Arkansas Greens have been certified for the ballot as a party, with 14,000 signatures submitted to cover a 10,000 signature requirement. Arkansas Greens were also on the ballot in 2006, 2008 and 2010. During those years Arkansas Greens elected a state legislator and received over 20% for US Senate and multiple US House races, among other achievements. However, they still had to petition again because they did not receive 3% for Governor or President. Their lawsuits to overturn that requirement have been unsuccessful.

This year, the Libertarians also achieved full party status in Arkansas for the first time ever. Prior to this year Arkansas was the only state where Libertarians had never been able to run for offices other than president. This also makes it the first time in the 41 years that Arkansas has had a petition requirement for parties that more than three parties have had full party status in Arkansas.

Arkansas also has a 1,000 signature requirement to get presidential tickets on the ballot with a party label. Americans Elect has already met this requirement this year, and Ballot Access News estimates that 4-5 more parties will qualify under this requirement.

Arkansas Times by way of Green Party Watch quotes Jim Lendall, a former Democratic state legislator who has run for Governor as a Green and remains active in the Green Party of Arkansas,

The Green Party of Arkansas just today qualified for the ballot after a difficult and expensive (time and money) petition effort [checks please?]. The filing period for candidates starts February 23 and goes to March 1.
Candidates chosen by the Green Party by convention have to file their papers of nomination by the time of the May 22 Preferential Primary (not the June 12 Primary). The big money parties have until 90 days before the GENERAL Election to file their papers of nomination. The law is unclear how the earlier deadlines affect new party Presidential candidates.
http://arkgreens.kk5.org/

In past elections, Arkansas has had some of the least competitive elections in the country, with about 80% of legislative seats unchallenged in some years – last among states in percentage of districts where voters had more than one choice in such contests.
A big part of the reason Arkansas Greens had vote totals for US Senate and US House that were higher than in other states was because many of those races don’t have both a Democrat and a Republican in the same race either.

Disclaimer: I petitioned for Arkansas Green Party ballot access in 2006, 2008 and 2010, and Arkansas Libertarian ballot access in 2008 (presidential) and 2012 (full party).

-paulie

Two Saline County elected officials, a Democrat and a member of the Green Party, announced their switch to the Republican Party today.

Sheriff Bruce Pennington, a Democrat serving his second term, and first-term County Collector Joy Ballard, who ran on the Green Party ticket in 2010, announced their decision jointly in what the state Republican chief said could be a sign of things to come for the 2012 elections…

Ballard, elected in 2010, said she had worked to get Republicans elected and had “worked with them and for them,” including 10 years as administrative assistant to Saline County Judge Lanny Fite, a Republican.

She said when the former office holder, Chris Villines, resigned to take another job it was too late to file as a Democrat or Republican, but that the Green Party candidate selection process was still open to her.

The Arkansas Libertarian Party will launch a petition drive in April to qualify for the 2012 ballot as a full-fledged party. The party has virtually met its goal of raising $30,000 to pay for the petition drive, which needs 10,000 valid signatures, to be collected in any three months of the party’s own choosing.

Arkansas is the only state in which the Libertarian Party has never placed any nominees on the ballot for partisan office other than President. Arkansas has far easier procedures for parties to get on the ballot for President only, and the party has always used the president-only procedures in the past.

The Green Party of Arkansas is currently in court against Arkansas, over the law on how a party retains its place on the ballot. The law requires all parties to poll 3% for the office at the top of the ballot (President in presidential years, Governor in gubernatorial years). The case is in the 8th circuit.

At the November 2, 2010 election, the Arkansas Treasurer’s race had only two candidates on the ballot, Democrat Martha Shoffner, and Green Party nominee Bobby Tullis. Tullis polled over 40% of the vote in thirteen counties. His highest percentages were in Baxter County (45.01%) and Howard County (46.57%).

Statewide, the Green Party polled 32.46% in this race. That is the highest percentage for a statewide minor party nominee in Arkansas since 1968, when George Wallace carried the state for President on the American Party line, with 38.65%.

Yet the state is still arguing in court (in the 8th circuit) that the Green Party does not have enough voter support to be on the ballot automatically for 2012, and that the party must submit yet another petition of 10,000 names, if it wants to be on the 2012 ballot.

Hugh Giordano, a 26-year-old, Roxborough native and food workers’ union organizer for UFCW Local 152, ran on the Green Party ticket against Democrat Lou Agre for a seat in the 194th. He lost, but garnered 18 percent of the vote (23 percent in Philly)—an unprecedented number for a third-party candidate. He may have his district’s attention, but Giordano and the Green Party of Philadelphia want everyone to know that when it comes to the ballot, three isn’t a crowd. What’s more, they’ve got heavy union support—typically an automatic vote for Democrats—to help them.

“They want you to be stupid,” he says of the “party button,” which essentially allows citizens to vote along party lines without looking at who’s up for election. “It’s a way to control the voter. If you go in there and you think you’re a Democrat, you hit the Democrat button and don’t think about anyone else [in the two-party system]. Republicans and Democrats don’t identify themselves as voters. They identify themselves as a party. The party system is very slick.”

Giordano’s disgust with the system compelled him to approach union workers across the city. He wrote an open letter to them, and in it he blames both the Democratic and Republican parties for turning their backs on the working class: “Union brothers and sisters,” he wrote, “when any one of us becomes “fearful” or “controlled” by a political party—it’s time to step down and pass the torch on. WE are the voice of working people, and WE should be telling these politicians what to do; not the other way around…

The Green Party of Philadelphia lost 20 percent of its membership during the 2008 Democratic primary between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. It’s gone up about 6 percent since November 2009, according to leadership’s latest numbers, with 2,033 Philadelphians currently registered Green. “We’re attributing that to Hugh Giordano’s campaign,” says Chris Robinson, Green Party spokesman. “In Hugh’s district alone, we saw a 15 percent increase in registration.”

And what began as a conversation on the local level has turned into a national movement in which unions are going Green.

This past fall, Tom Clements, South Carolina’s former Green candidate for the Senate, picked up the endorsement of the Greater Columbia Central Labor Council of the South Carolina AFL-CIO. Ben Manski, Wisconsin State Assembly candidate, won the endorsement of Madison Teachers Inc. Mark Swaney, who ran for a state representative seat in Arkansas, had the state AFL-CIO behind him. Howie Hawkins, a Teamster and former Green Party candidate for governor of New York, sent out a press release through the national Green Party, saying, “While Democrats cave in to wealthy corporate lobbies and campaign contributors, Greens are promoting Medicare For All and opposing plans by the White House’s ‘Catfood Commission’ to cut Social Security.” The list goes on.

This list was put together by Brent McMillan, consisting of Green Party campaigns for State House (or Assembly) seats. It includes all of the races that finished with over 15% of the vote in 2010:

• Mark Miller for State Representative 3rd Berkshire District, MA 4,459 votes 45.0%
• Jeremy Karpen for State Representative District 39, IL 5,354 34.7%
• Fred Horch for State Representative District 66, ME 1,272 34.38%
• Ben Manski for State Assembly District 77, WI 7,761 31.0%
• Anna Trevorrow for State Representative District 120, ME 945 31.04%
• Seth Berner for State Representative District 115, ME 1,002 27.93%
• Charlie Howe for State Representative District 115, IL 7,178 24.91%
• Cheryl Wolfe for State Representative District 11, MT 1,052 24.86%
• Mark Swaney for State Representative District 90, AR 2,393 24.83%
• Jack Lindblad for State Assembly District 39, CA 9,728 21.09%
• Nicholas Payne for State Representative District 67, CT 1,366 20.34%
• Rex D’Agostino for State Representative District 183, PA 3,482 19.1%
• Mark Meyers for House of Delegates District 11, WV 768 19.06%
• Cynthia Santiago for State Assembly District 51, CA 12,753 18.26%
• Hugh Giordano for State Representative District 194, PA 3,547 18.1%
• Lee Scott Laugenour for State Representative 4th Berkshire District, MA 2,483 18.0%
• Kenneth Williams for State Representative District 29, IL 4,122 17.2%
• Linda Macias for State Representative District 21, AZ 12,204 17.01%
• Vince LaMie for State Representative District 105, IL 2,928 15.2%

Note the wide range of geographical locations, from Maine to California, Wisconsin to Arizona, Illinois, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Montana, and Arkansas.

In the aftermath of the November 2010 election, 35 states plus the District of Columbia have at least one ballot-qualified party other than the Democratic and Republican Parties. This is the highest such number, immediately after a midterm election, for any election since 1918.

The 15 states without a ballot-qualified party (statewide), other than the Democratic and Republican Parties, are: Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia, and Washington. New Mexico is ambiguous; it has two parties that are ballot-qualified for President in 2012 but they cannot run nominees for office other than President without submitting petitions for them. Connecticut is also somewhat ambiguous, because qualified status is determined office-by-office, but there are four minor parties that are now qualified for at least some statewide offices.

See also:

Students increasingly identify with alternative parties

More states elected independents to state legislatures this year than in any previous year in at least sixty years

Presidential Race 2012: Third party stats concerning ballot status

Much larger than usual number of Libertarians for U.S. House receive over 5% of the vote

Poli-Tea: Election Highlights

Alaska Write-ins Top Number of Votes for Anyone on Ballot in U.S. Senate Race

Green Party got up to 45% for its candidates for state legislature, as well as electing one to a state legislature as an independent.

The Arkansas News reports on the Arkansas Green Party:

LITTLE ROCK — The Green Party of Arkansas says its strong finish in several statewide races last week shows it deserves guaranteed ballot access in the next general election, though it failed to clear the hurdle set by state law.

Parties can get on Arkansas’ ballot either by collecting 10,000 signatures of registered voters or by receiving at least 3 percent of the vote in the most recent gubernatorial or presidential race. In some statewide races last week the Green Party’s candidates received more than a fourth of the vote, but its gubernatorial candidate, Jim Lendall, only captured 2 percent.

That means the party has to go to the trouble and expense of collecting signatures to get on the 2012 ballot, as it did to get on the 2010 ballot.

The state Green Party sued Secretary of State Charlie Daniels last year, after the party’s 2008 U.S. Senate candidate captured more than 20 percent of the vote but the party was denied automatic ballot access because its presidential nominee received less than 3 percent. A federal judge threw out the lawsuit in July, but the party is working on an appeal.

The Green Party says the state has set the bar unreasonably high for third parties in order to maintain the status quo.

“Almost all states say any statewide election where the candidate can get 3 percent or more gains ballot access,” state Green Party spokesman Mark Jenkins said today.

Read the full article at Arkansas News.

From Rasmussen, via KintlaLake:

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 31% of likely primary voters say they are at least somewhat likely to consider supporting a third-party candidate for president if former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is the GOP nominee. That includes 17% who say it is Very Likely. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

If ex-Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, who unsuccessfully sought the nomination in 2008, is the 2012 nominee, 24% say they are at least somewhat likely to consider a third-party candidate, with 11% who say it is Very Likely.

Twenty-eight percent (28%) are at least somewhat likely to consider a third-party option if another 2008 hopeful, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, wins the party’s presidential nomination. This finding includes 12% who say it is Very Likely.

With former House Speaker Newt Gingrich as the nominee, 27% say they’d be likely to consider a third-party contender, including 13% who say they would be Very Likely to do so.

Illinois Green Party candidate for Governor Rich Whitney led all Green Party gubernatorial candidates in 2010 in total votes and percentage of the total vote, with 99,625 votes, 2.70% of the vote.

Only three times in history have Green Party gubernatorial candidates exceeded 10% of the vote. The first was in 1994, when Roberto Mondragon, who finished with 10.4% of the vote in New Mexico. The other two were in 2006, when Pat LaMarche finished with 10% in Maine and Rich Whitney finished with 11% in Illinois. (See a spreadsheet of historical Green Party gubernatorial candidates here).

This year was definitely a downturn for Greens running for Governor. In Illinois the votes for the Green Party candidate were 1/3 of the 2006 votes. In California the Greens got half what they did in 2006. Massachusetts went from 42K to 32K, Maryland went from 13K to 11K, Tennessee went from 2,700 to 1,800, Minnesota went from 10K to 6K, and Nevada went from 6K to 4K. However the Green vote went up in Ohio (from 38K to 56K), New York (42K to 58K), Michigan (20K to 21K), and Arkansas (12K to 14K), from which you can cast your own theories.

In the post election chatter, some have questioned why Greens bother to waste the resources to run for Governor when the odds are so stacked against them. In some states, ballot access and/or recognition as a political party is based on gubernatorial returns. In other states, it has no impact at all. I would argue that running a green party candidate for a high profile state-wide race has several benefits.

First, it has the potential to influence the dialogue by putting Green Solutions out front next to the partisan, safe, and centrist positions of the two corporate political parties. It forces Democrats to ask why their candidate isn’t supporting what the Green Party candidate is supporting.

Second, it has the potential to raise awareness of the Green Party statewide. It has been noted that many voters have not heard of the Green Party. If a good Green Party candidate in a high profile race actually gets some media and equal debate access, s/he has the potential to get the Green Party message in front of tens of thousands of voters, and some of them might like that message enough to join the party or even run for office themselves.

Third, it gives all the Greens out there someone to vote for. There were over 400,000 votes cast this year for Green Party candidates for Governor. Think about it this way. There are 400,000 voters in the United States that would prefer a Green Party Candidate running their state than a Democrat or a Republican. That’s a lot of people. If we don’t run candidates, those voters are going to have to hold their nose and vote for another party’s candidate. The Green Party owes it to those Greens in America to give them a candidate to vote for.

Finally, political parties run candidates. That is how they are defined. If the Green Party doesn’t run candidates, they aren’t a political party. We should personally thank all of the Green Party candidates who ran for office this year, they gave the voters something Green to vote for.

2010 Green Gubernatorial Results

• Rich Whitney (IL) – 99,625 (2.70%)
• Jim Lendall (AR) – 14,525 (1.88%)
• Dennis Spisak (OH) – 56,734 (1.51%)
• Morgan Reeves (SC) – 19,807 (1.51%)
• Jill Stein (MA) – 32,816 (1.43%)
• Howie Hawkins (NY) – 58,123 (1.37%)
• Laura Wells (CA) – 92,892 (1.22%)
• Harley Mikkelson (MI) – 21,312 (0.66%)
• Maria Allwine (MD) – 11,022 (0.64%)
• David Curtis (NV) – 4,437 (0.62%)
• Deb Shafto (TX) – 19,475 (0.39%)
• Farheen Hakim (MN) – 6,188 (0.29%)
• Howard Switzer (TN) – 1,886 (0.12%)

The eleven Green Party candidates on the ballot this year for US Senate netted a combined half million votes. The 510,000 votes is the highest combined total for Green Party Senate candidates since 2000, when Medea Benjamin won 326,000 votes for US Senate in California and Vance Hansen picked up over 100,000 in Arizona.

The 2010 results were clearly led by Tom Clements in South Carolina, whose 118,000 votes gave him 9.37% of the total. Clements had the most votes and the highest percent of the vote of all Green Party US Senate candidates in 2010.

LeAlan Jones was the second big finisher with 116,000 votes, 3.19% of the total. Interestingly, in 2008, Kathleen Cummings running for US Senate in Illinois finished with 115,621 votes for 2.56% of the total.

All (unofficial) results for 2010 Green Party US Senate candidates:

• Tom Clements (SC) – 118,952 (9.37%)
• LeAlan Jones (IL) – 116,685 (3.19%)
• Bob Kinsey (CO) – 36,323 (2.17%)
• Jim Brewer (HI) – 7,756 (2.10%)
• Jesse Johnson (WV) – 10,048 (1.91%)
• John Gray (AR) – 14,402 (1.87%)
• Jerry Joslyn (AZ) – 20,235 (1.43%)
• Duane Roberts (CA) – 93,178 (1.19%)
• Kenniss Henry (MD) – 19,324 (1.13%)
• Colia Clark (NY) – 39,536 (0.97%)
• Cecile Lawrence (NY) – 33,768 (0.83%)

Total: 510,207 votes (1.86%)

These are preliminary election results, subject to change.

For a spreadsheet that lists historical election results for Green Party US Senate candidates, click here. Much appreciation is shown toward Green Party Executive Director Brent McMillan, whose election database is my primary source for historical election information for Green Party candidates.

Wins (including ballot access) on Nov. 2, 2010 – Unofficial Results

ARKANSAS
Joy Ballard won her race for Saline County Collector, AR. She finished first of seven candidates for one seat with 19,131 votes, 69.28%. Partisan.

CALIFORNIA
Bruce Delgado won his re-election to Mayor of Marina City, Monterey County, CA. He finished first of two candidates with 1,734 votes or 56.78%. Non-partisan.

http://www.montereycountyelections.us/Election%20Result_dtl.htm#cont17

Robert Deutsch won his re-election to Board of Directors, Alameda Healthcare District, Alameda County, CA. He finished first of four candidates for two seats with 8,048 votes or 30.65%. Non-partisan

http://www.co.alameda.ca.us/rov/current_election/1269.htm

Dan Hamburg won his race for Mendocino County Board of Supervisors, District 5, CA. He finished first of two candidates with 2,474 votes or 55.28%. Non-partisan.

http://www.co.mendocino.ca.us/acr/cgi-bin/current.pl

Gayle McLaughlin won her re-election to Mayor of Richmond, Contra Costa County, CA. She finished first of three candidates with 6,282 votes or 40.43%. Non-partisan.

http://results.enr.clarityelections.com/CA/Contra_Costa/21781/39347/en/summary.html

Joe Navarro won his race for Hollister School Board, San Benito County, CA. He finished second of eight candidates for three seats with 2,424 votes or 15.56%.

http://results.sbcvote.us/#cont97

Lisa Stephens won her re-election to Rent Stabilization Board, Berkeley, Alameda County, CA. She finished fifth of nine candidates for six seats with 10,253 votes or 12.50%. Non-partisan.

http://www.co.alameda.ca.us/rov/current_election/4354.htm

Jesse Townley won his re-election to Rent Stabilization Board, Berkeley, Alameda County, CA. He finished first of nine candidates for six seats with 11,748 votes or 14.32%. Non-partisan.

http://www.co.alameda.ca.us/rov/current_election/4354.htm

Pam Webster won her re-election to Rent Stabilization Board, Berkeley, Alameda County, CA. She finished second of nine candidates for six seats with 10,839 votes or 13.21%. Non-partisan.

http://www.co.alameda.ca.us/rov/current_election/4354.htm

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Ballot Access – David Schwartzman’s 9,222 votes or 6.92% for DC Council, At-Large easily maintained the ballot line.

JB Shoats ran unopposed for Advisory Neighborhood Commission SMD 8B04. He received 120 votes or 96%. Non-partisan

http://www.dcboee.org/election_info/election_results/general_election_results/2010

FLORIDA
Anita Stewart won her race for Hillsborough County Soil and Water Conservation District 5, FL. She finished first of five candidates for one seat with 79,988 votes or 37.75%. Non-partisan.

http://results.enr.clarityelections.com/FL/Hillsborough/22912/39204/en/summary.html#

MAINE
John Anton won his re-election to Portland City Council, At-large, Cumberland County, ME. He finished second of four candidates for two seats with 12,114 votes. Non-partisan.

Ben Chipman won his race for State Representative District 119, ME. He ran unenrolled. He finished first of two candidates for one seat with 54.22%. Partisan. (He is a former staff person to John Eder when he was a State Representative.)

MICHIGAN
Preliminary returns suggest that every one of the Green Party statewide candidates earned votes in excess of the ballot-access-retention threshold, any one of whom would secure the ballot-line for the next election.

NEW YORK
Ballot Access – Howie Hawkins for Governor, Gloria Mattera for Lt. Governor, received more than the 50,000 votes needed to maintain the Green Party ballot line into the next election cycle. At last count 56,924 votes.

OREGON
Michael Beilstein won his re-election to Corvallis City Council Ward 5, Benton County, OR. He finished first of two candidates for one seat with 838 votes or 64.81%. Non-partisan.

http://www.co.benton.or.us/admin/elections/results.php

Richard Hervey won his re-election to Corvallis City Council Ward 3, Benton County, OR. He finished first of two candidates for one seat with 791 votes or 63.08%. Non-partisan.

http://www.co.benton.or.us/admin/elections/results.php

TEXAS
Ballot Access – Ed Lindsay’s 251,842 votes or 6% for Comptroller guarantees that the Green Party of Texas will be on the ballot in 2012.

There are 59 candidates running for the United States House of Representatives on November 2.

This is the third of three posts on Green Party House candidates, continuing with the Central portion of the United States.

Eastern US GP House Candidates
Western US GP House Candidates

GP US Senate Candidates
GP Governor Candidates

There are Green Party candidates running for US House in Arkansas, Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio and Tennessee.

Arkansas
Ken Adler (CD 1) - Adler was born and raised in Arkansas and served with the US Navy. He works in academic computing and is an avid bagpipe player. This is his first run for office.
Lewis Kennedy (CD 2) – Kennedy is a retired postal worker and veteran of the national guard, army, and army reserves. This is his first run for office.

Joshua Drake (CD 4) – Drake is an Arkansas lawyer specializing in family and consumer law. He ran for this same seat in 2008, finishing with 32,603 votes (13.8%).

Illinois
Jeff Adams (CD 1) – Adams is the Green Party candidate for Congress in the 1st District. He is a resident of the mid-South Side. This is his first run for office.
Anthony Williams (CD 2) – Williams is a husband, father, minister and activist. This is his first run for office.

Laurel Lambert Schmidt (CD 3) – Schmidt is a former insurance underwriter and free lance writer, co-founded and chair the Near West Citizens for Peace and Justice and was co-Director of the Peace Justice and Environment Project. This is her first run for office.
Robert Burns (CD 4) – Burns is an economist and did his PhD studies in Marxian Economics. He served as President of the South Loop Neighbors Association and was active on the board of Friends of Downtown. This is his first run for office.
Matt Reichel (CD 5) – Reichel is a Chicago native who has spent most of his adult life working on political or issue campaigns. He worked with Illinois Peace Action, organized on campus for divestment from corporations that fund nukes for Israel and organized against the wars in the middle east. He was also active with the 2008 Kucinich campaign. Reichel ran for this seat in 2009 in a special election after Rahm Emmanuel resigned, finishing with 2,911 votes (6.6%).
Bill Scheurer (CD – Scheurer has worked as a lawyer, lay minister, and technology entrepreneur. He started another new business this year, after devoting 8 years as a fulltime volunteer for various nonprofit causes. This is his first run for office.

Simon Ribeiro (CD 9) – Ribeiro is a teacher, swimming instructor, and private tutor. He ran for Congress in 2006 but not as a Green. In 2009 he sought the Green Party nomination in the special election in the 5th District but lost in the primary to Matt Reichel.
Rodger Jennings (CD 12) - Jennings is a professional project manager in the private business sector with over 30 years of experience in Information Technology (IT) and in banking business practices. He was laid off in 2008, and ran for Congress that same year in opposition to NAFTA and other economic policies that cost him and others their jobs. In 2008 he finished with 10,931 votes (3.6%).
Daniel Kairis (CD 14) – Kairis is a teacher and former small business owner. He ran for State legislature in 2008, finishing with 2,108 (4.6%). In 2009 he ran for Elgin Township Supervisor, finishing with 631 votes (8.17%).
Terry Campbell (CD 16) – Campbell is the Illinois Green Party’s candidate for US House in the 16th District. This is his first run for office.

Roger Davis (CD 17) – Davis has been a prison guard, a laborer in the construction industry, a truck driver, a brick layer, and a tuck pointer. He has seven children. This is his first run for office.
Sheldon Schafer (CD 18) – Schafer is an educator and scientist and long time resident of the 18th congressional district. He ran for this same seat in 2008, finishing with 9,857 votes (3.2%).

Michigan
Ellis Boal (CD 1) – Boal is a Michigan lawyer specializing in labor and employment law. He has plenty of campaign experience. In 2004 he ran for County Board of Elections, finishing with 2,054 votes (18.4%). In 2006 he ran for County Commissioner, finishing with 43 votes (6.4%). In 2008 he ran for University of Michigan Board of Regents, finishing 7th with 102,158 votes (1.23%).

Lloyd Clarke (CD 2) – Clarke is a seasoned political activist and candidate, having participated in successful grassroots actions and candidacies since the 1960’s. He ran for County Commissioner in 2006, in 2008 he ran for State Senate, finishing with 2,326 votes (2%).
Charlie Shick (CD 3) – Shick is a single father working a blue-collar job. Michigan’s 3rd CD is an open seat, and Shick is clearly the most progressive and liberal option of the five candidates seeking the office. This is his first run for office.
J. Matthew de Heus (CD 5) – de Heus has a successful history in manufacturing, business, marketing, strategic planning and education. He currently serves on the board of two Michigan non-profits and is a member of groups as varied as the ACLU and the Mid-Michigan Songwriter’s Guild. This is his first run for office.

Pat Foster (CD 6) – Foster is a former Democrat with strong concerns about election integrity and voter rights. This is her first campaign as a Green Party candidate.
Richard Wunsch (CD 7) – Wunch, 70, is the owner of Volume I books in Hillsdale. Wunch last ran in 2003 for State House, finishing with 82 votes (1.27%).
Douglas Campbell (CD 9) - Campbell was a field coordinator for the 2000 Nader Campaign. Following that he ran for Governor of Michigan in 2002, finishing with 25,236 votes (1%). He ran for Governor again in 2006, then ran for the US House in 2008, finishing with 4,737 votes (1.35%).
Candace Caveny (CD 10) – Caveny is a volunteer with Planned Parenthood of Eastern Michigan ,and a member of the Lapeer County Equal Rights Alliance (LCERA) and the American Public Health Association. She ran for this same seat in 2008, finishing with 4,146 votes (1.19%).

Julia Williams (CD 12) – Williams is a “citizen-politician.” A mom, a wife, a nurse, a universal health care advocate, a person of conscience. This is her first run for office.
George Corsetti (CD 13) – Corsetti is a Michigan lawyer specializing in consumer law, free speech/political spying issues and criminal defense. He is also a film maker and local advocate for housing issues in Detroit. He ran for this same office in 2008, finishing with 9,579 votes (4.24%).
Aimee Smith (CD 15) – Smith has a PhD from MIT, member of the Huron Valley Greens and the New England Committee to Defend Palestine. Her first run for office was in 2003 running for City Council in Cambridge, MA, finishing with 465 votes (2.4%). She has run for this congressional seat in Michigan in 2006 (9,447, 4.6%) and 2008 (7,080, 2%).

Missouri
Nicholas Ladendorf (CD 7) – Ladendorf is a cartoonist and political activist. This is his first run for office. Ladendorf, in my opinion, has one of the most original and creative campaign websites I have ever seen.

Ohio
Rich Stevenson (CD 1) – Stevenson worked for the Ross Perot campaign in the 1990s, ran for Congress in 2000 as a Natural Law Party candidate, then ran for Congress in 2002, 2004, 2006, and 2008 as an Independent.

Tennessee
John Miglietta (CD 5) – Miglietta is a Political Science Professor at Tennessee State, a member of Middle East Peace Coalition, Nashville Peace and Justice Center, and the Tennessee Alliance for Progress. He is also on the Tennessee Green Party State Coordinating Committee. He ran for this US House seat in 2008.

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.

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

It’s difficult to find any media reference to John Gray, Green Party candidate for Congress. Short of of an occasional brief sort of mention on the news, the lion’s share pf coverage goes to either Republican John Boozman or Democrat Blanche Lambert Lincoln. It is as if those reporting the news have already decided his fate and are not even willing to talk about his effect on the race.The fact that he has a growing number of supporters never seems to make it intro the equation. They, like John Gray, are not worthy of mention either on the nightly news or in the pages of the daily newspaper. And god forbid any local political reporters actually talk to Gray about the issues his campaign addresses, which are rarely, if ever, on the campaign literature of his opponents…

According to John Gray, Swaney was quite blunt about the Green Party’s need to change its image.

Asked for his impressions of the folks he has met in the Green Party, Gray has a lot of respect. “I’ve met a lot of people that respect tremendously. But even those who act in an embarrassing way, you sit down and listen to what they have to say, and there are some very good things mixed in with things that are off the wall.”

He laughed. We’re all that way.”

After the primary season ended, Gray’s campaign kicked into high gear. Gray noted that Blanche Lambert Lincoln had left many Democrats feeling uneasy, with some real animosity among many of her former supporters.

In reaching out to disaffected Democratic voters, Gray dexribes himself as a two-issue candidate. The first is getting jobs back to the United States, and also debunking the myth that globalization is a done-deal, and that Americans must face a future of lower wages and standard of living – except for those at the top of the economic ladder.

In the governor’s race, results showed Beebe leading Keet, 54 percent to 33 percent, with 2 percent favoring Green Party candidate Jim Lendall and 11 percent undecided.

Arkansas Educational TV will host a debate between all four candidates on the ballot for U.S. Senate, on October 13. The candidates are Democratic incumbent Blanche Lincoln, Republican John Boozman, Green Party nominee John Gray, and independent Trevor Drown. This is believed to be the first televised debate for a statewide office in Arkansas that includes a Green Party nominee.

Arkansas Educational TV has also invited the Green Party nominee in the U.S. House race, district one, into a debate for that U.S. House race.

In the attorney general’s race, incumbent Democrat Dustin McDaniel received 37 percent support, Green Party candidate Rebekah Kennedy received 24 percent and 39 percent were undecided when party affiliation was included.

Without political affiliation, McDaniel received 38 percent, Kennedy received 19 percent and 43 percent were undecided.

In the state treasurer’s race, Democrat Martha Shoffner, the incumbent, received 33 percent support, Green Party candidate Bobby Tullis received 23 percent and 44 percent were undecided when party affiliation was mentioned.

Without party affiliation, Shoffner received 22 percent, Tullis received 17.5 percent and 60.5 percent were undecided.

In the state auditor’s race, Democrat Charlie Daniels received 39.5 percent support, Green Party candidate Mary Hughes-Wills received 26 percent and 34.5 percent were undecided when party affiliation was included.

Without party affiliation, Daniels received 37 percent, Hughes-Wills received 17 percent and 46 percent were undecided.

And the commentary from Green Party Watch:

The Arkansas Green Party is challenging incumbent Democrats in 2-way races for attorney general, state treasurer and state auditor. A recent poll by Talk Business and Hendrix College showed the Greens within striking distance in all 3 races

Background: J. Christian Adams writes at Pajamas Media:

the Pentagon announced that it had granted the waiver requests of five states seeking to escape requirements to protect military voters. I have written previously here at PJM that all waiver requests should be denied. Unfortunately, if you are an overseas servicemember from Delaware, Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, or Washington, the protections in the MOVE Act aren’t going to apply to you this year.

Independent candidate for US Senate in Arkansas, Trevor Drown, is a former green beret who served in combat in Afghanistan. A release from the Drown campaign documents the potential for disenfranchisement of overseas military voters and calls on elected leaders at the state and federal level to act quickly in addressing this issue. From the Drown campaign, sent via email:

The Department of Justice waived the law exempting five states from complying with the requirement to mail absentee ballots to overseas military voters, 45 days before Election Day.





Ten states applied for the waiver those states are Alaska, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, Washington, and Wisconsin. In addition Washington D.C. and the Virgin Islands also applied.

Five states received the waiver today; they are Delaware, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York and Washington State.

Volunteers of the Trevor Drown for US Senate campaign have reviewed the Department of Defense list of activated National Guard and Reserve units found here. This press release provides information that as of August 25th there are more than 103,000 National Guard and Reserve personnel who are currently activated. The total number of the Guard and Reserve force by state is as follows:

Delaware 151

Massachusetts 2,232

Rhode Island 304

New York 1,410

Washington 1,072

Total 5,169

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Trevor Comments:

I am disappointed at the Department of Justice for making this decision. We ask our brave men and women of our military to give up so much in our quest to remain free. They swear an Oath to the Constitution; the least this country can do is allow them the same rights which they so proudly protect.

We ask these honorable men and woman, to give up their family life and deploy to areas around the globe. They often live under austere conditions, work long areas and are often in harm’s way. The least we can do is to allow them to have the same right as those who sit in a comfortable office or protest their existence.

During our petition drive in May, Matt who is still deployed in Afghanistan, sent me a signed petition from the battlefield. He was able to download it, find a working printer, sign it and mail it to me. He was so concerned that his voice would be heard that he sent another copy to his mother to make sure he participated. He is 26 years old. There are many out there like Matt and they more than earned the right to be counted.

While not all 5,000 plus soldiers above are deployed overseas or in a combat zone, this is still a large number of possible disenfranchised voters. I call on all elected leaders of the states involved as well as those at the federal level to get actively involved to fix this. This country has resources which would easily allow for resolving this problem. It is unacceptable to thank our military for their service one day and take away their fundamental right to vote the next. Every effort should be made at all levels to ensure this does not happen.



Trevor Drown is a former green beret who served in combat in Afghanistan. In May 2010 he made Arkansas history by becoming the first US Senate Candidate in more than 30 years to be placed on the ballot as an independent. More than 14,000 people signed the petition to certify him as a candidate. This was done by spending less than $7,000. Trevor works for UPS and he and his wife own a small business in Russellville Arkansas. His website is www.drownforsenate.com.