Richard Carroll is a Green Party state representative from Little Rock, Arkansas. He is currently the highest elected Green in the nation and their only state legislator. The following are some news items on the man:
- From Ballot Access News: Bill expanding petitioning period for independents and third party candidates passes the Senate. It had previously passed the House, with a vote of 84-13.
- From OpEdNews, The Daily World, and the Washington Post/Newsweek: In what David Waters of Newsweek and the Washington Post is calling an “Athiest revival,” Carroll has introduced a bill to strike this clause from the state constitution of Arkansas: “No person who denies the being of a God shall hold any office in the civil departments of this State, nor be competent to testify as a witness in any court.” Carroll said that he believed that clause would “most likely be declared unconstitutional.”
- The Arkansas Times and their blog are speculating about whether Democratic State Senator Tracy Steele will run against Carroll in 2010. The blog has a bit of a story about Steele’s background.
- The Baxter Bulletin has this positive article about Carroll and the two ballot access bills he has introduced (one of which is the one that just passed the Senate). An excerpt:
Both bills help widen the opening for an alternative to the same old us-versus-them politics of the Republicans and Democrats. Their intent ultimately is to provide more of a choice for Arkansas voters.
The time is coming when the two-party system, as polarized as it is, will need to give way to alternatives other than Democrat, Republican or none of the above. Culturally and socially, the country’s grown beyond just the basic offerings.
From three national television networks the broadcast industry’s grown to hundreds of channels and networks thanks to cable and satellite TV. Newspapers and magazines filled needs for various niche markets, and the Internet not only has filled more niche areas but has created a whole new assortment. If there’s a need, odds are you’ll find more than one or two choices to fill it.
34 responses so far ↓
1 Trent Hill // Feb 16, 2009 at 8:42 pm
Great post Paulie!
2 paulie cannoli // Feb 16, 2009 at 8:44 pm
Not my post. But I agree.
3 Ross Levin // Feb 16, 2009 at 8:45 pm
Haha, thanks.
4 Ross Levin // Feb 16, 2009 at 8:46 pm
I was gonna post something about the God thing, then I saw a few different articles about him and just did this. Every week or so I’ll Google News search Carroll – I’m genuinely interested in how he does.
5 Trent Hill // Feb 16, 2009 at 8:47 pm
Ross, my bad!! haha. Great article man! Hope to see more like this. You should follow the news of Dan Hamburg closely too–that is VERY interesting.
6 Trent Hill // Feb 16, 2009 at 8:49 pm
Also–how many former Congressmen/State Reps can the Green Party claim? Hamburg and McKinney–anyone else?
The LP can sorta claim Paul and can claim Barr. Anyone else Paulie?
The CP can claim a couple guys, Steve Stockman and Bob Smith amongst them.
7 Ross Levin // Feb 16, 2009 at 8:57 pm
Interesting thing I just found about Hamburg – he was arrested in Ohio for trying to give a letter to the Secretary State that was about “election irregularities.”
http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=SA&p_theme=sa&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=106EB1AFF373C4B3&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM
8 paulie cannoli // Feb 16, 2009 at 9:05 pm
I’ll Google News search Carroll – I’m genuinely interested in how he does.
You could set up a google news alert, and then it comes to you automatically – you don’t have to remember to do it.
9 paulie cannoli // Feb 16, 2009 at 9:10 pm
The LP can sorta claim Paul and can claim Barr.
That’s sort of cheating. Neither was elected to Congress as LP. Ron Paul, I would give the LP some credit, since he was elected back to Congress after running LP, and used the lists he gathered while running LP to help him do it. If Bob Barr gets elected as a Republican again, the LP can claim half a credit, but he hasn’t done it yet.
Anyone else Paulie?
No other members of Congress that want to be publicly tied to the LP. If you want to count ex-members, Mike Gravel.
If you want to count state legislators, the LP has had about a dozen elected as either LP or LP/Republican over the years. Others may have been LP members, but elected strictly R or D. And we’ve had some former state legislators from big box parties join the LP after they were out of office – not sure how many.
10 Trent Hill // Feb 16, 2009 at 9:20 pm
“Neither was elected to Congress as LP”
I meant former congressmen, like Bob Barr.
“If you want to count state legislators, the LP has had about a dozen elected as either LP or LP/Republican over the years.”
11, I think.
11 Ross Levin // Feb 16, 2009 at 9:32 pm
Paulie – the problem with the news alert is that a lot of the stuff isn’t for him, it’s for other people with his name.
12 paulie cannoli // Feb 16, 2009 at 9:43 pm
You can make it “richard carroll” green, “dan hamburg” green, etc.
13 JJ Johnson // Feb 17, 2009 at 3:29 am
Would not the mayor of Richmand CA, Gayle McLaughlin , be considered a high level Green Party elected officer. The city has a population over 100,000.
14 paulie cannoli // Feb 17, 2009 at 3:34 am
I would think so. Although that wasn’t Trent’s question.
15 Steven R Linnabary // Feb 17, 2009 at 3:48 am
Is this the same “JJ Johnson” formerly from Ohio & Sierra Times?
PEACE
16 Trent Hill // Feb 17, 2009 at 3:54 am
Oh yea, he counts JJ. But I was talking about just former congressmen–they hold alot of sway. I think, all told, the Greens probably hold the most sway right now. They’ve got at least two former congressmen (which is just as much as the CP or LP), 1 current state rep (one more than the CP or LP). There are towns in California where the city councils are majority Green (Sebastopal). Twenty-two Greens have been appointed mayor in California, including the cities of Santa Monica, Sonoma, Sebastopol, Santa Cruz, Fairfax, Albany, Truckee and Santa Monica.
So while the LP has 3-4 times the local elected officials, they dont have quite the prestige. Between a state legislator, a mayor of a 100,000+ town, and being the second party in DC and San Francisco–I’d say they are ahead of both the LP and CP in overall growth right now.
17 Trent Hill // Feb 17, 2009 at 3:55 am
The CP, as it regards elected officials, has always trailed. They do not encourage local candidates at all, and ignore non-partisan offices alltogether. To my knowledge, they have roughly 20 elected officials. The greens have 280+, the Libertarians have 750+.
18 paulie cannoli // Feb 17, 2009 at 4:47 am
They’ve got at least two former congressmen (which is just as much as the CP or LP),
Which party are you crediting Gravel to?
19 paulie cannoli // Feb 17, 2009 at 4:58 am
So while the LP has 3-4 times the local elected officials, they dont have quite the prestige. Between a state legislator, a mayor of a 100,000+ town, and being the second party in DC and San Francisco–I’d say they are ahead of both the LP and CP in overall growth right now.
Between LP, CP, GP:
LP is leading in (off the top of my head): total candidates, total votes for all candidates, presidential votes (except 2000), total number of people in office, number of organized affiliate parties, national convention delegates, national budget, states retained for ballot access after the 2008 election, number of dues paying party members.
CP is arguably still leading in total number of registered voters, but only if we count AIP in California, which may or may not be a CP affiliate anymore.
Greens, I think are still ahead of LP in registered voters, but I’m not completely sure on that. As you mention they have some stronger local organizations. A strategy the LP could certainly pursue, especially with small and mid-sized rural/small-town counties which are effectively under one party Republican or Democratic Party rule.
Other measures?
20 paulie cannoli // Feb 17, 2009 at 4:59 am
To my knowledge, they have roughly 20 elected officials. The greens have 280+, the Libertarians have 750+.
Are all of them for each of these parties listed somewhere?
21 Trent Hill // Feb 17, 2009 at 5:14 am
“Which party are you crediting Gravel to?”
None.
22 Trent Hill // Feb 17, 2009 at 5:15 am
“Are all of them for each of these parties listed somewhere?”
the Greens have all of them listed…somewhere. as do the Libertarians. The CP has theirs listed nowhere. I used to have a list of the 20-or-so local officials elected (topped by Rick Jore)–but its gone now.
23 paulie cannoli // Feb 17, 2009 at 5:16 am
the Greens have all of them listed…somewhere. as do the Libertarians.
I would appreciate a link if you (or anyone else) knows where.
24 paulie cannoli // Feb 17, 2009 at 5:21 am
“Which party are you crediting Gravel to?”
None.
Why not? He ran for the LP presidential nomination. And joined the party, if these are to be believed:
http://50-20.us/?p=7: “Mike Gravel has joined the Libertarian Party and is running for the party nomination. ”
http://old.lp.org/libertydecides/: Gravel had $1,025 in Liberty Decides
25 Green Ferret // Feb 17, 2009 at 1:15 pm
You can find a spreadsheet of Green office holders and a searchable database of Green election results here:
http://gp.org/elections.shtml
To be fair, it should be pointed out that neither Hamburg nor McKinney was elected to Congress on the Green line. Still, we’re delighted to have them as members.
26 paulie cannoli // Feb 17, 2009 at 1:22 pm
OK, Greens have this:
http://gp.org/elections/officeholders/2009-01-08GreenOfficeholders.xls
27 paulie cannoli // Feb 17, 2009 at 1:23 pm
“Current Green Office Holders
Current Number of Officeholders: 157 – Last updated on January 8, 2009 ”
LP used to have something similar, but I’m not aware of one now.
28 Trent Hill // Feb 17, 2009 at 2:28 pm
“Why not? He ran for the LP presidential nomination. And joined the party, if these are to be believed:”
Sure, but he also endorsed Green candidates and we have no way of knowing what party he is in now.
29 paulie cannoli // Feb 17, 2009 at 4:09 pm
Sure, but he also endorsed Green candidates and we have no way of knowing what party he is in now.
Hmmm. I think some people here are in touch with him. Last time we asked (that I know of) they said Libertarian, which was after the nomination. Might be worth asking again.
Anyone know?
30 Ross Levin // Feb 17, 2009 at 4:21 pm
I think Carroll is the highest elected Green because he’s in a state office, not a local office. That’s kind of a subjective thing, though.
31 Trent Hill // Feb 17, 2009 at 5:01 pm
Ross,
For the record, I agree.
Paulie,
We can count Gravel as Libertarian.
32 Catholic Trotskyist // Feb 17, 2009 at 9:03 pm
Gravel did vote for Obama though, although I can’t remember the source right now.
33 Ross Levin // Feb 17, 2009 at 10:58 pm
Gravel said it himself in interviews before and after the election.
He endorsed an independent, Libertarian, and Green in 2008. I guess he did choose to run for the LP nomination rather than the GP nomination, so the LP can claim him more than anyone else.
34 Nate // Feb 20, 2009 at 1:37 pm
In case anyone was wondering, Richard Carroll’s Bill expanding the petition periods is now an Act:
http://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/assembly/2009/R/Pages/BillInformation.aspx?measureno=HB1246
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