At the end of May 2011, the Socialist Party launched a petition drive to get itself on the Michigan ballot. Probably 2,000 signatures have been collected so far. The law requires 32,261 valid signatures. However, the law also required already-qualified parties to poll only 16,083 votes in November 2010 in order to stay on the ballot.

The Socialist Party believes it can at least get 16,083 valid signatures by the petition deadline, July 19, 2012. If so, it plans to file a lawsuit, alleging that the existing law discriminates against new parties, and in favor of old parties, by requiring twice as much support for a newly qualifying party to get on the ballot as it requires an old party to remain on. The U.S. Supreme Court 1968 decision Williams v Rhodes suggested that states cannot discriminate against old parties. Also, the four concurring justices in Communist Party of Indiana v Whitcomb, in 1974, said, “In Williams v Rhodes, this Court held that a discriminatory preference for established parties can justified only by a ‘compelling state interest’.” The Indiana ruling struck down an Indiana loyalty oath for political parties, but Indiana exempted the old parties from the oath. The concurring justices said the Indiana oath was unconstitutional because the law exempted old parties. The other five justices struck down the Indiana oath on First Amendment grounds.

Read the original article here.

The Republican-appointed “Emergency Manager” of Benton Harbor, Michigan,
appointed by the Republican Governor of Michigan, has just dissolved the
City Government of Benton Harbor in favor of his personal rule as, oh,
we need a title, “People’s Commissar”. Or, if you have an alternative
opinion of Republicans “Gauleiter”.

Here is his Leader-Decree dissolving government OF and BY the people.

EMERGENCY MANAGER
CITY OF BENTON HARBOR
BERRIEN COUNTY MICHIGAN
ORDER NO.: 11-C5
ORDER PROHIBITING ALL ACTION BY ALL CITY BOARDS,
COMMISSIONS AND AUTHORITIES, EXCEPT AS AUTHORIZED BY
THE EMERGENCY MANAGER

I, Joseph L. Harris, the duly appointed Emergency Manager for the City
of Benton Harbor, Michigan (the “City”), pursuant to the power and
authority granted by Act 4 of the Public Acts of Michigan of 2011, being
MCL 141.1501 et seq (the “Act”), do hereby resolve and
order as follows:

WHEREAS, Section 19(ee) provides that the Emergency Manager may exercise
any power or authority of any office, employee, department, board,
commission or similar entity of the City, whether elected or appointed;

WHEREAS, the power of the Emergency Manager as set forth in Section
19(ee) of the Act is superior to and supersedes any such officer or
entity; and

WHEREAS, now, no City Board, Commission or Authority has authority or
power to act on behalf of the City as provided in the Act.

NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED AS FOLLOWS:
1. Absent prior express written authorization and approval by the
Emergency Manager, no City Board, Commission or Authority shall take any
action for or on behalf of the City whatsoever other than:
i) Call a meeting to order.
ii) Approve of meeting minutes.
iii) Adjourn a meeting.

2. That all prior resolutions, or acts of any kind of the City in
conflict herewith are and the same shall be, to the extent of such
conflict, rescinded.

3. This order shall be effective immediately.
City of Benton Harbor
Dated: April 14, 2011
(Signed) Joseph L. Harris
Emergency Manager

Now, why would a Republican Governor think he could tell the people of
Benton Harbor that they are now living in the Satrapy of Bentongrad?

A statistic courtesy Eclectablog on Daily Kos: Benton Harbor is 92.4%
African American.

After all, if Republicans let African-Americans vote for local
government officials, they might develop a far,m team of people who
might run for higher office against Republicans.

Perhaps it is time to litigate.

And perhaps it is time for Americans to bring Egypt — peaceful assembly
in protest against tyranny — to America. Because whether you live in
Bar Harbor, Kansas City, Philadelphia-Mississippi, Salt Lake City, or
San Francisco, what happened to Benton Harbor might happen next to you.

This one does not look good for the Democratic Party in Michigan: Two county-level party officials have been hit with felony charges in an alleged scheme to put bogus Tea Party candidates on the ballot to draw votes away from Republicans. (Via Jim Geraghty.)

Former Oakland County party chairman Michael McGuinness and former county operations director Jason Bauer were each charged with perjury, forgery, and another violation called false swearing.

Read the rest here.

Tuesday Feb 15, the Logan Square Green Party in Chicago Illinois are meeting at the Green Party office on Fullerton Ave.

The Northeast Ohio Greens will meet tonight at Mac’s Backs Bookstore 1820 Coventry Road in Cleveland Heights – 7pm-9pm.

Wednesday Feb. 16 the Los Angeles Greens in California meet at 7 PM at the Peace Center on W. Third St.

The Charleston County (SC) Green Party will hold its monthly meeting on Wednesday, February 16, 7-8pm at Earth Fare on Folly Rd Blvd. Look for us in the cafe.

Thursday Feb. 17 the Detroit Greeens are meeting with the Tri-County Greens at the Phoenix Cafe in Hazel Park, MI.

San Fernando Valley Greens will have a candidates forum on February 21.

Do you know of local or state Green Party meetings or other Green Events that we should add to our Events Calendar? Post them here as a comment or send by email to GPW@GreenPartyWatch.org

IPR note: if other parties would like to start putting together a calendar like this to post their weekly meetings around the country, we can work on that here as well.

In my last update on Americans Elect I wrote:

Jim Cook has updates on Americans Elect activities in Arizona, Nevada and Ohio. The petitioner grapevine has it that Americans Elect petitioning has been completed in Arizona and Kansas, but Nevada is the only state that their signatures have been verified to have been turned in to the state through sources I have seen.

Petitioning for Americans Elect was started, then halted, in Michigan. And again according to the petitioner grapevine, they will be petitioning in several Southeastern states later this month or next month.

Jim Cook responds at Irregular Times:

On January 17, Independent Political Report reported a rumor that petitioning for Americans Elect to qualify as a political party in Kansas had been completed:

The petitioner grapevine has it that Americans Elect petitioning has been completed in Arizona and Kansas, but Nevada is the only state that their signatures have been verified to have been turned in to the state through sources I have seen.

A visitor to Independent Political Report expresses high confidence that Americans Elect has turned in its petitions to the state of Kansas:

Americans Elect did the full party status petition in Kansas which requires 16,776 valid signatures rather just doing a petition to place a presidential ticket on the ballot which requires 5,000 signatures…. I’ve heard from multiple sources that Americans Elect was petitioning in Kansas so I do not think that it was a rumor.

Because Americans Elect has geared up outside the public spotlight in its own bid for the White House in 2012, public documentation of its efforts have been scanty and undocumented rumors like these have run amok. We’ve already seen that the “petitioner grapevine” rumors are at odds with the official record in Arizona, which (thanks to conversations with the Arizona Secretary of State’s office for clarity) show that less than $500 has been spent in the state by Americans Elect. This is far less than would be required to successfully manage and execute a ballot access campaign with the professional petition circulators that have been hired by Americans Elect.

My conversation this afternoon with Brad Bryant of the Elections and Legislative Matters division of the Kansas Secretary of State’s office appears to dispel these rumors. Bryant declared unequivocally that the Kansas Secretary of State has not received any completed petitions from Americans Elect, has not received any blank petition forms for approval from Americans Elect, and has not had any formal or informal conversations about ballot access with people identifying themselves as part of an Americans Elect effort. The most that might have happened, Bryant indicated to me, is that someone who didn’t identify as part of Americans Elect discussed the party petition procedure with his office (as many have this year), or that perhaps Americans Elect has started gathering party ballot qualification signatures without submitting blank petition forms for approval first.

The grapevine may be a place to look for tips, but the most solid ground for finding out about political organizations like Americans Elect is the official record. That is why the disappearance of Americans Elect from the public record is a disturbing event.

My response in Irregular Times comments:

We’ve already seen that the “petitioner grapevine” rumors are at odds with the official record in Arizona, which (thanks to conversations with the Arizona Secretary of State’s office for clarity) show that less than $500 has been spent in the state by Americans Elect.

If the money was spent with an out of state petition company, I don’t guess it would show up with SOS records in the state. Most petitioners and petition companies travel. The grapevine we have is both from people that were working there and non-petitioners that encountered them.

And:

perhaps Americans Elect has started gathering party ballot qualification signatures without submitting blank petition forms for approval first.

I know people that worked there for weeks. As in a whole crew.

If any of our readers can help us get to the bottom of this, both Jim Cook (Irregular Times) and myself would appreciate it.

See background on Americans Elect at Irregular Times and IPR.

From the GPMI Newsletter, upcoming State & Local Party meetings and events:

Detroit Greens are teaming up with Greens in the tri-county area for Metro Detroit Greens Meetings. These meetings give us an opportunity to build on the networking, connections and solidarity we developed in the 2010 elections.

WHAT: Detroit Metro Greens Meeting
WHO: Open to all Greens and friends – replaces Detroit Greens monthly meetings for January – March.
WHEN: Third Thursday of each month – January 20, February 17 & March 17, 6–8pm
WHERE: Phoenix Café. 24918 John R. Hazel Park, Mi 48030. 248-667-8817

Agendas will include discussions of the developing political situation and plans for actions. More detailed agendas will be sent out to the same lists before the meetings.
Please email to anyone you think should be there.

# Detroit Greens – http://www.detroitgreens.org

The Detroit Greens meetings are held monthly. on the third Thursday of the month at 6:30 -8:00pm.
info@detroitgreens.org or 313-623-4709 for more info.

# Flint Greens – http://www.flintgreens.org/

Flint Greens will be meeting at Good Beans Cafe, from 6p.m. to 8p.m., on the second Thursday of the month. Good Beans Cafe is located at 328 N. Grand Traverse, at the corner of First Avenue, in Flint.
All Flint Greens meetings are open to newcomers, visitors are welcome!

# Hillsdale County Greens http://www.hillsdalecountygreens.org

Hillsdale County Greens meet the third Monday of each month, at 6:00 p.m. at Volume I Books, 98 N. Broad Street in Hillsdale.
Store phone is: (517)437-2228.
For more information, people can visit our website.

# Huron Valley Greens – http://www.hvgreens.org

Huron Valley Greens meet every 2nd and 4th Monday from 7:30-9:00 pm at the Washtenaw Rainbow Action Project, 319 Braun Court (an unmarked pedestrian walkway), next door to Common Language Bookstore and near the intersection of Catherine St. and Fourth Ave. in Ann Arbor. for more info contact: Aimee Smith, alsmith@hvgreens.org

# Traverse Bay Watershed Greens & Northwestern Michigan College Greens – http://www.nrec.org/greens/

Meet on the third Tuesday of every month at 6:30 P.M. at the Horizon Shine Cafe, 243 East Front Street, Traverse City – public welcome

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%)

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.

Detroit Free Press poll:

Dan Benishek (R) – 42%
Gary McDowell (D) – 40%
Glenn Wilson (IND) – 8%
Undecided – 10%

The poll has a margin of sampling error of plus/minus 4.9 percent.

TV6 will have a debate at 7 PM tonight – I have found no word on whether it will be available online for those outside the viewing area.

The Wayne County Clerk’s Office will reprint 27,000 absentee ballots on Monday after a processing error left two candidates from the Green Party entirely off the ballot…

Election Day ballots will not be affected, West said.

On Friday evening the Green Party of Michigan sent out a press release stating that Wayne County Board of Elections did not place Green Party candidates Dianne Feeley for county commissioner in the 5th District and Louis Novak for county commissioner in 6th District on ballots already distributed to absentee voters. The Green Party will hold a press conference Monday at 11 a.m. in front of the City-County Building to discuss further steps and offer their program for jobs and economic recovery, according to the release.

GEORGE ORWELL NOW WORKING AT WXYZ-TV

George Orwell was seen alive and well working at WXYZ-TV/Channel 7. Orwell, thought to be dead years ago, is the new director of the TV station’s “Democracy 2010″ project. Orwell, famous for inventing catchy phrases that disguise their true meaning, called Newspeak, took credit for naming the series “Democracy 2010.”

He said his primary task at WXYZ’s Democracy 2010 is to suppress all references to third party candidates. “Whenever I see the words Green Party or Libertarians I just chuck ‘em down the memory hole,” Orwell said.

“For example, none of the “Democracy 2010″ video interviews include third party candidates and the “Complete Voter Guide” only has information about Democrats and Republicans,” said Orwell. “I insisted on using the word ‘complete,’” said Orwell, grinning.

He also admitted to secretly working with Democrats and Republicans for years. He claimed credit for naming the Patriot act, No Child Left Behind, and the words “free trade” as in NAFTA.

Chuck Stokes, editorial/public affairs director for WXYZ-TV/Channel 7, had no comment on the Orwell’s employment status. Stokes denied any censorship at WXYZ and claimed his TV station had, “recently installed a new computer program that automatically deletes all references to so-called third parties.”

“I heard people refer to the Democrats and Republicans as two wings of the same bird,” Stokes said, “but all that talk is downright Un-American and wont be tolerated at my station. Besides, we talk about the Tea Party all the time and they’re a kind of third Party. There’s no censorship at WXYZ.”

Paraphrasing Henry Ford he said, “People can vote for anyone they want as long as it’s a Democrat or Republican.”

See WXYZ-TV candidate bios and videos here: http://www.wxyz.com/subindex/news/political/elections_local

# # # #

GEORGE CORSETTI
Green Party Congressional Candidate for 13th District, Michigan
http://www.george-corsetti.org/

Republished from the Libertarian Party of Michigan Newsletter

You might recall that I wrote about my Libertarian activist "To Do List" for the Spring of this year. Guess what? I also have a "To Do List", to actively support the Libertarian Party in this busy time between now and Election Day. Please join me in as many of these activities as possible. I plan to:

1. Put as much time and energy into my campaign for State Board of Education as possible. I’ll be busy answering questionnaires, updating content on my website and responding to media interview and candidate forum requests. If you aren’t running for office, then see who is, at http://www.mi.lp.org/Shared%20Documents/candidates.aspx. Eighty-three Libertarian Party candidates would appreciate your help with their campaigns!
2. Attend my local LPM affiliate meetings to find out how I can help my local party this fall. Go to http://www.mi.lp.org/Shared%20Documents/Calendar.aspx to find out when your local affiliate meets. If you don’t have a local affiliate, then form one. Go to http://www.mi.lp.org/Webpages_Aux/AffilOrgHowTo.html to find out how.
3. Contribute funds to at least one active local Libertarian campaign. Local campaigns have the best prospects to garner votes and affect election outcomes. With a local race, you get more "bang for your buck". If a local candidate is willing to spend his or her valuable time campaigning, the least I can do is provide financial support.
4. Contribute funds to at least one active statewide Libertarian campaign. Statewide campaigns have the best prospects to receive media attention. Often, they are the ones that get the Libertarian name and philosophy out there, and bring in new activists.
5. Put a Libertarian bumper sticker on my car. Ken Proctor, our candidate for Governor, is printing and distributing bumper stickers, as are other candidates. Use them!
6. Invite my Facebook friends to "like" the Libertarian candidates I like. Many Libertarian candidates have created "public figure" pages. It’s very easy to help support them by asking your Facebook friends to "like" them, too.
7. Put one or more Libertarian campaign signs in my yard. Each LPM affiliate has been given a supply of "Vote Libertarian" signs with the LPM logo. Several Libertarian candidates are also printing and placing yard signs. Use them!
8. Attend my local Libertarian election night party on November 2.
9. Election night is a time to relax, get together with your freedom-loving friends, and have fun. Don’t miss out!

by Bill Hall (politics@mi.lp.org)

The Michigan Green Party recently nominated a number of candidates, including several for statewide office and Congress, bringing the total number of Greens running in Michigan this year to 34. The candidates include Harley Mikkelson for Governor and Lynn Meadows for Lt. Governor, John Anthony La Pietra for Secretary of State, and 7 candidates running for various statewide education-related offices. Among 11 nominees for US House of Representatives, 6 already have websites up: Ellis Boal in MI-1, Charlie Shick in MI-3, J. Matthew de Heus in MI-5, Candace Caveny in MI-10, Julia Williams in MI-12, and George Corsetti in MI-13. The Michigan Greens also have 5 candidates for state legislature and 8 for local office. The full list of candidates can be found at GPW’s 2010 Green candidate page or at gp.org’s elections database.

Fred Strand thinks there’s a place in Congress for a small-town restaurant owner who knows when the price of beer jumps 10 percent and how business reacts to a 6 percent increase for Pepsi…

A former Democrat who ran for Congress from Allegan in 1992, Strand is competing this year as a Libertarian. The Libertarian Party, Strand says, is “socially liberal, but fiscally conservative.”

A self-described independent voter, Strand said he also was a member of the Kalamazoo County Republican Party until he became “disenchanted with the gridlock of lockstep politics” two years ago.

The retired commercial airline captain said he voted for Barack Obama in 2008, but he predicts Obama won’t be re-elected, mainly because of a continued dire economy. He said he believes that Obama increasingly appears “aloof” to many Americans and is the target of racism that Strand says “I was really hoping this country was getting over.”
Strand said he favors a national health-care system, “but not one that was driven by the drug companies, the insurers and all of the special-interest groups.”

At the same time, he calls “run-away spending” the “biggest threat” to the United States, ranking it ahead of terrorism.

Although it was not a legal issue in the case, this “Tea Party” was actually organized by Democratic Party activists. The US Taxpayers Party of Michigan, which is affiliated with the Constitution Party nationwide, remains on the ballot and has no ties to this group, according to their recent press release.

Monday’s Michigan Court of Appeals ruling that denies ballot qualification to “The Tea Party” might cause voter confusion at the polls at the November General Election this fall.

The US Taxpayers Party of Michigan (USTPM) has been a ballot qualified party since its organization in 1982, though then known as the Tisch Independent Party. Voters are being confused over party names and candidate affiliations because of the new popularity of the Tea Party and the recent news of the so called, fake Tea Party known as “The Tea Party” which attempted to gain ballot access this election cycle.

The USTPM would like to let voters know that it has no affiliation with either group, though it does share some of the ideology of the activist group, the “Tea Party”. The USTPM, together with its national affiliate, the Constitution Party is, according to Ballot Access News, the third largest political party in America.

Numerous USTPM candidates will appear on the ballot this November including Stacey Mathia for Governor, as well as Congressional, state Representative and local candidates.

The USTPM has made several attempts to change its name to the “Constitution Party of Michigan” to match its affiliation with the Constitution Party. Secretary of State, Terri Lynn Land, has repeatedly denied the requests adding to voter confusion. The USTPM encourages voters to elect Robert Gale for Secretary of State this November to ensure fair and reasonable treatment of minor political parties and encourage the free flow of ideas much needed in the state of Michigan.

For more information, visit http://www.ustpm.org

On August 30, the Michigan State Court of Appeals ruled that “The Tea Party” should not be added to the ballot because of discrepancies over its name. In many official documents it had said its name is “The Tea Party”. But on the petition sheets, the name of the party is “Tea Party”. See this story. Thanks to Thomas Jones for the link. The decision doesn’t appear to be on the Court’s web page yet.

The Tea Party movement had not created the party that submitted the petition. Considerable evidence showed that the petition had been circulated and paid for by groups and individuals associated with the Democratic Party. Although the awareness of that might have influenced the judges’ attitude toward the case, factors like that are separate from the legal issues in this case.

Now that Stupak’s seat is open, Republicans are eager to win it back, Democrats are struggling to hang on to it, and candidates from outside these parties are trying to get voters to rethink the fundamentals of how government operates. . . . Glenn Wilson, owner of a telecom business in the small Northeastern Lower Peninsula town of Rose City, is running as an independent . . . Wilson campaign manager Rich Carlson, one of the founders of the Northern Michigan Liberty Alliance, a coalition of Tea Party groups from across Northern Michigan . . .

The Green Party candidate in Dist. 1, Charlevoix labor attorney Ellis Boal, has some specific pro-environment and anti-war policy ideas that could potentially draw Democratic voters or others that are focused on these issues. Boal is also the only pro-choice candidate in the race and the only to support repeal of the recent federal health care reform in favor of a single payer “Medicare for all” system.