Maine

1

Moyowasifza-Curry campaigns in Maine

Posted on by GPW

curryMaine’s Biddeford Courier interviews Green Party presidential candidate Sedinam Kinamo Christin Moyowasifza-Curry, who is campaigning in Maine in advance of Green Party caucuses there. The newspaper says Moyowasifza-Curry was “the first presidential candidate to visit a caucus in Maine this year.”

Moyowasifza-Curry said she “became a Green to bring diversity to the party and to help broaden its appeal.” She said, “White privilege exists in our party. I looked around to find what party had values similar to mine and it was the Green Party. The only thing it didn’t have was people of color.”

She said her time spent living in Ghana changed her perspective. Moyowasifza-Curry said, “Being there made me a better American because I saw the impact of our polices that was hurting them. You all know we cannot sustain what we have right now. … I think we have enough heart and brain to sustain our species despite our stupidity.”

2

Green Party presidential primary calendar

Posted on by GPW

primaryThis is a partial list of Green Party state-level presidential nominating events. This list will be updated when possible, and all available results will be posted on Green Party Watch.

 

 

  • Arizona: Primary (March 22)
  • California: Primary (June 7)
  • Colorado: State party meeting (April 3)
  • Delaware: Convention (May)
  • District of Columbia: Primary (June 14)
  • Illinois: Online voting (Jan. 25-Feb. 14), Primary (March 15)
  • Maine: Primary (June 14)
  • Massachusetts: Primary (March 1)
  • Minnesota: Caucus (March 1)
  • Nebraska: Convention (TBD)
  • New York: Convention (June 11)
  • Ohio: Primary (March 15), Convention (April 3)
  • Texas: Convention (April 9-10)

The Green Party of the United States has recognized five presidential candidates: Darryl Cherney, Bill Kreml, Kent Mesplay, Sedinam Kinamo Christin Moyowasifza-Curry, and Jill Stein. States have different standards for listing candidates in their primaries, so not all candidates will be on all primary ballots.The nominees for president and vice president will be selected at the Green National Convention in Houston, August 4-7.

0

Maine Greens call for impeachment of Gov. LePage

Posted on by GPW

maineThe Maine Green Independent Party has called for the impeachment of Republican Gov. Paul LePage, with the MGIP state committee voting unanimously to urge the state House of Representatives to do so.

MGIP co-chair Gilbert Harris said, “Since taking office in 2011, Le Page’s tenure has been marked by slurs and morally questionable statements about individuals in office and about whole groups of people and he has taken actions that are unconstitutional, arguably criminal, and reflect badly on the people of Maine, the state as a whole, and the governor’s office itself.”

The MGIP cites LePage’s alleged intimidation of the board of directors of a school for at-risk youth into voiding the employment contract of a leading Maine Democratic legislator, as well as his withholding of land conservation funds approved at referendum, his alleged use of political pressure to achieve the resignations of the president of the World Acadian Congress and the president of the Maine Community College System, and a history of what the MGIP called “racist, sexist, and homophobic comments.”

Harris said, “The State of Maine has been subject to his governance-by-bullying for far too long. We deserve a governor that proudly represents the State of Maine, not one that has become the embarrassing butt of late night talk show comedy routines.”

0

Maine Greens open primaries to unaffiliated voters

Posted on by GPW

maineWABI-TV Bangor reports online and on the air that the Maine Green Independent Party “is hoping to attract more voters to its primaries this year.” On Wednesday, Maine Green leaders notified the state “that the party is now letting unaffiliated voters take part in the primary process. The change was approved at the Green Party’s state convention last year.”

Co-Chair Gil Harris said, “The majority of voters are either unenrolled or independent, not only in Maine but across the country. There are many people that are dissatisfied with both of the two corporate-run parties and what we want to do is give people the opportunity to get involved in the electoral process that they may not have now if they’re unenrolled.”

0

Maine Green Independent Party supports Penobscot Nation sovereignty

Posted on by GPW

Penobscot-Nation-SovereigntyThe Maine Green Independent Party says in a statement that it “supports the Penobscot Nation’s effort to protect the Penobscot River waterways as their recognized territory, and condemns the ruling handed down by U.S. District Court Judge George Singal” last month that said “Penobscot territory included only the islands and not the ancestral waterways of the Penobscot River.”

The MGIP said it “bases its support for protecting both the Penobscot River and the sovereign rights of the Penobscot Nation on its ten key values, which include ecological wisdom and social justice.”

Maine Green Independent Party Co-Chair Gil Harris said, “It seems to reason that if the water standards are not regulated so as to maintain a food source that is edible in the river, then the state would be in breach of the U.S. treaty with Penobscot Nation, which guarantees sustenance fishing rights in the river. There are no fishing rights if the state poisons the fish.”

0

Stein to campaign in Maine Saturday

Posted on by GPW

steinGreen Party presidential candidate Jill Stein will speak at the University of Southern Maine in Portland on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.

According to The Forecaster, Stein “will speak about abolishing student debt, extending health care, ending the war on drugs and other topics,” and will take questions. The event will be livestreamed.

Maine was Stein’s best state as the 2012 Green Party nominee, when she received 1.14% of the vote there.

5

Upcoming Green Party conventions in NY, AZ, MA, PA, SC, ME, CA

Posted on by Dave Schwab

From p Green Party US new logoGreen Party US:

Spring is the time for annual conventions of many of our affiliated State & Local Green Parties. A partial list of upcoming meetings is listed here, including New York, Arizona, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Maine, and California.

Conventions have already been held in New Jersey & Illinois. Our hardy Greens in Maine held their annual meeting in January.

Campaign School and Spring Nominating Convention Syracuse, New York
Saturday and Sunday, May 16 & 17th
details

Arizona
Saturday, May 30 in Flagstaff

The Arizona Green Party (AZGP) invites all registered Greens & guests to attend our next General Membership meeting & 25th Anniversary Celebration!
details

Massachusetts
Saturday, May 30 in Worcester

Our theme, Healing Our Communities, is intended to set the tone of positive engagement and particularly encouraging and empowering people to run for elected office.
details

Pennsylvania
Saturday, May 30 in Swarthmore Continue Reading →

1

Maine Greens nominate State Rep candidate for special election

Posted on by Dave Schwab

p ron huberFrom the Bangor Daily News:

ROCKLAND, Maine — An environmental activist has been nominated by the Maine Green Independent Party to be its nominee for the vacant Rockland-area House seat.

Ron Huber of Rockland was picked by the Greens at a caucus Saturday in Rockland.

Huber is executive director of Friends of Penobscot Bay. He has been involved in numerous environmental efforts to clean up the bay. Over the years, he has been involved in many Searsport matters, including the recent fight over the proposed liquid propane gas tank and the battle over the future of Sears Island. Continue Reading →

16

The two-party system is the problem; ranked-choice voting is the solution

Posted on by Dave Schwab

p lauren besankoLauren Besanko, who ran as a Maine Green Independent Party candidate for state representative, recently wrote an article for the Bangor Daily News about Maine’s growing movement for ranked-choice voting. From the article, entitled “The Two-Party Duopoly is the Problem”:

Ranked choice voting allows people to vote for several candidates in order, from their favorite to their least favorite, by assigning candidates numerical values. Their favorite candidate would receive the “No. 1” vote, their second favorite the “No. 2” vote and so on. One of the points of election reform like this should be to eliminate the “spoiler” effect, so we don’t end up splitting the vote, for example, between center-left and farther-left candidates, resulting in electing a far-right tea party Republican.

Reform like this could very well be the start of a path toward the end of a political system dominated by the two parties.

Continue Reading →

1

State Green Parties unite against the pipelines

Posted on by Dave Schwab

From Green Party US:

p no kxl green partyWASHINGTON, D.C. — The Green Party of the United States is calling for the defeat of proposed tar-sands pipelines when the U.S. Senate votes on the Keystone XL pipeline on Tuesday and opposes alternative plans, including “Energy East,” that would route Canadian oil into the U.S. by pipeline or tanker.

Green Party leaders are encouraging the public to call on Senators to vote nay. If the Senate approves the pipeline, Greens urge President Obama to exercise his veto power.

The Green Parties of Maine, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, and New Jersey have banded together against a proposed fossil-fuel pipeline through the region, calling themselves the Green Alliance to Stop the Pipelines, or GASP (https://www.facebook.com/StopThePipelines).

GASP opposes a plan by the six New England governors to spend $6 billion on the Kinder Morgan gas transmission pipeline, which would bring fracked natural gas to export terminals in Maine and Canada.

Greens criticized Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s decision to hold the vote on Tuesday to allow pro-pipeline Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) to participate. Republicans in the Senate are determined to approve the pipeline, regardless of Democrats’ positions. (See “Green Shadow Cabinet: Alert: Resist the Dems’ KXL Sneak Attack!” http://www.greenpartywatch.org/2014/11/14/green-shadow-cabinet-alert-resist-the-dems-kxl-sneak-attack/)

“Green Parties across the nation are battling plans for massive investments in fossil fuel infrastructure that, if approved, would sabotage efforts to avert the looming catastrophe of climate change,” said Jill Stein, 2012 Green presidential nominee and a member of the Massachusetts Green-Rainbow Party. Continue Reading →