Green Party Watch

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:

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.

In St. Paul, Minnesota, the Twin Cities Daily Planet has published interviews with two Green Party city council candidates. Johnny Howard is running in Ward 1:

“I want to change the culture of leadership,” says Johnny Howard who is competing in the race for the Saint Paul city council against incumbent council member Melvin Carter in Ward One. “Too often, there is a pretense of neighborhood involvement that disguises top-down leadership.”

Read the full interview with Johnny Howard.

Bee Kevin Xiong is running in Ward 6:

What is it like in the day of a city council candidate? Between 9 a.m. and noon, Xiong is in meetings. In afternoon to early evenings, Xiong and his team of volunteers are going door to door, talking to the residents of the sixth ward. He asks what the resident which issues they are concerned about in the ward and then explains his plan and why he’s running for city council. “I’m endorsed by the Green Party, which means we are a grassroots democracy – we care about people. We treat them with dignity and respect. We put people first.”

Read the full interview with Bee Kevin Xiong at the Twin Cities Planet.

The St. Paul Green Party has one more city council candidate and a school board candidate in the upcoming election, which will use instant runoff voting for the first time in the city’s history. Learn more about all the candidates at GreenSaintPaul.org.

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 more »

In two four-way special elections yesterday in Pittsfield, MA and Minneapolis, MN, Green Party candidates took second place. In Massachusetts’ 3rd Berkshire State Representative district, Green-Rainbow Party candidate Mark Miller finished close behind Democrat Tricia Farley-Bouvier, although the final vote count is not yet clear. From Ballot Access News:

Some sources say Miller lost by only 92 votes, and some say he lost by 192 votes. He placed second, with either 30% or 32% of the total. The winning Democrat, Tricia Farley-Bouvier, polled 33%.

In Minnesota’s 61st State Senate district, Farheen Hakeem finished second with 22% to 68% for Democrat Jeff Hayden. In both races, the Green candidate outpolled a Republican and an independent.

Green Party candidates are running in two special elections scheduled for October 18th, one each in Pittsfield, MA and Minneapolis, MN.

In Pittsfield, Mark Miller is running for Massachusetts State Representative in the 3rd Berkshires District. Miller earned 45% of the vote for the same office in 2010. For more information on his campaign, check out his website.

In Minneapolis, Farheen Hakeem is running for Minnesota State Senate in District 61. Hakeem took 30% of the vote in a 2008 run for MN State House. For more information on her campaign, check out her website.

From the Twin Cities Daily Planet (read the full thing here, there is a lot more information in the article itself):

The Green Party of St. Paul began a new effort to recruit candidates for upcoming 2011 local elections June 16, as candidates and around 40 supporters gathered to launch the effort dubbed Green St. Paul.The campaign is an attempt to change the party’s sporadic track record in local elections by recruiting candidates to run for local office, said Green St. Paul co-chair Roger Meyer…

The Green Party has officially endorsed three candidates in local races. Johnny Howard and Jim Ivey are running for St. Paul City Council seats in Wards 1 and 2, respectively, while Devin Miller is running for the St. Paul School Board…

Meyer said the recruitment campaign was inspired by St. Paul’s adoption of ranked choice voting. The elections this November will see the first implementation of the ranked choice voting system that St. Paul voters approved in a referendum in 2009.

The system allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference. If one candidate receives more than 50 percent of the first choice votes, they win outright. Otherwise, the candidate with the lowest number of first choice votes is eliminated and their votes are redistributed to the voter’s second choice. The process is repeated until one candidate crosses the threshold needed to win.

Local and State Green Party groups meet throughout the year. Is there a local in your area? Do you want to start one? See this nice Organizing Kit put together by GPUS.

Monday Feb 7, the Triangle Greens (NC) met at the Durham County Library.

This Saturday the Green Party of Minnesota is holding their Winter Meeting in Golden Valley, MN, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. See the agenda.

All members are encouraged to attend. We’re planning three sets of workshops hosted by guest speakers. In addition to our traditional favorites like single-payer healthcare and transition towns, we’ll also have action-oriented workshops for people interested in learning how to lobby or be a candidate for office.

Also Saturday the Green Party of Pennsylvania State Committee is meeting in Carlisle, PA at 1:30 PM, followed by an evening session with speakers at 6:30 PM. In the afternoon they will be electing officers and delegates to the National Committee. In the evening:

Please join us for an engaging evening with honored guest speakers from different groups and backgrounds, who offer common ground in addressing critical issues of the day that impact all of us, not just Greens. This evening is for YOU if you are seriously concerned about the state of our voting systems, our environment and our civil liberties.

(1) Marybeth Kuznik, Founder and Executive Director, VotePA — Voting Machines in Pennsylvania, 6:30-7:00

(2) Bill Belitskus, President, Allegheny Defense Project — Marcellus Shale Drilling and its Effect on the Allegheny National Forest, 7:00-8:00

(3) Jim Compton, Anti-Real ID Activist, Boiling Springs, PA — Real ID in Pennsylvania, 8:00-8:30

On Sunday The Portland (Maine) Green Party is hosting a Noon social prior to the 1 PM Maine Green Independent Party’s Steering Committee Meeting, both at the Meg Perry Center in Portland, Maine.

Do you know of other Green Party meetings or events coming up? Let us know at GPW@GreenPartyWatch.org

Al-Jazeera English has published a detailed profile of Farheen Hakeem, a current Green Party US co-chair who has run for office several times in Minnesota, including a recent run for governor:

Every four years the US elects a new president. It is a process that is scrutinised the world over. But the democratic system includes many other, smaller contests which regularly reflect the nation’s character and mood.

The mid-west state of Minnesota was the first to elect and then re-elect a Muslim-American to Congress. And although it was a major milestone for US democracy, it did not necessarily indicate a wave of broad acceptance.

Farheen Hakeem, a maths teacher and girl scout troop leader, wanted to show her students and scouts that democracy is more than just casting a vote and that it can also be about faith.

In the following account filmmaker Sarah Zaman looks at a young Muslim woman that runs for office in Minnesota and tests the system.

Read and watch the whole story at Al-Jazeera English.

Last night the Green Party won ballot access in New York and Texas, retained it in Massachusetts and Ohio, lost it in Illinois and Wisconsin, and fell short of gaining it in Arkansas, Maryland, Minnesota, and Nevada. Here are the results by state:

Arkansas: Greens got on the 2010 ballot by petition, but failed to retain a ballot line when Jim Lendall got less than 3% of the vote for governor.

Illinois: Greens lost the ballot line and major party status gained in 2006 by Rich Whitney’s 10% for governor when Whitney got less than 5% of the vote for governor this year.

Maryland: Greens got on the 2010 ballot by petition, but failed to retain a ballot line when Maria Allwine got less than 1% of the vote for governor.

Massachusetts: Greens retain ballot access and party status after Nat Fortune earned 5% for State Auditor.

Minnesota: Annie Young’s 2.7% for State Auditor falls short of winning major party status, but retains minor party status for the Minnesota Greens.

Nevada: Greens fail to gain ballot access after David Curtis got less than 1% of the vote for governor.

New York: Greens gain ballot status through 2014 thanks to Howie Hawkins earning over 50,000 votes for governor.

Ohio: Greens retain ballot status thanks to Dennis Spisak earning over 1% for governor.

Texas: Greens gain ballot status through 2012 thanks to Ed Lindsay earning over 5% for comptroller.

Wisconsin: Greens lose ballot status after not running any statewide candidates who could qualify.

From Green Change:

Tonight, we will be focusing on the campaigns of 14 transformational Green candidates who are building the Green movement across the country. Some of these candidates are poised for history-making wins. Others are blazing the trail for future success by running party-building campaigns for statewide office.

14 Greens to Watch on Election Day

Jeremy Karpen for IL Assembly – Jeremy Karpen’s vigorous grassroots challenge to a Chicago Machine insider has earned him endorsements from the Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Teacher’s Union, Independent Voters of Illinois, and even Chicago Progressive Democrats of America. Karpen, a strong supporter of single-payer health care, affordable housing, mass transit, and progressive taxation, has run a clean-money campaign as part of his commitment to reforming Illinois’ notoriously dirty pay-to-play politics.

Ben Manski for WI Assembly – Ben Manski’s insurgent run has earned the support of Madison’s teachers union, the Madison Capital Times, and leading progressives including Jim Hightower, Medea Benjamin, and Thom Hartmann. The outgoing Democratic assembly member revoked his endorsement of Manski’s main opponent, a Democrat who left the Sierra Club to lobby for the coal industry. Manski is racing to the finish line with the support of a broad transpartisan coalition of elected officials, unions, students, newspapers, and activists committed to renewing Wisconsin’s trailblazing progressive tradition.

Gayle McLaughlin for Mayor of Richmond, CA – With a population over 100,000, Richmond became the largest US city with a Green mayor when Gayle McLaughlin was elected in 2006. Since then, McLaughlin has made Richmond a center of the emerging solar industry, fought successfully to increase taxes on the local Chevron oil refinery while lowering them for small businesses, and brought down violent crime with expanded community policing. Her supporters, including Green For All founder Van Jones, hope that her record of positive accomplishments in office will carry Mayor Gayle to victory.

Hugh Giordano for PA Assembly – Hugh Giordano is a union organizer from Philadelphia’s Roxborough neighborhood whose people-powered campaign has electrified the race for an open seat in a traditionally Democratic district. After a CEO won the Democratic primary with only 30% of the vote, Giordano’s strong support for public education, single-payer health care, and worker’s rights has gained him the backing of local unions and maverick Democrats and made him a contender for the win.

Dan Hamburg for Mendocino County (CA) Supervisor – In a county the size of Delaware on the coast of California, former member of Congress and Voice Of The Environment executive director Dan Hamburg is running for supervisor to build a vibrant, sustainable local economy and protect the beautiful natural landscape for generations to come. Hamburg finished first in the 4-way June primary, and has been endorsed by the third-place finisher as well as local unions and environmentalists in his head-to-head race against the conservative, developer-backed candidate who finished a close 2nd in the primary. read more »

Minnesota Green Party candidate for State Representative District 59B Dan Craigie was interviewed by MN Daily, the University of Minnesota newspaper, about pressing issues facing MN state government. The Green Party has had a measure of success in Minneapolis, having elected candidates to the city council and park and recreation board, as well as helping to enact instant runoff voting. Craigie hopes to become the first Green elected to MN’s state legislature.

Read the article “2010 Election Guide: Dan Craigie, Green Party” at MNDaily.com.

FairVote is hosting a ranked-choice poll for Governor of Minnesota. The poll is a chance to see IRV (Instant Runoff Voting) applied in a race with several, third party candidates. The poll is at:

http://fairvotemn.org/node/1826/simplevote

There are seven candidates on the ballot. In this exercise, voters may choose 6 candidates. read more »

Upcoming events from the campaign of Minnesota Green Party candidate for State Representative District 59B Dan Craigie:

RALLY

Wednesday, October 27^th, 11:30am: University of Minnesota

Join us as we march across the University of Minnesota campus to raise awareness about Green Party candidates and get students excited about the upcoming election. We’ll be meeting at a location on the East Bank (check the website for updates) and marching to the West Bank via the Washington Ave. bridge. Dancing, yelling, and general exuberance is encouraged. read more »