PHILADELPHIA – "Unfortunately, our Commonwealth's General Assembly in Harrisburg, PA, has become stuck in a rut," complained newly-elected Co-Chair Beth Scroggin (Chester) of the Green Party of Pennsylvania (GPPA,). "Politicians from the two corporate parties have been ignoring the wishes of PA voters because they are enthralled by industry's lobbyists. The people want universal healthcare, but Harrisburg listens to for-profit medicine; the people want an end to fracking, but Harrisburg is hungry for fossil-fuel money; the people want government reform and fair redistricting, but Harrisburg takes care of its own."

Green Party of Pennsylvania
www.gpofpa.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, February 3, 2021

CONTACT:
Chris Robinson, Communication Team, [email protected]

"The Green Party is now tracking down candidates who want to shake up the corporate parties by running for local office in 2021 and for the General Assembly in 2022," ventured Scroggin. "More than ever, the voters need candidates who represent them, not corporations. Green Party candidates do not accept corporate contributions. As elected officials, therefore, Greens will not be beholden to corporate donors. Because we exist outside of the two-party system, Green Party candidates do not play along in partisan us-versus-them games. The Green Party is seeking candidates who will represent people, the planet, and peace over profit."

"We are looking for progressive minded individuals, committed to positive change in our society as well as politics," said GPPA Steering Committee Member Noel Antonio Rivera (Berks). "The Green Party needs new voices devoted to communicating our Ten Key Values to show voters that there are more options."

"One of the Ten Key Values of the Green Party is Grassroots Democracy, which simply means putting the power back into the hands of the people by supporting everyday folks from varying backgrounds to run for office," offered GPPA Co-chair Tina Olson (Lehigh Valley). "For too long we've had the same people hold up progress in the name of maintaining the status quo. I encourage everyone to consider themselves a possible candidate to get involved with campaigns because a representative democracy requires participation."

"Green Wave is an initiative by the GPPA to support our Green candidates for office and help grow our local parties," explained GPPA Green Wave Co-leader Garret Wasserman (Allegheny). "As we enter 2021, we're gearing up to help create a green wave of candidates in this year's municipal elections. Green Wave goals for 2021 call for 35 local candidates running on November 2. This will be a great improvement over the ten local candidates endorsed by Green Wave in 2017. Green Wave is also recruiting strong candidates to run for office during 2022."

There are currently 14 elected Green Party office holders in PA. Of that total, 12 will be up for re-election this year. Green Wave will support those incumbents who are seeking re-election, along with new candidates who are interested in running for office in 2021 for the first time. Wasserman said, "We invite all local Green activists and volunteers to join our bimonthly virtual meetings where we discuss organizing strategy and how to best grow the Green movement. Our virtual meetings often include volunteer and organizer training. We welcome new activists to come and get started with Green Wave."

To learn more about running for office as a Green Party candidate, please contact GPPA Green Wave at [email protected] or visit https://www.gpofpa.org/team_greenwave_join. The Green Party of Pennsylvania (GPPA) is an independent political party that stands in opposition to the two corporate parties. GPPA candidates promote public policy based on the Green Party's Four Pillars: grassroots democracy, nonviolence, ecological wisdom, and social justice/equal opportunity.

For further information about GPPA, please visit www.gpofpa.org. Please follow GPPA on social media: Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.