The North Carolina Green Party is a political party in the state of

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

, and the NC affiliate of the

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

. It has officially qualified for

ballot access Elections in the United States refers to the rules and procedures regulating the conditions under which a candidate, political party, or ballot measure is entitled to appear on voters' ballots. As the nation's election process is decentralized b ...

until 2020 statewide election. Since 2006, it has worked in collaboration with other organizations seeking to reform state election laws. The state party has five chapters, which are located in the

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

, Triad, and

Triangle A triangle is a polygon with three Edge (geometry), edges and three Vertex (geometry), vertices. It is one of the basic shapes in geometry. A triangle with vertices ''A'', ''B'', and ''C'' is denoted \triangle ABC. In Euclidean geometry, an ...

metropolitan areas and the

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and

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areas of the state. It is listed in ''The A to Z of the Green Movement'', which was published in 2007. The party ran four candidates in November, 2018, including state legislative and congressional races. In August 2022, the North Carolina State Board of Elections voted to recognize the North Carolina Green Party as an official party in the state.

Electoral history

Presidential elections

The party ran a write-in campaign for former Georgia Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney for U.S. president in 2008. As only 158 votes for McKinney were reported, the party questioned the counting of the votes and if all were counted. In 2016, the party came close to gaining statewide ballot access, closer than the other six new parties, but still fell short of getting the required number of signatures. The party, in collaboration with the Stein/Baraka presidential campaign, helped garner more write-in votes for

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 ...

than any presidential write-in candidate has ever received in North Carolina.

Local elections

In 2010, Richard Allen Weir (now known as Rachel Alayna Weir) of Pitt County ran as a Green

write-in candidate A write-in candidate is a candidate whose name does not appear on the ballot but seeks election by asking voters to cast a vote for the candidate by physically writing in the person's name on the ballot. Depending on electoral law it may be poss ...

for United States Senate. In 2013, Michael Zytkow ran for the

Charlotte City Council The Charlotte City Council is the legislative body of the City of Charlotte and forms part of a council–manager system of government. The Council is made up of eleven members and the Mayor, all elected to two-year terms in odd-numbered years. ...

seat representing District 4 as an

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with the Green Party's endorsement. Zytkow garnered 33% of the vote. On June 22, 2017, the Western chapter of the party endorsed Dee Williams for

Asheville Asheville ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Buncombe County, North Carolina. Located at the confluence of the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers, it is the largest city in Western North Carolina, and the state's 11th-most populous ci ...

City Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

In June 2018, NCGP nominated Keenen Altic to run in the Forsyth County Commissioner At-Large race and he accepted choosing to run as a Green. 'Speaking of his first time running in politics and the first time the Green Party has run in Forsyth County, Altic said, “Having 4,500 or more votes demonstrates that there is a certain viability to our message. We have at least 4,500 or more potential socialists ready to organize.”' At 4,756 votes he received 3.5% of the vote in a three-way race. Altic's campaign distributed about 5,000 leaflets and candidate cards.

Current issues

On August 18, 2017, the Party voiced support for removing

Confederate monuments In the United States, the public display of Confederate monuments, memorials and symbols has been and continues to be controversial. The following is a list of Confederate monuments and memorials that were established as public displays and symb ...

and statues of Robert E. Lee., in response to a recent

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and ...

rally and counter protest in

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county * Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...

resulting in a General Lee statue being torn down by vandals. On August 23, 2018, the NC Green Party endorsed the 2018 National Prison Strike.

Personnel

The former chair of the party was Doug Stuber. In 2000, Stuber ran

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 ...

's Green Party presidential campaign. As of 2019, the co-chairs for the party were Tony Ndege and Tommie James.

References