GreenLine — September 10, 2020
September 10 at 9pm ET/6pm PTTune In Live For The First Green Wave Candidate Showcase of 2020Watch live on Facebook or go to GP.org/live for more ways to watch. We're so excited to speak to tonight's guests: |
...plus hear from even more candidates running for state and local office. You'll also learn about how to support the vital work of the Green Party's Coordinated Campaign Committee, which provides training and support to Greens running for every level of office across this country. Greens and Allies Worldwide Mourn the Passing of Kevin Zeese: Embassy Protector, Co-Editor of Popular Resistance, Father, Public Interest Attorney and ActivistA global network of movements dedicated to peace and justice are grieving for the sudden passing of our comrade Kevin Zeese. He was 64 years old. Kevin was most recently in the news as a member of the Venezuela Embassy Protectors Collective and he served the Hawkins/Walker 2020 campaign as Press Secretary. Kevin's lifelong commitment to justice inspires us all. An online tribute has been set for Saturday, September 19 at 3pm ET (RSVP to join). The memorial will be livestreamed on YouTube for those who are unable to RSVP due to capacity limits. For more updates on the tribute please RSVP on the Facebook event page. —Michael O'Neil, GreenLine Editor and Green Party Communications Manager
Savage Campaign Picks Up Momentum, First Debate on FridayIn August, the Lisa Savage campaign for U.S. Senate crossed a milestone no Green campaign has ever crossed here in Maine: $100,000 in donations, and not a corporate dollar in the mix. It's a sign of accelerating support for Savage, who has now been invited to four debates and has started showing up in the polls. While Savage sat at 5% in the Bangor Daily News' first poll of the senate race, she collected 33% of the second place votes in the ranked-choice polling, the highest total of any candidate. As her name recognition grows, so does her support. The campaign expects a big jump in first-place votes following the first scheduled debate, happening Sept. 11 and hosted by the state's two largest newspapers and WCSH Channel 6. Senator Collins is the least popular senator in the United States and Gideon has little debate experience and ducked many of the debates in this year's democratic primary. Savage has been prepping daily with her team, focusing on messaging that will resonate with a state that has shown support for Medicare for All and Savage's demilitarized Green New Deal, and will find that Savage is the only candidate in the four-person senate race that supports either initiative. Clearly, Savage’s message is resonating. The Maine Beacon recently spent extensive coverage on Savage’s support for ranked-choice voting, which is under assault by Republicans who see it as eating away at their chances for victory in statewide races here in Maine. And Roots Action recently spent a newsletter encouraging their supporters to rank Savage #1 and to “vote blue #2,” as the campaign likes to say. Even better, the financial support is paying off in online and radio advertising that is spreading the word of Savage’s surging campaign. By focusing on Maine-based media outlets, and eschewing the social media giants, Savage is staying true to the local-focused economic vision of the Green Party and keeping supporter dollars out of the pockets of the Silicon Valley billionaires who work so hard to set up barriers to progressive policy developments. Currently, the campaign is focused on making sure the post-debate bump carries Savage to victory, building momentum into the final months of a race that will surely be among the most-watched in the country, as the Democrats and Republicans set spending records attacking each other. Savage looks to rise above that fray with a positive campaign fueled by the new politics of ranked-choice voting. Stay tuned. This is the looming upset of the year in American politics. Watch Lisa in this historic debate on Friday! RSVP on her campaign website. Hawkins/Walker Continues Ballot Access Battle In WisconsinThe Green Party campaign of Howie Hawkins and Angela Walker filed suit against the Wisconsin Elections Commission in the Wisconsin Supreme Court. The suit filed by the Milwaukee law firm of von Briesen & Roper, s.c., asks the court to place Hawkins and Walker on the ballot for the November 3, 2020 general election. Howie Hawkins said, “Thousands of voters in Wisconsin signed petitions to put the Green Party on the ballot. These voters want more choices than the Democratic and Republican Party. Our campaign stands with the majority of voters and calls for Medicare for all, a Green New Deal, taxes on the wealthy and an end to ongoing wars, and neither President Trump or former Vice President Biden supports those issues.” Two thousand signatures are required to place candidates on the ballot. The Commission agreed that Hawkins/Walker submitted 1,789 valid signatures. In dispute were 1,834 more signatures where the staff of the Commission certified that they were qualified Wisconsin voters. The Commission voted 3-3 failing to sustain a challenge to the validity of those signatures. Under the law, those signatures should be presumed valid because the complaint filed by Allen Arnstein did not provide clear and convincing evidence that the petitions were invalid. Michigan voters will have 30 green nominees to supportGRAND RAPIDS, Mi – The Green Party of Michigan (GPMI) still has thirty nominees for this fall's general election, eight on ballots statewide, after a late challenge to one local candidate was withdrawn. After a consultation with the State Bureau of Elections in Lansing, the Wayne County Clerk's Office reversed an earlier decision and agreed that Evelyn Pridemore had filed her nomination paperwork correctly -- so she will be on the ballot for Redford Township Clerk. All Michigan voters will have at least the eight statewide Green nominees to vote for:
New London Green Party announces candidate for 39th district runNEW LONDON, Ct – At a nominating meeting held on August 30, New London Greens endorsed Erycka Ortiz as their candidate for State Representative in the 39th district. An organizer at Hearing Youth Voices, Ortiz is a 21-year-old artist, writer, singer, healer, and social justice activist. “As a Black Latinx visible Trans womxn, my mission is to help create a world which makes space for all.” She added, “I am excited to bring this message of empowerment to New Londoners as they consider who should represent them in Hartford." Following Homicide of Daniel Prude, Green Party of Monroe County calls for mayor & police chief to ResignROCHESTER, NY – The Green Party of Monroe County is calling for the resignation of Mayor Lovely Warren and Police Chief, La'Ron Singletary. We also insist that City Council dismantle the Rochester Police Department and replace it with an accountable, public safety-oriented entity that does not routinely injure, and sometimes, kill citizens. After the homicide of Daniel Prude on March 30 by RPD officers, the Mayor and Police Chief, kept the incident quiet as hundreds of residents have been marching in the streets calling for changes to the police department. The public knowledge of this murder only happened due to a lawsuit by Prude's family. If it was not for that legal action we would still not be privy to the video that shows this execution. "Our condolences go out to the family of Daniel Prude, but everyone is tired of giving out condolences. City government covering up a murder by the police speaks to the criminal culture of the Mayor and the police department she controls. We cannot wait for another election, the Mayor and Police Chief have to go now so that we can begin to make the changes needed to keep our citizens safe," says Alex White, Green Party officer and former candidate for local office. Letter to the Editor: Do Democrats believe in democracy?by Bob Small As Ronald Reagan famously said in 1980, "There you go again." This time the Pennsylvania Democratic Party reacts in fear and trembling to the big bad Pennsylvania Green Party by once again taking them to court to keep them off the Novemember ballot, as though Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden is afraid of Green Party presidential candidate Howie Hawkins. I doubt that, and I doubt he even knows about the Pennsylvania ballot access situation. It would be interesting to get his reaction to this, but I'd be willing to bet we'll never get that. Probably if you asked him, Joe Biden might think Howie Hawkins was a pitcher for the Wilmington Blue Rocks minor league baseball team whom he grooved a pitch to on one opening Day. The Green Party of Pennsylvania were forced, by a previous court decision, to go out and secure enough petition signatures, in this time of COVID, to be on the ballot. Amazingly, they got three times the amount of required signatures. Amazingly, they still are being challenged. Shouldn't the Democrats be focused on electing their candidates rather than - to some of us - it feels like Goliath demanding the referee measure David's slingshot for the proper size requirements?
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