The candidates: Jared Ball, Elaine Brown, Jesse Johnson, Cynthia McKinney, Kent Mesplay, Ralph Nader, Kat Swift

WASHINGTON, DC -- The Green Party will have up to seven candidates for the party's presidential nomination on state ballots for the primary elections in 2008.

"The Green Party, in most states where Greens have ballot status, participate in the primaries just as Democrats and Republicans do," said Jim Coplen, co-chair of the Green Party of the United States. "Green voters will vote in the primaries the same way registered Democrats and Republicans vote."

GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES
http://www.gp.org

For Immediate Release:
Monday, December 17, 2007

Contacts:
Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624, cell 202-904-7614, [email protected]
Starlene Rankin, Media Coordinator, 916-995-3805, [email protected]

Among other primaries, the Green Party will participate primaries in four states on February 5. The Green Party has vowed to achieve 51 ballot lines in 2008 in all the states and the District of Columbia, and has committed party resources for this purpose. Greens currently have ballot access in 21 states Green Parties (including DC) http://www.gp.org/statelist.shtml.

"We're especially proud of the diversity and depth of political experience represented by our candidates. We look forward to a vigorous and friendly competition for the nomination," said Ruth Weill, co-chair of the Green Party's Annual National Meeting Committee.

The list of Green presidential hopefuls includes three women (two of them African American), one African American man, at least two candidates with Native American ancestry, one of Arab ancestry, a former member of Congress, two former Green presidential candidates, the former leader of the Black Panther Party, an environmental engineer, a college professor, a candidate who will turn 35 in June 2008, and a 73-year-old.

The nomination will be decided by about 800 delegates from state parties who will gather at the Green Party national convention in Chicago, Illinois, July 10-13.

The candidates:

Jared Ball, independent journalist; radio host (WPFW 89.3 FM Pacifica Radio in Washington, DC), hip-hop scholar, assistant professor of communications studies at Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland
http://www.jaredball.com

Elaine Brown, 2005 Green candidate for Mayor of Brunswick, Georgia; former leader of the Black Panther Party; organizer of Mothers Advocating Juvenile Justice and National Alliance for Radical Prison Reform
http://www.elainebrown.org

Jesse Johnson, 2006 US Senate candidate and 2004 gubernatorial candidate for the Mountain Party in West Virginia (now affiliate state party of the Green Party of the United States); filmmaker
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMxgYnmdHfg

Cynthia McKinney, former member of the US House of Representatives (Georgia), 1993 to 2003, 2005 to 2007; former member of the Georgia House of Representatives, 1988-1992
http://www.runcynthiarun.org

Kent Mesplay, 2004 candidate for the Green presidential nomination; former president of Turtle Island Institute; environmental engineer, alternative energy activist; California Green organizer
http://www.mesplay.org

Ralph Nader, 1996 and 2000 Green candidate for President; 2004 independent candidate for President; consumer advocate (Howie Hawkins of the Green Party of New York State has consented to serve as a 'placeholder' candidate until Mr. Nader announces his intentions for the 2008 election)
http://www.draftnader.org

Kat Swift, Texas Green organizer; former Campus Greens leader; activist with Clean Money San Antonio and San Antonio Democracy Now
http://www.bexargreens.org/katforprez

Contact information, photographs, video clips, and bios of the candidates can be found on the candidates' own web sites. Video clips of many of the candidates are also linked at
http://www.gp.org/audio_video.shtml.

Not all seven of the candidates will be on the ballot in every state where Greens are participating in primaries. In states where deadlines have already passed, most but not all of the campaigns have submitted required petitions with valid signatures to their respective elections offices.

MORE INFORMATION

Green Party of the United States
http://www.gp.org 202-319-7191