Green Party Watch

From the Sun Gazette:

Having tested the political waters last year, Kevin Chisholm appears ready to dive into a larger pool…

An engineer by profession, Chisholm retired last year as chief energy official for Arlington Public Schools. As the Green Party County Board candidate in 2010, he garnered just over 6 percent of the vote against Democratic incumbent Chris Zimmerman and Republican Mark Kelly.

Chisholm said he would be running as an independent because he sees himself “more a political centrist” than what is represented by the Green Party. He describes himself as fiscally conservative and socially liberal.

In a year that has seen the biggest upsurge of activism against marijuana prohibition in American history, Green Party candidates across the country are leading the fight for marijuana legalization while Democrats and Republicans defend the failed, destructive “war on drugs” prohibition regime.

The eyes of Americans who oppose prohibition are on California’s Proposition 19, the Regulate, Control, and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010. The California Green Party and its leading candidates, including gubernatorial candidate Laura Wells and US Senate candidate Duane Roberts, support Proposition 19, while the Democratic and Republican candidates for governor and US Senate all publicly oppose it.

Meanwhile, Green gubernatorial candidates like Howie Hawkins in New York, Rich Whitney in Illinois, and Jill Stein in Massachusetts have injected marijuana legalization into the public debate and rallied anti-prohibition voters, who number 46% in the latest Gallup poll, around an issue considered taboo by the political establishment.

All of these candidates, plus other Green gubernatorial candidates including Deb Shafto in Texas, Dennis Spisak in Ohio, Maria Allwine in Maryland, Morgan Reeves in South Carolina, and Jim Lendall in Arkansas as well as over 100 Green candidates for federal, state and local office, have signed onto a 10-point program called the “Green New Deal”, which includes legalizing marijuana and ending prohibition as one of 10 major reforms needed to put the country back on the right track. See Green Change for a list of candidates endorsing the Green New Deal by state.

By voting Green, you not only send a strong message that you want a sensible drug policy; in many cases, your vote helps the Green Party maintain its ballot line in your state, enabling Greens to run more and stronger campaigns in the future. If you want to legalize marijuana, vote Green.

Chicago Reader profiles Illinois Green Party US Senate candidate LeAlan Jones:

LeAlan Jones rushes onto the West Chatham Park practice football field and shoves his right outside linebacker: “Why are you waiting for him to come to you?” he demands, then shows the young man how it’s done, squatting into the stance of a linebacker like a velociraptor ready to spring. read more »

Illinois Green Party gubernatorial candidate Rich Whitney was barred from participating in a League of Women Voters debate in Chicago Wednesday night, despite the fact that Whitney earned over 10% of the statewide vote in 2006, establishing the Green Party as a major party in Illinois. Whitney and a crowd of supporters protested the exclusion outside the debate venue. The previous night, Green Party US Senate candidate LeAlan Jones had also been excluded from the League of Women Voters’ debate. Watch Rich Whitney’s speech in this video from the protest:

Medill Reports published a video report from the protest.

In related news, Whitney will air ads on MSNBC and Comedy Central asking that he be included in debates:

Non-partisan electoral and ballot access reform organization Free and Equal will hold debates for the Illinois gubernatorial and US Senate races tonight with all ballot-qualified candidates invited. Illinois Green Party gubernatorial candidate Rich Whitney and US Senate candidate LeAlan Jones will participate.

Both Whitney and Jones were excluded from a League of Women Voters debate Wednesday night in Chicago.

From Free and Equal:

U.S. Senate and Illinois gubernatorial candidates will debate on issues ranging from the economy to environmental concerns to the War on Drugs, in back-to-back debates today, Thursday, October 21, 2010, at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb. The debates will take place in the Carl Sandburg Auditorium in Holmes Student Center, with U.S. Senate candidates debating first from 6 – 7:30 p.m., followed by the gubernatorial debate from 8 – 9:30 p.m. read more »

The City Wire reports on a new poll including Arkansas Green Party candidates Jim Lendall for governor and John Gray for US Senate:

In the U.S. Senate race, Boozman’s margin over incumbent U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln has shrunk to 13 points as he now holds a 49-36% lead. Independent Trevor Drown and Green Party candidate John Gray each received 4% support, while 7% of voters remain undecided.

Beebe has seen a steady increase in his advantage — now 16 points — over Republican gubernatorial challenger Jim Keet, 50-34%. Green Party nominee Jim Lendall pulled 3.5%, and 12.5% remain undecided.

If Lendall gets at least 3% of the vote, the Arkansas Green Party will remain ballot-qualified for the next 2 years.

Here are some interesting recent articles about Gray and Lendall:

Arkansas Times: A conversation with John Gray, Green Party candidate for Congress

Arkansas News: Here’s your independent voice

Blue Arkansas: Is John Gray picking up steam?

Baxter Bulletin: Jim Lendall fights for legitimacy of Green Party

Last night West Virginia Mountain Party US Senate candidate Jesse Johnson joined a debate with Democrat Joe Manchin, Republican John Raese, and Constitution Party candidate Jeff Becker. Johnson stood out as the true progressive and the only candidate to oppose mountaintop removal coal mining. Watch the debate online at C-SPAN.

See also Jesse Johnson’s responses to questions from the Register-Herald editorial board: read more »

Arkansas Green Party US Senate candidate John Gray participated in a debate on Arkansas Educational Television with incumbent Democrat Blanche Lincoln, Republican John Boozman, and independent Trevor Brown.

Watch the debate online at Arkansas Educational Television. (You can also find debates with Green candidates for Congress, Governor, and Attorney General.)

Also see the Arkansas Times’ recent interview with John Gray.

And don’t miss this great new John Gray campaign video “Think Outside the Box”.

Green Party candidates across the US win some debates, battle exclusion from others

• In Illinois race for the US Senate, Green candidate LeAlan Jones wins a debate from which he was excluded: SC Green Tom Clements challenges Sen. Jim DeMint’s refusal to debate; Calif. Green Laura Wells arrested for entering the gubernatorial debate site

• Video downloads and campaign news:
Green candidates in debates http://www.gp.org/candidates/debates.php
Greens on the campaign trail http://www.gp.org/elections/campaign-trail/index.php
Labor endorsements for Greens http://www.gp.org/candidates/labor-endorsements.php
More candidate videos: http://www.gp.org/candidates/videos.php

WASHINGTON, DC — Green Party candidates across the US are shining in some debates — and protesting their exclusion from other debates. read more »

The Clements for US Senate Campaign will hold a joint press conference with the South Carolina Chapter of The Sierra Club on Thursday October 14th at 2:30pm at Clements’ state campaign headquarters at 1247 Sumter Street in Columbia. The office is located less than a block away from the SC State Supreme Court Building (on Sumter between Gervais and Lady Streets).

The news conference is to formally announce the endorsement of Clements by the national Sierra Club, one of the largest and most influential environmental organization sin the US. Representatives of the organization and Clements will answer media questions about the significance of the endorsement.

Clements has been a member of the Sierra Club for over thirty years and became a life member in 1998 and is very pleased with this endorsement, which helps boost the national significance of the campaign.
read more »

Arkansas Green Party US Senate candidate John Gray has released an excellent campaign ad on youtube entitled “Think Outside the Box”. Gray is attracting widespread support from labor and progressives in a four-way race with Democratic incumbent Blanche Lincoln, Republican John Boozman, and conservative independent Trevor Drown. Here’s the video:

NBC Chicago Ward Room blogger Edward McLelland had this to say about the recent Illinois Senate race debate on NBC’s Meet the Press, and the WBEZ debate where the Green Party’s LeAlan Jones and Libertarian Mike Labno were invited to debate:

South Carolina Green Party US Senate candidate Tom Clements is raising money to air radio ads challenging incumbent Senator Jim DeMint:

Columbia, SC – This Saturday, as the Gamecocks challenge the top-ranked Alabama team on the football field, the Clements for Senate campaign will release a series of radio ads challenging incumbent Senator Jim DeMint and reminding voters that they do have a choice in the upcoming midterm elections.

The game will be broadcast at 3:30 on Columbia’s 107.5 FM Sports radio station and another set of ads will begin airing between 6 and 10 AM during the station’s Monday post-game show.

Radio Spot 1
Radio Spot 2
Radio Spot 3
Radio Spot 4

Clements’ ads will encourage South Carolinians “to vote against the extreme policies of Jim DeMint, “against discrimination and intolerance, and to vote for saving social security, medicare, unemployment, environmental protections, and our public education system. The ads will highlight DeMint’s “bullying’ and “extreme ideas,” and promote Clements as a “moderate candidate with reasonable policies and sensible solutions.” read more »

Julie Eisenberg and Babette Hogan have posted an article on Alternet entitled “Appalachia Rising despite business as usual” that covers West Virginia Mountain Party US Senate candidate Jesse Johnson:

West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin (D) launched a lawsuit Wednesday against the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over its regulation of the practice of Mountaintop Removal mining in the state and the EPA promptly punched back with a report from a surprise inspection uncovering safety violations of Massey Energy, one of the state’s most notorious and profitable coal companies…. His Republican opponent, John Raese (R), who has become flush with RNC campaign funds, called Manchin’s lawsuit a political move, meant to show the coal industry that Manchin is still their man, despite his party affiliation.

Third party candidate Jesse Johnson (Mtn. Party) sees this as political theater from both candidates. “Manchin’s always been for the coal industry just as Raese is,” Johnson said during an interview on Friday. “Its business as usual and politics as usual. It’s pretty obvious that both of my opponents stand for the coal operators and not the coal miners and their jobs and their communities.”

Read the full article at Alternet.

There are 11 Green Party candidates on the ballot for US Senate this November, and two official write-in candidates (in CT and NC). These are some amazingly inspiring candidates. Which of the three do you think will have the “greatest impact” on election day?

Take that question however you like, most votes, highest percentage, chance of winning, impacting the dialogue, etc.

Some quick facts about the Green Party US Senate candidates:

GPW: Green Senate Races 2010
GPW: Green Party candidates for US Senate: Big Stories, Top Videos
Green Senatorial Campaign Committee

What do YOU think? Feel free to comment as well.

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