped make Portland become what it is,” he said. “We can’t lose those people.”

Marshall pointed to a record of accomplishment in five years on the council and presented his plan:

Marshall’s five-point platform includes investing in the city’s school facilities, converting homes and businesses from oil to alternative fuels, and creating a streetcar line.

Those programs would cost a significant amount up front, as some opponents have pointed out. Marshall calls them “investments.” He points to a record of saving the city money.

The election will be conducted using instant runoff voting, which Green Anna Trevorrow played a key role in enacting as a member of Portland’s charter commission. Ben Chipman, an independent State House member who is closely aligned with the Greens, is also quoted in the article about Marshall.

Tags: , , , , , , , 1 Comment »

Avatar of Ronald Hardy

by Ronald Hardy

Maine Greens Fundraising for Paid Political Organizer (Video)

August 26, 2011 in State Party News

The Maine Green Independent Party (MGIP) is raising money to hire a field organizer. This is a great idea, the Green Party needs people out there helping local and state Green Parties to organize.

Tags: 3 Comments »

Avatar of Ronald Hardy

by Ronald Hardy

Stephen King Hires Pat LaMarche for Left Wing Radio Show

August 24, 2011 in State Party News

From the Associated Press:


BANGOR, Maine — Stephen King is offering an antidote to what he sees as the biases of right-wing radio talk shows by hiring a former Green Party vice presidential candidate to co-host a morning talk show on two stations he owns.

In a rare public appearance, the horror writer held a news conference Tuesday in Bangor, Maine, at the headquarters of his three-station Zone Radio network.

“The Pulse Morning Show” will be co-hosted by 50-year-old Pat LaMarche and 43-year-old Don Cookson, a former television reporter. LaMarche ran for vice president as a member of the Green Party in 2004.

During the news conference King said, “We’re a little to the left, but we’re right.”

The show will begin airing on WZON-AM and WZON-FM at 6 a.m. on Sept. 12.

Tags: , 1 Comment »

Avatar of rossmlevin

by rossmlevin

Greens enter Portland, Maine’s first mayoral race; hope for boost from IRV

May 3, 2011 in Local Elections

From the Portland Daily Sun:

Portland this year embarks on an elected-mayor campaign that replaces a council-appointed mayor with one elected to an at-large seat. Through a city charter change, voters also will choose their next mayor through rank choice voting, where if any candidate falls short of a majority, then the “second choice” votes come into play in the tabulation.

MacMillan is working on the mayoral campaign for Portland’s David Marshall, an incumbent city councilor and Green Party member seeking the elected-mayor office. Another Maine Green Party member, former state legislator John Eder of Portland, announced in February his candidacy for the Mayor of Portland.

Green Party members said rank choice allows people to vote their conscience instead of feeling they’re casting a vote on a potential “spoiler” who could drain votes away from one of the two major parties.

Tags: , , , , , , 2 Comments »

Avatar of Ronald Hardy

by Ronald Hardy

Maine Greens Plan for Future at State Meeting

May 2, 2011 in State Party News

From the Portland Press Herald, an article covering this weekend’s state meeting of the Maine Green Independent Party:

BRUNSWICK – At their annual convention Sunday, members of Maine’s Green Independent Party discussed issues of ecology, social justice and grass-roots democracy. They spoke of diversity, personal and global responsibility, community-based economics, non-violence and decentralization of wealth and power. Of gender equity, future focus and sustainability.

They looked back — at a gubernatorial race without a Green candidate on the ballot — and they looked ahead — at a precedent-setting mayoral race in Maine’s largest city.

“It’s a very important race, for sure,” Fred Horch, who ran a close second in Brunswick to an incumbent Democrat in a three-way race for a seat in the State House, said of November’s ballot in Portland, where the public will elect a mayor for the first time in 87 years, and under a ranked-choice system to boot.

“I think having the mayor be a Green would give a legitimacy to the party. It would raise the profile of the party. And the policies the mayor pursues will certainly get in front of the voters,” he said.

Read the rest of the article at the Press-Herald.

Tags: , 1 Comment »

Avatar of Ronald Hardy

by Ronald Hardy

Three State Green Party Meetings This Weekend

April 26, 2011 in State Party News

The Green Parties of California, Maine and Wisconsin are all holding membership meetings this coming weekend.

In California, the GP of California State Meeting is being held Saturday April 30 and Sunday May 1 in Berkeley, CA at the Finnish Brotherhood Hall, 1970 Chestnut St.  Included as part of the General Assembly is elections to the GPUS National Committee and elections to 14 at-large seats on the State Coordinating Committee.

In Maine the 2011 Maine Green Independent Party State Convention is being billed as “Green Party Rising”, and will be in Brunswick, Maine at the Curtis Memorial Library on Sunday May 1.  The agenda includes elections to the state steering committee, national committee, and international committee, candidates for Mayor of Portland, Maine John Eder and Dave Marshall, State representative Ben Chipman, and some goal setting for the MGIP.

In Wisconsin the 2011 Spring Gathering and Membership Meeting is being held at First Unitarian in Milwaukee, WI on Saturday April 30.  Strategic planning for 2011-2012 is the main order of business, including campaigns / election strategy, fund raising and finance, membership growth and outreach, and State Party structure and organization.

Tags: , , Comments Off