Green Party Watch

Despite having a number of promising campaigns for state legislature in various states, Greens fell short of victory in every race – a few by painfully close margins. However, one former Green running for state legislature as an independent in Maine did win.

In Maine, Fred Horch of Brunswick finished with 34% in District 66, just 4 points (or 200 votes) behind the victorious Democrat. Anna Trevorrow finished 2nd with 31% in District 120, and Seth Berner finished 2nd with 28% in District 115.

In Massachusetts, Mark Miller of Pittsfield finished with 45% in a 2-way race in the 3rd Berkshire District.

In Wisconsin, Ben Manski finished with 31% behind Democrat Brett Hulsey, who had 49%. While Manski did better among voters who designated a candidate in the race, straight-ticket Democratic votes gave Hulsey the edge.

In Illinois, Jeremy Karpen finished with 35% to 65% for Democratic incumbent Toni Berrios.

In Pennsylvania, Hugh Giordano finished with 18% in a 3-way race.

In Maine, independent Ben Chipman won House District 119 with 54% of the vote. Chipman previously worked as an aide to John Eder, who became the second US Green to be elected to a state legislature in 2002. Chipman has also run on the Green Party line in previous campaigns. While not technically elected on the Green Party line, Chipman will no doubt be a voice for Green values in the Maine State House.

The Illinois Green Party is covering Election Day happenings with a live blog at their website. After it was revealed recently that Chicago voting machines were identifying Green Party gubernatorial candidate Rich Whitney as “Rich Whitey”, it should be interesting to read about any other “irregularities” that might occur. The bloggers are already reporting that Rep. Toni Berrios, who faces a strong challenge from Green Jeremy Karpen in the 39th District, has been delivering pastries emblazoned with her campaign logo to election judges in an apparent violation of electioneering law.

On a related note, if you encounter any difficulties when voting, make sure to report them to your state Green Party as soon as possible, so that patterns of voter suppression can be identified before polls close.

From Green Change:

Jeremy Karpen’s clean-money Green campaign for the IL State Assembly is poised to pull off an upset victory against his Chicago Machine opponent.

Jeremy and his volunteers have already knocked on 7,000 doors and made 3,000 phone calls. Jeremy has earned enthusiastic endorsements from leading newspapers, unions, and voter groups.

At this critical moment, Jeremy needs to raise $3,000 to air a bilingual TV ad, “I support Jeremy Karpen/Yo Apoyo a Jeremy Karpen.”

Watch the ad and make a donation at www.jeremykarpen.org/content/put-jeremy-tv .

If you have a spare hour to phone bank, please volunteer by emailing diane@jeremykarpen.org with the subject line “phone bank”. Even if you don’t live in Chicago, you can make calls from the comfort of your own home.

Jeremy Karpen’s election could spark a peaceful Green revolution from coast to coast. His victory will prove that Greens can start winning state legislative races.

Let’s do everything in our power to help him win.

Please donate and volunteer today to help make Green history.

Here is more information about Jeremy and his campaign: read more »

The Chicago Sun-Times has endorsed Illinois Green Party candidate for 39th District State Representative Jeremy Karpen, who has also been endorsed by the Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Teachers Union, Chicago Progressive Democrats of America, and Independent Voters of Illinois Independent Precinct Organization. From the Sun-Times:

39th House District: Incumbent Democrat Rep. Maria Antonia “Toni” Berrios is known for not making waves; Springfield insiders say she does a decent job but nothing more. With an out-of-control state budget deficit and a distressed economy, that performance doesn’t cut it. Voters in this Northwest Side district should elect Green Party candidate Jeremy Karpen, a counselor and supervisor at the Mercy Home for Boys. Both candidates share fairly liberal views on taxation policy and education, but Karpen is far more independent, more progressive and has greater depth. There is no Republican running.

Will Guzzardi at the Huffington Post Chicago reports on Illinois Green Party 39th District State Representative candidate Jeremy Karpen in an article entitled “Jeremy Karpen, Green Party Candidate, Takes on Toni Berrios in 39th District”:

Jeremy Karpen figures if there was ever a year to do the impossible, this is it. Karpen is running for state representative in Illinois’ 39th district in Chicago, on the Green Party ticket. If he wins, he’ll be the only state legislator from his party in the nation.

As if those odds weren’t long enough, he’s running against the incumbent representative from the 39th: Maria Antonia “Toni” Berrios, a fourth-term rep who is also the daughter of Cook County Democratic Party chairman and machine power-broker Joe Berrios.

But talking to the easygoing, charmingly optimistic Karpen, you’d never know he was facing such momentous obstacles. In fact, to hear him tell it, this year is a golden opportunity to be Green.

Jeremy Karpen pulled 21% of the vote against Berrios in 2008 with a bare-bones organization. In comparison, for his current campaign he has been raising money and building an organization since last year. Relying solely on individual contributions, Karpen out-fundraised Berrios in the first half of 2010; but it didn’t take long for Berrios’ Chicago Machine connections to raise a huge pile of corporate cash:

Berrios has over $100,000 in her campaign coffers, donated from pharmaceutical PACs (she’s the chair of the Biotech Committee), downtown lawyers (many of whom lobby her father about property taxes at the Board of Review), and a massive contribution from Joe Berrios himself. Karpen sends email blasts trying to scrounge up enough for his next mailer. As of the end of June, he had a little over $6,000 on hand. read more »

From Illinois Green Party candidate for State House District 39 Jeremy Karpen:

GREEN OUT-FUNDRAISES MACHINE
Jeremy Karpen Runs Grassroots Campaign While Incumbent Berrios Idles

CHICAGO – Jeremy Karpen’s campaign committee announced Tuesday that he
had raised more money in the first half of 2010 than his opponent, the
Democratic incumbent Maria ‘Toni’ Berrios.

In campaign disclosures filed last week, Green challenger Karpen’s
campaign reported more than $9,000 in total receipts, with over $5,400
in individual contributions. In this same period, Democratic
incumbent Berrios raised under $6,300, with $3,500 in individual
contributions. read more »

Illinois Green Party candidate for District 39 State Representative Jeremy Karpen released the following statement regarding the connection between his district’s incumbent, her lobbyist/politician father, and the gambling industry:

This week, Rep. Berrios voted during committee and the House floor
vote in favor of expanding the definition of video gambling venues to
include truck stops and VFWs, and to lower the minimum bet to a penny.
The legislation was strongly pushed by her father, lobbyist Joseph
Berrios, now a candidate for Cook County Assessor, who counts the
Illinois Coin Machine Operators Association as a client, one of the
largest pro-gambling organizations in the state.

“This vote is highly troubling in our current economic climate,” says
Jeremy Karpen, Green Party candidate for 39th District State
Representative. “Every year it is more of the same. Last May, the
Assembly sold us the Video Gaming Act as a ‘jobs bill’ in the eleventh
hour. But when community after community rejected the machines, it
seems they decided to make it even easier for low-income Illinoisans
and veterans to shoulder a larger burden.” read more »