OntheWilderSide

Green Party candidates have continued to receive endorsements in local races across the US.  59 Greens will be on ballots in the November 8, 2011 general election. Ten Greens have been elected to public office in elections held earlier this year, out of 34 candidates who competed.

Green candidates in St. Paul, Minnesota, received several endorsements. For the first time, St. Paul will use Ranked Choice Voting (also called Instant Runofff Voting) in City Council elections, which will increase the chances of a Green election victory.

• TakeAction Minnesota, a progressive grassroots coalition, has endorsed Jim Ivey for Ward 2 and Bee Kevin Xiong  for Ward 6 in City Council races.

• United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1189 has also endorsed Mr. Ivey and Mr. Xiong.
http://www.ufcw789.org/newsletter/vol2issue5.pdf
http://iveyforsaintpaul.org/news/united-food-and-commercial-workers-endorse-jim

• The St. Paul Area Association of Realtors has endorsed Mr. Xiong and Johnny Howard, candidate for Ward 1 member of City Council .

Josephine Okot has been endorsed by the Maine League of Young Voters in her campaign for At-Large member of the Portland School Board in Maine:

I am the candidate for all voters concerned with improving our public schools and making the real changes needed for our children. My time in Portland schools prepared me for life and I want to make sure all of our students can attend schools without fear of bullying, have caring mentors who can prepare them for life after graduation and can get to and from school safely and quickly using as much public transportation as possible.

Update: Terry O’Neill, national president of NOW, visited Philadelphia for a press conference announcing NOW’s endorsement of Cheri Honkala for Sheriff of Philadelphia (video: http://www.cherihonkala.com/?p=1121). Ms. Honkala is running on an anti-eviction platform and, as sheriff, will not cooperate with banks attempted to foreclose on homeowners.
Video of Ms. Honkala at Occupy DC: http://www.cherihonkala.com/?p=1146
Video of Ms. Honkala at Occupy Wall Street: http://www.cherihonkala.com/?p=1134

More Green election news:

• The Illinois Green Party and congressional candidate Laurel Lambert Schmidt filed a law suit on Monday, October 24, against the State Board of Elections over the latter’s interpretation of the “established party” statute. The board determined that the Green Party does not retain established party status in areas of the state where Green candidates exceeded the required 5% of the vote in 2010, claiming that since the old districts no longer exist due to decennial redistricting, the 5% rule does not apply in the new districts. Illinois Greens say that the board erred in its decision and called the redistricting that led to the decision an example of “sugarplum gerrymandering.” More: http://www.ilgp.org/news/press-releases/ilgp-schmidt-file-suit-against-state-board-of-elections

• New video clips:
Terry Baum, Green candidate for Mayor of San Francisco, at Occupy San Francisco http://www.gp.org/video/display.php?ID=67 (campaign site: http://terryjoanbaum.com)
Audrey Clement, Green candidate for Arlington, Virginia, County Board: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYIBqsv7zdE (campaign site: http://www.audreyclement.org)

• “Howie Hawkins: Perennial power to the people” (on Mr. Hawkins’ campaign for 4th District Councilor in Syracuse, New York)
By Ken Jackson, Urban CNY, Eagle News, October 5, 2011
http://www.eaglenewsonline.com/news/2011/oct/07/howie-hawkins-perennial-power-people/
Campaign site: http://howiehawkins.com/2011

Related articles

• Green Party candidates pick up key endorsements in 2011 state and local races across the US (www.onthewilderside.com)
• Philly Sheriff cand Cheri Honkala (G) endorsed by Rev. Billy at Occupy Wall Street (www.onthewilderside.com)
• Green Party to Democratic Party apologists: The message of the Wall Street protests is not ‘Vote Democrat’ (www.onthewilderside.com)
• Cong cand Schmidt (G-IL) sues State Board of Elections over Established Party (www.onthewilderside.com)
• Philly Sheriff cand Cheri Honkala (G) will halt home evictions and challenge bank power (www.onthewilderside.com)

Filed under: Action Alert!, activism, election, elections, grassroots democracy, Green Party Tagged: | green, Honkala, Illinois Green Party, Philadelphia