Malik Rahimís race for congress in Louisiana is looking hot. Malik is known in New Orleans as the guy who started helping hurricane victims when the government didnít show up.
The election date has been delayed to December 6th, so we still have a month to canvass money and volunteers for Malikís campaign after election day. The best part? His likely opponents are a super-lightweight Repub and Willie Jefferson, the Democrat who was caught with $100K in bribes in his freezer.
This is a huge opportunity, Greens – sign up for e-updates at his website http://www.votemalik.com/ and stay tuned.
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Green Party Watch and On the Wilder Side have been publishing posts about Green Party races to watch this election. I am reposting here from Green Party Watch – if there are others that need to be added, please help with the list!
GPUS:
- Cynthia McKinney / Rosa Clemente – obviously!
- Jesse Johnson – Mountain Party candidate for Governor of West Virginia – endorsed by the Sierra Club, participated in three gubernatorial debates, only candidate to oppose mountain top removal mining in West Virginia.
- Rebekah Kennedy, Green candidate for the US Senate in Arkansas, is competing against Democratic incumbent Mark Pryor, with no Republican in the race. Despite numerous invitations, Sen. Pryor has avoided facing Ms. Kennedy in a candidatesí debate.
- Gordon Clark, Maryland candidate for the US House (District 8, Rep. Chris Van Hollenís seat), is receiving significant attention for his grassroots campaign against a powerful Democrat. (Mr. Van Hollen, though only in Congress five years, is Chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.) Gordon raised more campaign funds (all individual) during the second quarter than any other candidate nominated for Congress by an alternative party in the US
- Malik Rahim, Louisiana Green candidate for the US House (District 2), is co-founder of the Common Ground Collective, an organization that provides short-term relief to victims of hurricane disasters in the Gulf Coast region. Mr. Rahim is a former Black Panther and ran for New Orleans City Council in 2002 as a Green Party candidate. The election for the 2nd District US House seat will take place on December 6 instead of November 4 because of election delays caused by Hurricanes Gustave and Ike.
- Ross Mirkarimi was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors (District 5) in 2004 and is running for reelection. Mr. Mirkarimi has sponsored about 40 pieces of legislation addressing crime, making streets safer for pedestrians, improving efficiency of city departments, and the environment. He led efforts to promote medical marijuana clubs in San Francisco. In March 2007, he introduced legislation prohibiting large supermarkets and drugstores from providing customers with non-biodegradable plastic bags, making San Francisco the first city to regulate such bags. In June 2008, Mr. Mirkarimi sponsored a one-year pilot plan for solar rebate program that provides $1.5 million to nonprofit organizations and lower income residents for installing solar voltaic power on rooftops. He faces two opponents in the current election.
This is a great hi-light list, but there are so many more. Doing some brainstorming with Green Change, this list came up (in no particular order):
- McKinney/Clemente and Nader/Gonzalez
- Jesse Johnson, Governor of West Virginia
- Rebekah Kennedy, U.S. Senate Arkansas
- Chris Lugo, U.S. Senate Tennessee
- Keith Ware, U.S. Senate Shadow D.C.
- Gordon Clark, U.S. House, Maryland
- Tristin Mock, U.S. House, Oregon
- Jason Wallace, U.S. House, Illinois
- Omar Lopez, U.S. House, Illinois
- Kevin OíConnor – State Rep – Illinois, District 41
- Richard Carroll – State Rep – Arkansas, District 39
- Farheen Hakeem – State Rep – Minnesota, District 61B
- Mark Sanchez – Board of Supervisors – San Francisco, CA
- Linda Piera-Avila – City Council – Santa Monica, CA
- Rick Lass – Public Regulation Commission – New Mexico, PRC District 3
- Daniel Jenkins – State House – Maine, District 119
- Anna Trevorrow – School Committee – Portland, ME
- Cara Jennings – Commissioner – Lake Worth District 2, FL
- John Reeder – County Board – Arlington, VA
- Tina Smith – City Council – Portland, ME
Now we need to add some Green Party Watch races as well! What races are Green Party Watch contributors and readers interested in? Come on – Fan Favorites? Because we want to cover them here! Off the top of my head I would add:
- Bryan Smith – York County Council, Dist.1 – South Carolina (Go Bryan!)
- Wendy Barth – U.S. House, Iowa (Go Wendy!)
- John Wages, Jr. – U.S. House, Mississippi (Go John!)
- State Slates – Arkansas, Connecticut, Illinois, Michigan, Oregon – are all running slates in almost every Congressional race. If I were a state party co-chair of one of these states Iíd be making friendly wagers that my state can beat your state!
- Others? Titus North? Howie Hawkins? Bob Kinsey? Steve Larrick? Carol Brouillet? Alan Auguston? Scott Summers? Steve Alesch? Chris Henry?
