Greens make major gains in Spring 2001

Author: Paul Houle

Topic: Election Data

Fourteen Greens win in Spring, 2001 races -- over half of the 27 races in which Greens competed.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A record eighty-eight Greens in twenty one states now hold elected office in the United States, as the Green Party expands its base in local elections, according to a report compiled by Mike Feinstein of the Green Party of California State Clearinghouse.

Building on the successes of 2000, a year in which Greens won a record 35 races nationally, Green candidates have already won fourteen victories in 2001 -- over half of the twenty-seven spring races in which Greens competed. Three out of three incumbents were reelected.At-least 44 Greens have already declared their candidacies for November elections in 2001, adding up to at least 71 Greens running in total this year, with many more expected to announce their candidacies in the coming months. The previous high number of candidates for the entire country in an odd-number year was 95, set back in 1999. Greens are expected to surpass that total this year.

"The 14 victories in spring 2001 compare well to the previous high total for an entire odd-numbered year -- 14 -- set in 1997. Greens hope to far surpass this total in 2001," said Mr. Feinstein, who is also Mayor of Santa Monica, California.

• Greens won elected office for the first time in Montana, winning a school board seat in Missoula. "This follows a city council victory in Laramie, Wyoming last November, as the Green Party begins to grow across the western plains," said Mr. Feinstein.
• In Massachusetts, Greens won three out of three races, making it the seventh state with at least three Green officeholders (California, Wisconsin, Oregon, Colorado, Minnesota, New Mexico and Massachusetts).
• In Wisconsin, Greens won five out of five races, after winning all seven races they contested in 2000. Greens won three races in Madison alone, including two city council seats. This makes six Green officeholders in Madison, with two city council members, three county supervisors, and one school board member, the largest number of Greens holding office in one city. The next highest are Santa Fe, New Mexico, Santa Monica, California and Sebastopol, California, all with three Greens holding local office. Madison (population 210,000) is also the second largest city in the U.S. to have a Green city council member. San Francisco, with a population of 750,000, is the largest, with Matt Gonzalez holding a city supervisor seat.
• California Greens won a city council seat for the first time in conservative Orange County in California, demonstrating the growing base of Green support on 'quality of life' issues, given southern California's development pressures. This victory now brings to 33 the number of California Greens holding municipal office, including 19 city council members.
• All three Green incumbents were re-elected -- Gary Claus, City Council, Silver City, New Mexico; Pete Gleichman, City Council, Ward, Colorado; and Matt Kelly, Selectman, New Ashford, Massachusetts. 41 out of 46 Green incumbent city/town council members have been re-elected since Greens first starting running for office in the U.S.
• Fourteen Green victors in Spring 2001 elections: Gary Claus, City Council, Silver City, District 3, New Mexico (incumbent) Pete Gleichman, City Council, Ward, Colorado (incumbent) Matt Filipiak, City Council, Stevens Point (Ward 3), Wisconsin
  Brenda Konkel, City Council, Madison, District 2, Wisconsin
  Todd Jarrell, City Council, Madison, District 8, Wisconsin
  Karl Warkomski, City Council, Aliso Viejo,California
  Matt Kelly, Selectman, New Ashford, Massachusetts (incumbent)
  Kate Harris, Town Meeting Seat, Amherst, Massachusetts
  Shwaw Vang, School Board, Madison, Seat 3, Wisconsin
  David Merrill, School Board, Missoula, Montana
  Sally Huntington, School Committee, Westport, Massachusetts
  Lisa Meylan Water District, Tualatin Valley, Position 2, Oregon
  Robert Miranda, Milwaukee Social Development Commission, Wisconsin
  (John D. Schmidt initially won an election for Watershed District Board in Upper San Marcos, Texas, but Mr. Schmidt's victory was later cancelled when the election was ruled invalid)