The Green Party of Pennsylvania is the

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

state party affiliate of the

Green Party of the United States The Green Party of the United States (GPUS) is a federation of Green party, Green state political parties in the United States. The party promotes green politics, specifically environmentalism; nonviolence; social justice; participatory democra ...

. Since 2016, the party is again recognized as a minor political party under Pennsylvania law due to receiving the required voter turnout in the 2016 election. As of early 2018, the party has at least 19 members elected to office statewide.

Party platform and ideology

The Green Party of Pennsylvania supports the

Ten Key Values Green politics, or ecopolitics, is a political ideology that aims to foster an ecologically sustainable society often, but not always, rooted in environmentalism, nonviolence, social justice and grassroots democracy. Wall 2010. p. 12-13. It b ...

of the

. The party platform includes: creation of a single payer universal healthcare system, establishment of a living wage, decriminalization of cannabis, a ban on fracking and nuclear energy, investment in sustainable energy such as solar and wind, and improvements to the state election system.

Party structure

The Green Party of Pennsylvania's highest body is the State Committee, made up of delegates from county affiliate parties, and is governed by internal bylaws. In keeping with the Green Party's key value of "decentralization", county affiliates may draft their own bylaws and procedures, including how to nominate and elect delegates to the State Committee. The party also elects a chair, secretary, and treasurer. In addition to the governing State Committee, the party operates a number of teams for critical functions, including: the Core Committee (formerly Operations), Communications, Finance, and Green Wave. The Green Party of Pennsylvania nominates electoral candidates by caucus instead of primary elections. As of early 2018, 24 county chapters are recognized by the state party, the largest of which are the Green Party of Philadelphia, and the Green Party of Allegheny County (Pittsburgh region).

Current elected officials

At least 19 persons affiliated with the party have been elected to office in the state of Pennsylvania.

History

Presidential elections

Since 1996, the national Green Party has run a candidate for

president of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...

. In 2000, the Green Party of Pennsylvania placed

Ralph Nader Ralph Nader (; born February 27, 1934) is an American political activist, author, lecturer, and attorney noted for his involvement in consumer protection, environmentalism, and government reform causes. The son of Lebanese immigrants to the Un ...

, the nominee of the

, on the statewide presidential ballot. The highest vote total came in 2000, when Nader received over 103,000 votes. The lowest vote total came in 2008, when

Cynthia McKinney Cynthia Ann McKinney (born March 17, 1955) is an American politician, academic, and conspiracy theorist. As a member of the Democratic Party, she served six terms in the United States House of Representatives. She was the first African American ...

was the nominee. Her campaign received only 71 votes. Nader, who was also on the ballot as an independent candidate, received more than 42,000 votes.

2006 United States Senate election

In 2006 the Green Party attempted to run Carl Romanelli for the 2006 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania. However, Romanelli was removed from the ballot by Judge James R. Kelley due to insufficient valid signatures on his nominating petition.

2014 state and federal elections

In 2014, the party nominated Paul Glover for

governor of Pennsylvania A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

2016 presidential election and election audit lawsuit

Dr.

Jill Stein Jill Ellen Stein (born May 14, 1950) is an American physician, activist, and former political candidate. She was the Green Party's nominee for President of the United States in the 2012 and 2016 elections and the Green-Rainbow Party's candidat ...

was again the party's candidate for president in 2016. Following the election, the Stein campaign filed in Pennsylvania court for a recount, citing insecure electronic voting systems and the lack of paper audit trail. The request was later denied by a federal judge.

2017 elections and lawsuit

In 2017, the previous 2012 Green Party vice presidential candidate

Cheri Honkala Cheri Lynn Honkala (; born January 12, 1963) is an American anti-poverty advocate, co-founder of the Kensington Welfare Rights Union (KWRU) and co-founder and National Coordinator of the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign. She has been ...

was nominated for Pennsylvania State Representative in District 197 in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

for the special election to be held in March 2017. Shortly after the election, Honkala and the Green Party of Pennsylvania filed a federal lawsuit alleging voter intimidation and election fraud during the special election and calling for a new election to be held. In April 2018, one official was sentenced to probation for one year due to election misconduct, with the remaining defendants awaiting trial in early May 2018. In 2017, Jules Mermelstein was the nominee for the Superior Court of Pennsylvania. He received 106,969 votes in the general election, and 1.4% of the vote in a nine-way race with four candidates elected. A number of other candidates also ran for local positions including mayor, township council, and school board.

2018 state and federal elections

In 2018, Paul Glover was nominated for governor of Pennsylvania once again. Jocolyn Bowser-Bostick was the party nominee for lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania. Neal Gale was the party nominee for US Senate. Brianna Johnston was the party nominee for US Congress in PA-07 (Special Election) Three other candidates were also endorsed for state office.

2020 state and federal elections and ballot access lawsuit due to COVID-19

In 2020, Timothy Runkle was nominated for state treasurer, Olivia Faison was nominated for auditor general, and Richard L. Weiss, Esq., was nominated for attorney general. Several candidates for state legislative offices were also endorsed. On May 15, 2020, the party filed suit in the US Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, demanding relief from unconstitutional election laws alleged to be impossible to meet under emergency

Coronavirus disease 2019 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

(COVID-19) measures declared by Governor Tom Wolf.

References

External links

* {{Green Party of the United States Political parties in Pennsylvania P State and local socialist parties in the United States