Green Party of Arkansas
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The Green Party of Arkansas is the state party organization for Arkansas of the Green Party of the United States.
Greens achieved their first electoral victory in Arkansas in 1992 when Stephan Miller was elected Alderman for Fayetteville, Ward 1 [1]. She was joined on the City Council in 1996 by Randy Zurcher when he was elected to represent Fayetteville, Ward 2 [2].
In 2006 the party ran candidates for statewide offices for the first time. Jim Lendall the Green Candidate for governor was an Arkansas legislator for eight years as both an Independent and Democrat [3], before joining the Party in the spring of 2005 [4]. All of the green candidates were denied ballot access when the party turned in petitions containing 10,000 signatures. The party went to court with the help of the state ACLU in order to get on the ballot [5]. The state required 10,000 petition signatures for Independent candidates, but signatures from 3% of those who voted in the previous gubernatorial or presidential election for Third Party candidates. On Aug. 23, 2006 a Federal judge in Little Rock agreed and declared the Third Party rule unconstitutional, ordering the state to place green party candidates on the ballot [6].
- Governor - Jim Lendall - 12,774 1.65%
- Attorney General - Rebekah Kennedy - 33,386 4.40%
- Secretary of State - Ralph 'Marty' Scully - 22,773 2.99%
- State Treasurer - Brock Carpenter - 28,861 3.82%
- Auditor of State - Michael Bolzenius - 106,515 15.13%
- Commissioner of State Lands - Robert David Lewis - 126,135 18.08%
The Party began its party petition for 2008 on July 28, 2007. Under a law passed earlier this year, party petitions require 10,000 valid signatures and must be completed in any 60-day period that the group chooses. in 2006 the law permitted four months [7]. On September 26, 2007 the Green Party of Arkansas submitted 17,197 signatures to the secretary of state's office. Assuming there are at least 10,000 valid signatures, the Green Party will then be a qualified party in Arkansas for 2008, able to nominate for all partisan office in the state, by convention [8]. The secretary of state's office had 30 days to check and verify the signatures [9], and on October 17, the Arkansas Green Party was notified that its petition has been certified [10].
2008 will mark the first time the Green Party has had a separate primary ballot in Arkansas [11]. There are four candidates filed to run in the presidential primary Cynthia McKinney, Kent Mesplay, Kat Swift, and Jared A. Ball [12]. Rebekah Kennedy who in 2006 ran for Attorney General has declared she will run for the United States Senate [13]. Abel Tomlinson, a University of Arkansas graduate student, was nominated at the 2008 convention to challenge John Boozman for the 3rd Congressional district seat [14].
[edit] External links
- Green Party of Arkansas official website
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