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| Green Party of Michigan Nominates 11 for November at Convention; More to Come -- from County Caucuses Across State. |
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Green Party of Michigan May 27, 2004 For More Information Contact: Marc Reichardt, Chair, chair@migreens.org
The Green Party of Michigan (GPMI) put 11 people on the ballot for November 2 -- and laid the groundwork for more, including a Presidential ticket -- at its state convention this past weekend at Eagles Ridge Conference Center in Peshawbestown north of Traverse City. There will be Greens on the ballot for at least four seats in Congress, and one Green each running for the State Board of Education and the three major university boards. Two Green candidates were nominated for state representative, and one for county commissioner. And more candidates are yet to come this summer, from nominating caucuses in at least ten counties across the state. The convention commended ten Green candidates to their county parties, and endorsed two Greens running in non-partisan races -- one of them Jason Glover of Traverse City, a candidate for the Northwest Michigan College Board of Trustees. Greens also heard from attorney Jim Olson, who helped Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation win an injunction to stop Néstlé's Ice Mountain extraction and bottling plant in Mecosta County, on how the case will affect the future of water as a public trust. And GPMI voted to give its delegation to the national convention (June 23-28 in Milwaukee) flexibility in considering the results of a Presidential-preference straw poll . . . and taking appropriate action if Greens nationwide do not either nominate or endorse a Presidential ticket. Green Candidates for Everyone in Michigan Green Congressional candidates span the state: * David Newland of Bellaire is running in the 1st District, which includes all of the Upper Peninsula and 15-1/2 counties in northern lower Michigan. * Harley Mikkelson of Caro will again campaign for the 5th District seat, which serves Genesee and Tuscola Counties and parts of Saginaw and Bay Counties as well. * Randall MacPhee of Schoolcraft is running to represent the southwest corner of the state as the 6th District's member of Congress. * And Jason Seagraves of Adrian -- and formerly of the Democratic Party -- is now the Green candidate for the 7th Congressional District in south central Michigan. County caucuses in the Detroit metro area could add one or more names to this list, as well as several candidates for county or local office. And voters in other parts of the state will still have four Greens to consider for offices involving education: * Peter Ponzetti III of Kalamazoo is halfway through a year-long campaign for a seat on the State Board of Education. * Nathaniel Damren of Ann Arbor is running to join the Board of Regents of the University of Michigan. * Ben Burgis of East Lansing is Damren's counterpart candidate, campaigning for a seat on the Michigan State University Board of Trustees. * And Margaret Guttshall of Detroit is running close to home, too -- for the Board of Governors of Wayne State University. To this "hometown team" could be added Jason Glover of Traverse City, whose candidacy for the non-partisan Northwest Michigan College Board of Trustees was endorsed. All these candidates were approved by consensus, as were three more: * Robbie Kull of Monroe won the GPMI's approval to run for the 56th District seat in the Michigan House of Representatives -- a district entirely in Monroe County (where no caucus is scheduled). * Similarly, Jessie Olson of South Haven was nominated for the District 1 seat on the Van Buren County Board of Commissioners. * And Rebekah Mikkelson of Caro, Harley's daughter, was nominated from the floor for the 84th State House seat -- serving both Huron and Tuscola Counties. Olson: "Give Water a Voice" Olson admitted he was preaching to the choir when speaking to Greens about the importance of giving water a voice. But he added that the voice needs to go beyond Greens -- beyond Republicans and Democrats, as well -- until everyone hears and understands that water is not a resource, but a commons. Olson praised Judge Lawrence Root for deciding the _MCWC v. Néstlé_ case on the basis of Michigan common law -- which can't be overturned without revoking statehood -- and called on Governor Granholm and state legislators to write new state laws identifying and protecting water as a public trust. Olson's words were echoed by both Greens running for re-election this year -- Jim Moreno of the non-partisan Mount Pleasant City Commission and JoAnne Bier Beemon, Drain Commissioner for Charlevoix County. Both have joined MCWC and the Sweetwater Alliance in protests against Ice Mountain. Beemon remarked: "Water is life -- and every person is entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Olson quoted the Polish poet laureate Wislawa Szymborska: A drop of
water fell on my hand, and concluded, "We hope people in the future can say the same of the Great Lakes -- and that that's the only water diverted from them." Preparations for a Presidential Ticket The party confirmed an equal balance of men and women in its delegation to next month's GPUS national nominating convention in Milwaukee -- and selected a slate of Presidential electors with nine men and eight women. Michigan Greens had twice before declared strong support for running a Green Presidential ticket this year. At the convention, they decided to give the delegation guidance and flexibility in helping decide who would appear at the top of the Green column on this year's ballots. The convention authorized GPMI's 32 delegates and 18 alternates to take action in Milwaukee if the national convention ended without a Presidential nomination or endorsement. There was also a straw poll, in which almost half the vote went to attorney David Cobb; nearly 1/4 to Ralph Nader; and over 15% to favorite-daughter and -son candidates JoAnne Bier Beemon and Harley Mikkelson. About 13% voted to have the delegates go into the convention uncommitted. Campaign treasurer Dean Myerson spoke for Cobb; rival Kent Mesplay sent a statement to be read at the convention. GPMI members stood up to support preferred candidates -- or tell what they knew about candidates with no backers present. If the delegation voted in the same proportions as the straw poll, Cobb would get 16 votes on the first ballot in Milwaukee, Nader seven, Beemon four, and Mikkelson one. The remaining four votes would be uncommitted. Michigan Greens also passed a resolution opposing the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative, and answered an appeal to help bring to the national convention leading figures of the worldwide Green Party and movement -- including: * Ane Aadland, one of the founders of the Green Party of Norway; * Edward Martín Salazar Cruz, president of Nicaragua's Green Party (which GPMI and long-time member Steve Herrick helped to take root); and * Juan Carlos Lecompte, the husband of kidnapped Colombian Green Party Presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt. And they heard from another nation when the Medicine Lodge Singers of Peshawbestown came to sing a traditional Native American honor song and a song for veterans -- including about a dozen Greens, and at least three candidates. For information about GPMI in
general, please visit the party's home page: http://www.migreens.org Candidates from 2004 Convention Harley Mikkelson Randall MacPhee Jason Seagraves Peter Ponzetti III Nathaniel Damren Benjamin Burgis Margaret Guttshall Robert Kull Rebekah Mikkelson Jessie Olson
SUPPORTED (to caucus): 10 [* =
incumbent]
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