Several Green Party candidates are drawing attention for their campaigns in local elections that will take place in April 2013. The candidates are profiled below.
“The Green vision for people, peace, and the planet is more needed than ever — and it’s gaining traction at the local level. Green officeholders are leading the charge for good-wage green jobs, for conservation, clean renewable energy and recycling, for local agriculture, well-funded public schools, rolling back tuition at public colleges and universities, for fareless public transportation, making corporations and the wealthy pay their share, supporting immigrant rights, and protecting forests, fisheries, open space, and the climate. Green officeholders have proven over and over that we can win local races. Green ideas work, and we are making life better for our communities and beyond,” said Jill Stein, the Green Party’s 2012 presidential nominee.
The Jill Stein/Cheri Honkala campaign is currently holding Green Campaign Schools to build Green candidates’ campaign skills and help them win elections.
DEAN LOUMOS is running for Seat 3 in the April 2 general election for the Madison Metropolitan School District and BARBARA DAVIS is running for District 3 Alder in the Madison Common Council in Wisconsin.
“As a teacher, I understand the importance of listening to all the voices of constituents in my district and representing their concerns fairly,” said Barbara Davis. “I will work to empower neighborhood associations to participate in the city’s political process. I will also strive to advocate for greater transparency in the city decision making process and to ensure that city plans, neighborhood plans and ordinances are respected and applied when considering new projects.”
“As the parent of two children who attended the Madison schools, as a part-time teacher who taught within them, and as a concerned citizen and local activist, I will fight to protect our schools, our students, and our teachers and staff, from those who fail to see the value in an exemplary education, in respect and support for teachers and staff, and in providing adequate resources and infrastructure for real learning to take place,” said Mr. Loumos.
Barbara Davis grew up in Madison and has served as a public school teacher since 1995. She is a volunteer and teacher for Literacy Network. She is former President of the St Louis Foreign Language Teachers Association and a member of the Oregon Teachers Association and of Capital Area UniServ-NORTH (affiliated with the National Education Association and Wisconsin Education Association Council). She was the sponsor of a large student council for ten years, leading students in a wide variety of service projects for the elderly and underprivileged.
For ten years, Dean Loumos taught Alternative Programs for students in residential drug treatment, working with their local schools to maintain their current classes and assisted them in earning credit towards graduation. He also taught Basic Educational skills and GED test prep at the Dane County Jail for one year and assisted 35 inmates in attaining their GED while incarcerated. He taught for three years in the Madison Metropolitan School District “School Within A School” program at LaFollette High. For the last 17 years, Mr. Loumos has worked as the Executive Director of Housing Initiatives, Inc., an award winning non-profit housing agency that provides permanent housing to people who suffer from mental illnesses.
Several other Green candidates are also running strong Common Council campaigns in Madison’s April 2 election: Ledell Zellers in District 2, Christian Hansen in District 8, Leslie Peterson in District 12, and Hawk Sullivan in District 15.
LEALAN M. JONES is the Green Party’s candidate for the U.S. House in Chicago and Cook County, Illinois (2nd District) in the April 9 special election.
CLICK HERE for a video profile of Mr. Jones, in which he talks about running for Congress in Chicago.
When Mr. Jones ran as a Green in the 2010 election for the US Senate in Illinois, he drew equal support from McCain and Obama voters. During this race, an NBC commentator declared Mr. Jones the winner of a debate in which he wasn’t allowed to participate.
In 1993, 13-year-old LeAlan Jones made headlines with his WBEZ-FM documentary “Ghetto Life 101” which he made with 14-year-old Lloyd Newman and producer David Isay. His honest portrayal of life on Chicago’s south side earned him worldwide acclaim. He followed up his success with a tragic investigation into the murder of a five-year-old boy in a Chicago housing project entitled “Remorse: the 14 Stories of Eric Morse,” for which he became the youngest recipient of the Peabody Award and Robert F. Kennedy Grand-Prize. Just before the 2008 election, Mr. Jones produced a follow-up to his first documentary for the BBC World Service called “Out of the Ghetto.” He is currently a linebackers coach at Chicago’s Simeon High School.
PERRY REDD is the DC Statehood Green Party’s candidate in a special election for At-Large Member of City Council in Washington, DC on April 23, 2013. He is competing against six Democrats and one Republican in the nonpartisan race, which will fill the seat vacated by Phil Mendelson, who was elected to Council Chair in 2012.
“We are running to seize this opportune time for change — change to repair relationships with the people, change to gain confidence
in our leadership, and change to include the voices muted by our government. We aim to do it different and get it right!” said Mr. Redd. “It’s time for true democracy on our City Council.”
“I recall when Mayor Vincent Gray ran for office, he coined the phrase ‘One City’… That hasn’t panned out, not necessarily because he didn’t want it to, but because he allowed more of the same: political corruption and cronyism, disregard for the city residents and maintaining wealth disparity,” he added.
The DC Statehood Green Party has major party status and ballot access in Washington, DC. In 2012 and other recent elections, Statehood Green candidates have collectively received more votes than Republican candidates, leading many to call Statehood Greens “DC’s Second Party” in terms of election day numbers.
Perry Redd mentors men on their return from incarceration and has testified on numerous occasions before DC City Council on behalf of Returning Citizens. He has campaigned against DC’s coming Walmarts, which degrade working people, in the “Respect DC” campaign and has served on WPFW-FM’s Community Advisory Board for three years. Mr. Redd currently hosts the Internet radio show Socially Speaking and pens the weekly syndicated column “The Other Side of the Tracks”.
Green campaigns are also underway for elections to be held later in 2013. In Pennsylvania, York County Green Bill Swartz will compete for the 95th District Auditor General seat in a special election on May 21. He has been endorsed by the Green Party of Pennsylvania.
Cam Gordon and Annie Young are running for reelection in Minneapolis, Minnesota: Mr. Gordon for his third term as Ward 2 member of City Council and Ms. Young for Citywide Park Commissioner. In Ohio, seven Greens have declared their candidacies for the November 5 general election, with two candidates, Susie Beiersdorfer and Terry Esarco, participating in a contested Green primary on May 5 for Youngstown City Council President.
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For More Information Visit:
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http://www.gp.org
http://www.gp.org/elections.shtml
http://www.davisforalder.com
http://www.deanforschools.org
http://www.lealanforcongress.org
http://www.redd4council.com
http://www.ledellz.com
http://www.facebook.com/VotersForHansen
http://www.wepay.com/donations/leslie-for-alder
http://www.voteforhawk.com
http://www.camgordon.org
http://www.annieyoung.net
http://www.ohiogreens.org/candidates
