2008 Green campaigns

Candidates from across the country present at the convention

By Dave McCorquodale, Green Party of Delaware

Omar Lopez, IL, candidate for the 4th Congressional District:
Lopez was one of the co-conveners of the March 10th Movement in Chicago in 2006. The movement provided the impetus for nationwide demonstrations in support of legalization of all immigrants. ìI am very proud of being a Green and I am going to make the Hispanic community aware of the Green Party. One of the objectives is to serve as a role model for others to become Green, instead of Democrat. The Green Party is the only party that has the moral authority to lead.î Lopez will focus on the following issues: the economy, especially the creation of Green jobs; single payer health-care; education, including the elimination of No Child Left Behind; comprehensive immigration reform; labor issues; and ending the war in Iraq.
OmarLopez2008.org

Jason Wallace, IL, candidate for the 11th Congressional District:
Wallace joined the Air National Guard and served 17 months in Kuwait in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. After returning home he joined Veterans for Peace, Iraq Veterans Against the War and testified at the Winter Soldier hearings. He started a local committee opposed to the Patriot Act and joined the Green Party in 2006. He is capping his spending at $10,000 and will donate any extra funds to local school districts. When asked how his time in the military shaped his experiences, Wallace said that the three core values of the Air Forceó Integrity First, Service before Self, and Excellence in all that You doówere not exemplified in the U.S. involvement in Iraq. He plans to focus on the following issues: Renewable energy sources; public transportation; better care and support for veterans; restoring civil liberties; increased funding for public education; and single-payer health care.
Newmenu.org/ElectWallace

Scott Summers, IL, candidate for 16th Congressional District:
Summer is an attorney who serves on the board of trustees of McHenry Community College. Summers emphasizes the three ëPís: Prosperityómicro-capitalism and green collar jobs, restructuring energy production, and realizing that that economy and ecology are bound up in one; Progressóincluding medicare-for-all, fair trade, restoring civil liberties, and safeguarding social security; and Peaceóincluding recommitting the country to being a good neighbor, withdrawing from Iraq and Afghanistan, pursuing disarmament, and emphasizing peacemaking.
SummersforCongress.com

Steve Alesch, IL, candidate for 13th Congressional district:
Alesch is a software engineer, who has been involved in poll watching, including central vote tabulation in DuPage County. In 2006 he authored a report on widespread voting irregularities. When elected he plans to introduce legislation to require the United States to stop using computers and, instead, use paper ballots and hand-counts to tally votes. Alesch is running for office because he believes people must wrest control of government from corporate and big money interests. He cites the facts that both major parties have encouraged the decline of labor unions, encouraged the growth of massive debt, approved the invasion of Iraq and appear ready to do the same with Iran.
VoteSteve.org

Steve Fournier, CN, candidates for 1st Congressional district:
Fournier, a Vietnam era veteran of the military, is a practicing attorney and writer. Among Fournierís legislative priorities are: forcing a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq by withholding funding; universal Medicare; uncovering malfeasance in the executive branch and the military, including responsibility for the events on Sept. 11, 2001; applying lessons from the New Orleans flood and compensating the victims; restoring human rights; rehabilitating our public resources; and reforming policies relating to transportation, power generation, and manufacturing, the major sources of polluting emissions.
FournierforCongress.org

Rita Maniotis, IL, candidate for 21st state representative district:
Maniotis is a high school teacher and former radio producer, who currently does a monthly show for Chicago Indymedia. As a teacher, she would like to focus on ways to make funding of education ìsustainable and equitableî because every year the legislature ìputs a Band-Aid on the problemî. The skyrocketing costs of special education, caused mostly by increasing rates of autism, lead her to question the role that vaccines might have in this problem. Maniotis would also emphasize mass transit, state-funded universal health care and the phasing out of nuclear power plants.

Rob Sherman, IL, candidate for 53rd state representative district:
Sherman is a businessman and an avowed atheist, who has waged successful court battles to stop prayer in public schools and the giving of public moneys to religious organizations. Sherman does not ask for campaign contributions although is willing to accept them. He says this shows he could lead the operation of state government with less money, thereby lowering taxes. Shermanís platform contains many specific practices that he would hope to pass as a legislator that would lower taxes for the average person and eliminate breaks for large corporations and legislative ìgiftingî, the doling out of discretionary moneys, as well as innovative transportation ideas and banning marriage discrimination against gay families.
RobSherman.com/staterep/home

Fareen Hakeem, MN, candidate for 61B state representative district:
Hakeem is a foster parent, an educator and the Lead Community Coordinator for the Muslim Girls Initiative for the Girl Scout Council of Minnesota and Wisconsin River Valleys. She ran on 2005 for mayor of Minneapolis, receiving 14 percent of the vote, and in 2006 for County Commissioner, receiving 33 percent of the vote. Her rising political prospects prompted local Democrats to ask her to run for under their party, but she is committed to the Green Party and believes she is favored to win. The issues upon which she is focusing include: transparent and accessible leadership in government; improving education; universal health-care; homelessness; improved transportation; environmental and energy justice; and human rights reform.
FarheenHakeem.org

Alan Hancock, MN, candidate for 46B state representative district:
Hancock, who has been active in GPMN for a number of years, is currently a county commissioner of Pine County. His experience has taught him that people want single-payer health-care, but legislatures are avoiding dealing with the issue. He has found that people appreciate direct contact from candidates, having received the comment, ìYouíre the first politician thatís come by.î
newmenu.org/ AlanHancock

Joel Futrelle, IL, candidate for District 8, Champaign County Board:
Futrelle is a scientist, who advocates that global warming requires taking urgent action to reduce CO2 emissions by curbing energy consumption and seeking renewable sources of energy. As a member of the county board, Futrelle would focus on sustainable development, sound stewardship of our natural resources, social justice in our courthouse, and a commitment to public health.
Joe Futrelle.org

Jack Lindblad, CA, candidate for 39th district of State Assembly:
Lindblad is an architect who believes politics, as well as everyday life, needs to be informed by the Ten Key Values. Using the slogan, ìNature for people, not for Businessî, Lindblad says, ìWithout these ethical and moral imperatives at play, the existing political landscape remains dominated by the greed, corporatist, militarist and fraud-based nature of the duopoly party of Democrats and Republicans.î
LindbladforAssembly. blogspot.com

Walter Pituc, Il, candidate for district 7, county Board, Champaign County:
Walter is a student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign studying history and secondary education. He is running as a Green because ìrepresentatives are supposed to serve in the interests of their constituents not Big Business.î As a board member Walter would focus on local environmental sustainability, citizen empowerment and transparency, and fiscal responsibility.
VoteWalter.org

Malik Rahim, LA, candidate for 2nd U.S. Congressional District:
Malik is a long-time activist in New Orleans, Louisiana, from 1970 when he joined the Black Panthers through to founding the Common Ground Collective to aide poor people in the wake of the Katrina hurricane in 2005. Common Ground has raised over three million dollars and given aid to 18,000 people. Rahim is running on a platform of concrete alternatives to the wars being waged against communities at home and to the wars continuing abroad, safe, affordable housing, universal healthcare, a comprehensive storm protection system and wetland restoration, repeal of the Patriot Act, legislation to remove FEMA from the Department of Homeland Security, an end to the costly and senseless incarceration of nonviolent offenders, and full funding for schools.

Lavender Greens also running for office:

Mark Sanchez, CA, San Francisco Board of Supervisors, District 9, is currently President of the SF Board of Education first elected to the Board as a Green in 2000.† He has been a public school teacher since 1992 and a member of the Lavender Green Caucus since 2003.†Sanchez has led the effort to eliminate JROTC from the schools, played a central role in building a progressive majority on the School Board, and was a leader in the successful ballot effort for Proposition A (parcel tax) to increase compensation for teachers. He is currently actively supporting the SF Clean Energy ballot initiative, which would make SF 100 percent clean energy by 2040.
marksanchez.org

Bob Nanninga, CA, Encinitas City Council, ìI believe Encinitas needs to restore the balance between ecology and economy, smart growth and wise restraint. I also believe city government should be open, honest and future focused. A vibrant business climate will help maintain a local healthy economy and environmental sustainability, while providing municipal services and public amenities at the highest standard. As a resident of Encinitas, and a candidate for Encinitas City Council, I know the importance of preserving the quality of life shared by everyone lucky enough to call Encinitas home.î
nanningaforencinitas.org

Tina Smith, ME, Portland City Council, priorities in her campaign are: ìLocal Economiesócontinue to do all we can to get our food and products locally, and look within our cityís very vibrant and talented artist community to give a boost to our creative economy; Invest in transit óCommuter City!!! As a bike and pedestrian commuter, I see an urgent need to make commuting more pleasant, safe and reliable.î
tnsmith09@gmail.com

Midge Potts, MO, Representative 7th Congressional District, is a folk musician and anti-war activist who is known for her creative protesting with various peace groups including Peace Network of the Ozarks, CODEPINK, DC Anti-War Network, and Mobilization for Global Justice. She is a transgender woman and proud daddy of an 8-year-old daughter. Midge is a public speaker that lectures at colleges†with a presentation called Transcending Traditional Politics. In 2006, she ran for U.S. Congress against then House Majority Whip Roy Blunt,†and is†currently the state co-chair of the Progressive Party of Missouri†as well as†a delegate to the GPUS National Coordinating Committee.
midgepotts.com