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Green Party Sees Major
Gains in Local Elections
Fourteen Greens win in Spring, 2001 races -- over half of the 27 races
in which Greens competed.
WASHINGTON,
D.C. -- A record eighty-eight Greens in twenty one states now hold elected
office in the United States, as the Green Party expands its base in local
elections, according to a report compiled by Mike Feinstein of the Green
Party of California State Clearinghouse.
Building on the
successes of 2000, a year in which Greens won a record 35 races
nationally, Green candidates have already won fourteen victories in 2001
-- over half of the twenty-seven spring races in which Greens competed.
Three out of three incumbents were reelected.
At-least 44
Greens have already declared their candidacies for November elections in
2001, adding up to at least 71 Greens running in total this year, with
many more expected to announce their candidacies in the coming months. The
previous high number of candidates for the entire country in an odd-number
year was 95, set back in 1999. Greens are expected to surpass that total
this year.
"The 14
victories in spring 2001 compare well to the previous high total for an
entire odd-numbered year -- 14 -- set in 1997. Greens hope to far surpass
this total in 2001," said Mr. Feinstein, who is also Mayor of
Santa Monica, California.
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Greens won
elected office for the first time in Montana, winning a school board
seat in Missoula. "This follows a city council victory in
Laramie, Wyoming last November, as the Green Party begins to grow
across the western plains," said Mr. Feinstein.
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In
Massachusetts, Greens won three out of three races, making it the
seventh state with at least three Green officeholders (California,
Wisconsin, Oregon, Colorado, Minnesota, New Mexico and
Massachusetts).
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In
Wisconsin, Greens won five out of five races, after winning all seven
races they contested in 2000. Greens won three races in Madison
alone, including two city council seats. This makes six Green
officeholders in Madison, with two city council members, three county
supervisors, and one school board member, the largest number of Greens
holding office in one city. The next highest are Santa Fe, New Mexico,
Santa Monica, California and Sebastopol, California, all with three
Greens holding local office. Madison (population 210,000) is also the
second largest city in the U.S. to have a Green city council
member. San Francisco, with a population of 750,000, is the largest,
with Matt Gonzalez holding a city supervisor seat.
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California
Greens won a city council seat for the first time in conservative
Orange County in California, demonstrating the growing base of Green
support on 'quality of life' issues, given southern California's
development pressures. This victory now brings to 33 the number of
California Greens holding municipal office, including 19 city council
members.
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All three
Green incumbents were re-elected -- Gary Claus, City Council, Silver
City, New Mexico; Pete Gleichman, City Council, Ward, Colorado; and
Matt Kelly, Selectman, New Ashford, Massachusetts. 41 out of 46 Green
incumbent city/town council members have been re-elected since Greens
first starting running for office in the U.S.
-
Fourteen
Green victors in Spring 2001 elections:
Gary Claus, City Council, Silver City, District 3, New Mexico
(incumbent)
Pete Gleichman, City Council, Ward, Colorado (incumbent)
Matt Filipiak, City Council, Stevens Point (Ward 3), Wisconsin
Brenda Konkel, City Council, Madison, District 2,
Wisconsin
Todd Jarrell, City Council, Madison, District 8, Wisconsin
Karl Warkomski, City Council, Aliso Viejo,California
Matt Kelly, Selectman, New Ashford, Massachusetts (incumbent)
Kate Harris, Town Meeting Seat, Amherst, Massachusetts
Shwaw Vang, School Board, Madison, Seat 3, Wisconsin
David Merrill, School Board, Missoula, Montana
Sally Huntington, School Committee, Westport,
Massachusetts
Lisa Meylan Water District, Tualatin Valley, Position 2, Oregon
Robert Miranda, Milwaukee Social Development Commission, Wisconsin
(John D. Schmidt initially won an election for Watershed District
Board in Upper San Marcos, Texas, but Mr. Schmidt's victory was
later cancelled when the election was ruled invalid)
MORE
INFORMATION
2001 Green
Party Election Report, U.S.
http://www.feinstein.org/greenparty/electionreport2001.html
Greens running in 2001 elections (as of May 25th,
2001) http://www.gp.org/patience.html
Green elected officials
http://www.gp.org/elections.shtml
Election coverage for 2000: 35 Green victories
http://www.greenpages.ws
U.S. Green electoral history, 1986-2001
http://www.gp.org/patience.html
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