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* As I told you yesterday, the Illinois Green Party has filed a bunch of candidates in several races statewide. But it all depends on how you look at it, I suppose…
Given the legal right in Illinois to get on the ballot just as easily as Democrats or Republicans this year, Green Party candidates took advantage of the new rules - but not in great numbers.
As the eight-day filing closed for certain state, federal and party offices Monday at the State Board of Elections, totals showed just 18 Green Party candidates among the 960 candidates who submitted petitions.
Phil Huckelberry of Chicago, chairman of the Illinois Green Party’s government and elections committee, said he estimates the number of Green Party county board candidates across the state would be in the low teens. But he also noted that with the party’s power to fill ballot vacancies in races where nobody is picked in the Feb. 5 primary, he hopes the party reaches its goal of having 100 to 110 candidates, state and local, on November ballots in Illinois in 2008. […]
Huckelberry said, for example, that Green candidates for Congress this time had to turn in 600 valid signatures. In a typical congressional district two years ago, he said, that threshold for Greens was about 12,000 signatures. […]
In addition to Roberts, there are nine other candidates for U.S. House in Illinois districts, including two in the 3rd Congressional District, where the incumbent is U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski, D-Chicago. Huckelberry said Jerome Pohlen of Berwyn is the party’s endorsed candidate.
There is an undercount in the story. Five Illinois House candidates have filed, not the four reported. And, as noted above, the party can always slate candidates into other districts, legislative and Congressional.
* The Greens have also filed in several ward committeeman races in Chicago, giving them the ability to do some party-building…
A Green ward boss?
It seems an oxymoron.
The Green Party is supposed to be a bastion of of anti-war, pro-environment independents who don’t sit in back rooms smoking cigars.
But when the smoke cleared at the Cook County Clerk’s office Monday, 23 people had filed to run for Green Party ward committeeman.
Many more filed to run for everything from Metropolitan Water Reclamation District to U.S. Congress. Some Democratic candidates in close elections fear Greens will siphon votes from them, allowing Republicans to win.
Three Greens filed for MWRD. You can see the entire Cook County list here.
Discuss.
posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Nov 6, 07 @ 10:28 am
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Comment by Jacques Strappe Tuesday, Nov 6, 07 @ 10:02 am
You don’t start out at 100%. Growth comes incrementally and slowly. The important thing is that the growth is sustained and constant. If the Green Party were to suddenly fill up every slot on the ballot, that would support the “flash in the pan” argument that so many have been trying to advance.
Incidentally, Green “ward boss” IS an oxymoron. Committeeman does not equal boss; and there has been a lot of debate within the Illinois Green Party about if this state-imposed, corporate structure of central committees violates our right to freedom of association. Unfortunately, as Rich Miller has himself indicated, them’s the brakes, at least for now.
Comment by Squideshi Tuesday, Nov 6, 07 @ 10:28 am
They have 1-2% of the canidacies covered. This to me is a very poor showing for a political party. At this point they seem to be more a collection of Independents who are using the green status to make filing easier then a true party. Also the platform of the “Party” does not seem clear from canidate to canidate. The platform of we are a third party alternative is not really resonating. They need a better identity then “at least we are not the Dem or repubs”. Interestingly, the greens tend to pull votes from dems where they run, but not republicans. they need a stronger identity so they can pull in more republican support. If they want a strong party its time to push a strong party platform and identity to become somthing more then just a disaffcted dem splinter group.
Comment by Ghost Tuesday, Nov 6, 07 @ 10:37 am
Platforms are over-rated. When was the last time you even looked at the Dem or GOP platform? They’re something that makes the delegates feel like they did something to shape their party but really, the candidates are on the honor system whether they fulfill them or not.
Comment by cermak_rd Tuesday, Nov 6, 07 @ 10:38 am
Realistically no one could expect the Greens to run candidates for most offices right now, they are still a developing party, and they have covered a lot of the congressional races, but I would have expected them to have fielded more candidates for State House and Senate, after last year Governor race they have a bit of a chance to actually go some where and if they blow it, they may not get a second chance.
Comment by RMW Stanford Tuesday, Nov 6, 07 @ 10:39 am
There are Green Party Committeeman candidates in some of the black wards. I’ve certainly noticed that.
Comment by Levois Tuesday, Nov 6, 07 @ 10:51 am
Platforms are not all important, but it does give people an idea of were a party stands on issues. Most people might not know the Dem or GOP platform in depth but I bet they have at least a general idea of what it is and where it stands on most issues. While I dont think that many people have a great idea of where the Greens stands other than they are pro-envoriment and to the left of the political center, for the most part
Comment by RMW Stanford Tuesday, Nov 6, 07 @ 11:02 am
I wouldn’t discount the significance of the number of Green Party filings, especially in the aldermanic races given how put upon Chicago taxpayers feel at the moment…there’s definitely an anti incumbent/throw the bums out feeling out there-
Comment by anon38 Tuesday, Nov 6, 07 @ 11:33 am
Keep in mind that because of the ward, township, and precinct committeeman positions that Greens have filled all over the state, that they now have the power to slate candidates after the primary, just as the Republicans and Democrats do all the time. If you have limited resources, running many committeeman with low signature requirements and slating later is much easier than collecting 500 signatures X 150 State Rep/State Senate seats.
There’s dozens upon dozens of seats for state rep and state senate that either the Dems or the Pubs have chosen not to run in yet because of mutual gerrymandering over the years. If a gerrymandered is suddenly percieved as winnable though, they’ll slate a candidate after the primary to go after it.
The Greens absolutely have a platform and specific positions. Jason Wallace’s website provides a good summary of his own issues and the Green Party Common Congressional Platform in pdf format: http://www.electwallace.us/issues/index.php
And finally, in response to Ghost, who said “Interestingly, the greens tend to pull votes from dems where they run, but not republicans. they need a stronger identity so they can pull in more republican support.” That’s blatantly false. How short people’s memories are from the 2006 governor’s race. The Green party actually took more votes from Topinka than they did from Blagojevich, although it was a fairly even split. But it got to the point where the Topinka camp was all but accusing the Greens of spoiling the election for her. That’s how it goes with the third parties. We spoil for whoever happens to lose. Maybe if we had Instant Runoff Voting… but that’s enough for one post.
Comment by Sacks Romana Tuesday, Nov 6, 07 @ 12:06 pm
I see that Vic Roberts is speaking with Rich Whitney in Springfield this week. Roberts failed at using the Democratic ballot line to advance his LaRouche conspiracy theories and now he’s using the Greens. Are Whitney and the Greens really supporting their new party being used by LaRouche followers? Are there any others around the state?
Comment by Sango Dem Tuesday, Nov 6, 07 @ 12:13 pm
The greens don’t have the same amount of members as the dems or republicans, so it makes sense they wouldn’t run as many people. They will slate people in many ore races.
The greens dohave a great platform, but candidates don’t have to campaign on every single issue.
I think its great, and the number of greens that filed should not be down played at all, change takes time.
Comment by patrick Tuesday, Nov 6, 07 @ 12:25 pm
We supposedly have so much freedom to discuss issues and make inquiries in this country, and yet every four years it is certain that the victors in political races will be from one of two political machines. Don’t like the Republicans because of Ryan, insider deals and political favoritism? Vote for the Dems. Don’t like the Democrats because of Daley, Rezko, Kerner, Walker, and insider deals and favoritism? Vote for the Republicans. The race between the Republicans and the Democrats is the race to the bottom. We deserve more, and better, choices.
Comment by Obama - Rezko in '08? No thanks Tuesday, Nov 6, 07 @ 2:25 pm
I think any discussion of Greens not fielding candidates for office should include comparison to the percentage of races in which the GOP didn’t file candidates.
Parties skip races in parts of the state where they are weak.
While the Greens are weak in more of the state than where the GOP is weak, the Green strength may be growing. The GOP strength is almost certainly dwindling.
Comment by Carl Nyberg Tuesday, Nov 6, 07 @ 3:06 pm
RMW Stanford wrote, “Realistically no one could expect the Greens to run candidates for most offices right now, they are still a developing party, and they have covered a lot of the congressional races, but I would have expected them to have fielded more candidates for State House and Senate, after last year Governor race they have a bit of a chance to actually go some where and if they blow it, they may not get a second chance.”
The irony of Illinois election law is such that this time around it was significantly easier for Greens to file to run for Congress than State Representative or Senator. The signature requirements were MUCH lower for Congress.
Also, I don’t think that we’re going to see success for the Green Party overnight in one big bang–there’s not going to be any one particular defining moment–no coup d’état that you will be able to point to and say, “There! It was the candidacy of X that really did it for the Greens.”
Levois wrote, “There are Green Party Committeeman candidates in some of the black wards. I’ve certainly noticed that.”
Indeed there should be–Whitney’s vote totals among the black community were absolutely terrible. Lesson learned. This is one reason that I am excited about the candidacy of people like Jared Ball and Cynthia McKinney.
RMW Stanford wrote, “While I dont think that many people have a great idea of where the Greens stands other than they are pro-envoriment and to the left of the political center, for the most part.”
In the Green Party, there is a a core set of guiding values that is even more important than the platform–the Ten Key Values. While the platform does represent the official position of the party, there is no requirement that every member agree with it–only that they support the Ten Key Values; and in fact, only four of the Ten Key Values compromise the “pillars” on which the entire international Green Movement is founded.
Sacks Romana wrote, “If you have limited resources, running many committeeman with low signature requirements and slating later is much easier than collecting 500 signatures X 150 State Rep/State Senate seats.”
Bingo. Well wrote.
Sango Dem wrote, “Are Whitney and the Greens really supporting their new party being used by LaRouche followers?”
I think that the party is pretty much open to anyone who supports the Ten Key Values. I don’t personally know much about Vic Roberts; but if he supports most of our platform, and is a fairly presentable candidate, I say let him run.
Comment by Squideshi Tuesday, Nov 6, 07 @ 3:51 pm
There is a lie out there in the corporate controlled media that says the Green Party takes votes mainly from the Dems. This lie is perpetuated by the Dems, even though their own research indicates to the contrary.
Al From, chair of the Democratic Leadership Council, wrote in Blueprint Magazine (1/24/01) that, according to their own exit polls, Bush would have beaten Gore by one percentage point if Nader hadn’t run in 2000 (http://www.gp.org/organize/whospoiled.pdf).
Furthermore, if the Dems were really concerned about third parties spoiling elections, why aren’t they sponsoring legislation to implement majority voting methods like Instant Runnoff voting?
Regarding the Green Party Platform, it’s complete and rock solid. See my platform at www.votesteve.org. I also think the 2008 COMMON PLATFORM FOR GREEN PARTY CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATES is excellent (http://www.votesteve.org/IGP.COMMON.CONG.PLATFORM.final.pdf).
–
Steve Alesch for Congress - IL 13
2008 Green Party candidate - http://www.votesteve.org
It’s time to move from activist politics to electoral politics with a party you won’t have to endlessly beg to do what’s best for the people! Use your activist energy to help get Greens elected or better yet, run for office as a Green yourself!
End the corporate monopoly of our government, media, and the two major political parties - vote Green Party!
Wasting your vote is voting for the lesser of two evils! Vote your hopes, not your fears!
Dec. 13, 2007 - Free Jeff and Sarah - Free Speech goes on trial in DuPage County! - http://www.votesteve.org/FreeJeffandSarah.html
Comment by Steve Wednesday, Nov 7, 07 @ 1:47 am