Jill Stein

Jill Stein
Personal details
Born Jill Ellen Stein
May 14, 1950
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Nationality American
Political party Green Party
Spouse(s) Richard Rohrer
Children Ben and Noah
Residence Lexington, Massachusetts, U.S.
Alma mater Harvard University
Occupation Physician
Website Jill Stein 2016

Jill Ellen Stein (born May 14, 1950) is an American physician specializing in internal medicine who was the nominee of the Green Party for President of the United States in the 2012 election.[1][2][3] Stein was a candidate for Governor of Massachusetts in the 2002 and the 2010 gubernatorial elections.[4][5][6]

Stein is a resident of Lexington, Massachusetts. She is a graduate of Harvard College (1973) and the Harvard Medical School (1979).[7][8][9]

Stein was endorsed for President in 2012 by Noam Chomsky, a linguist, author and activist,[10] and by Chris Hedges, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and war correspondent,[11] among others. In February 2015, Stein announced the formation of an exploratory committee to seek the Green Party's presidential nomination in the 2016 U.S. election.[12]

Early life and education

Dr. Jill Stein was born in Chicago and raised in Highland Park, Illinois. She is Jewish and her family attended Chicago's North Shore Congregation Israel, a Reform synagogue.[13]

In the 1970s, Stein studied psychology, sociology, and anthropology at Harvard University, earning her undergraduate degree. She attended Harvard Medical School, graduating in 1979.

Career

Dr. Stein has practiced Internal Medicine in private practice.

She became increasingly concerned about the connection between people's health and the quality of their local environment. Since 1998, she has served on the boards of Greater Boston Physicians for Social Responsibility and help found the Massachusetts Coalition for Healthy Communities. Politically active, Dr. Stein also serves on the board of MassVoters for Fair Elections.[14] Dr. Stein founded and served as co-chair of a local recycling committee in Lexington that was approved by the Board of Selectmen. She also developed a "Healthy People, Healthy Planet" teaching program.[15]

Dr. Stein has also co-authored two published reports on health and the environment, In Harm's Way: Toxic Threats to Child Development (published in 2000) and Environmental Threats to Healthy Aging (published in 2009).[16][17]

Dr. Stein has testified before numerous legislative panels as well as local and state governmental bodies. She was active in the effort to get the Massachusetts fish advisories updated to better protect women and children from mercury contamination. She helped lead the successful campaign to clean up the "Filthy Five" coal plants in Massachusetts, an effort that resulted in getting coal plant regulations signed into law. Her testimony on the effects of mercury and dioxin contamination from the burning of waste helped preserve the Massachusetts moratorium on new trash incinerator construction in the state.[15]

In 2008, she helped formulate a "Secure Green Future" ballot initiative that called upon legislators to accelerate efforts to move the Massachusetts economy to renewable energy and make development of green jobs a priority.[15]

In addition, Dr. Stein is an advocate for campaign finance reform. She worked to help pass the Clean Election Law (which later repealed by the Massachusetts Legislature on an unrecorded voice vote).

Her environmental work has won her many awards, including Clean Water Action's Not in Anyone's Backyard Award, Children's Health Hero Award, and the Toxic Action Center's Citizen Award.

Marriage and family

Stein married Richard Rohrer, also a physician. They live in Lexington, Massachusetts, and have two adult sons.[15]

Electoral campaign history

Massachusetts gubernatorial candidate, 2002

Stein was the Green-Rainbow Party candidate for governor of Massachusetts in 2002 and finished third in a field of five candidates, with 76,530 votes and about 3.5% of the vote.[18]

Massachusetts House of Representatives candidate, 2004

Stein at a protest against coal

Following her third-place results in the 2002 Massachusetts gubernatorial election, Stein ran for state representative in 2004 for the 9th Middlesex District, which included portions of Waltham and Lexington.[19] She received 3,911 votes for 21.3 percent of the vote in a three-way race, but lost to the incumbent Thomas Stanley, who received 59.6 percent.[20]

Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth candidate, 2006

Stein was nominated for Secretary of the Commonwealth on March 4, 2006, at the Green-Rainbow Party statewide nominating convention. In a two-way race with the Democrat Bill Galvin, a three-term incumbent, Stein received 353,551 votes for 18% of the total vote.[21]

Town of Lexington Town Meeting Representative, 2005 and 2008

Stein was elected to the Town Meeting Seat, Precinct 2 (Lexington, Massachusetts) in March 2005 local elections.[22] She finished first of 16 candidates running for seven seats, receiving 539 votes, for 20.6% of the total vote. [23] Stein was re-elected in 2008, finishing second of 13 vying for eight seats.[24]

Massachusetts gubernatorial candidate, 2010

Jill Stein announcing her candidacy for governor in February 2010

On February 8, 2010, Stein announced her entrance into the gubernatorial race on the steps of the Massachusetts State House in Boston.[25] She was joined in the race by candidate for Lieutenant Governor, Richard P. Purcell, a surgery clerk and ergonomics assessor, of Holyoke.[26] In May, Stein opened her campaign office in Boston's Dorchester neighborhood, near the Fields Corner MBTA station.[27] Stein received 32,816 votes out of 2,287,407 in the November 2, 2010 general election.

Presidential campaign, 2012

In August 2011, Stein indicated that she was considering running for President of the United States with the Green Party in the 2012 national election. She responded to a published questionnaire, saying that a number of Green activists had asked her to run; she was considering it after the U.S. debt-ceiling crisis, which she called "the President’s astounding attack on Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid—a betrayal of the public interest...". In the survey, she said she would announce her intentions by the end of September 2011.[3] Stein later said she would announce her decision on October 24.[28]

Jill Stein speaking at Occupy Wall Street, September 27, 2011

On October 24, 2011, Stein launched her campaign at a press conference in Massachusetts, saying,

We are all realizing that we, the people, have to take charge because the political parties that are serving the top 1 percent are not going to solve the problems that the rest of us face, we need people in Washington who will refuse to be bought by lobbyists and for whom change is not just a slogan.[2]

In December 2011, Ben Manski, a Wisconsin Green Party leader, was announced as Stein's campaign manager.[29]

Stein had done well in a mock election at Western Illinois University. It featured the Green ticket of Stein/Mesplay, a Democratic ticket of Obama/Biden, and a Republican ticket of Romney/Ryan. Stein captured an impressive 27% of student votes, with Obama getting 39%, and Romney getting 33%. Encouraged by this success, Stein entered the race.

During an interview with Grist magazine, Stein said:

If I can quote Alice Walker, 'The biggest way people give up power is by not knowing they have it to start with.' And that’s true, for the environmental movement, the student movement, the antiwar movement, health-care-as-a-human-right movement—you put us all together, we have the potential for a Tahrir Square type event, and [to] turn the White House into a Green House in November.[30]

Stein became the presumptive Green Party nominee after winning two-thirds of California's delegates in June 2012.[31] In a statement following the California election, Stein said, "Voters will not be forced to choose between two servants of Wall Street in the upcoming election. Now we know there will be a third candidate on the ballot who is a genuine champion of working people."[32]

On July 1, 2012, the Jill Stein campaign reported it had received enough contributions to qualify for primary season federal matching funds, pending confirmation from the FEC. If funded, Stein would be the second Green Party presidential candidate ever to have qualified, with Ralph Nader being the first in 2000.[33]

On July 11, 2012, Stein selected Cheri Honkala, an anti-poverty activist, as her running mate for the Green vice-presidential nomination.[34][35]

On July 14, 2012, Stein received the official nomination of the Green Party at its nominating convention in July in Baltimore.[1][36]

On August 1, 2012, Stein, Honkala and three others were arrested during a sit-in at a Philadelphia bank to protest housing foreclosures on behalf of several city residents struggling to keep their homes.[37] Stein explained her willingness to be arrested:

The developers and financiers made trillions of dollars through the housing bubble and the imposition of crushing debt on homeowners. And when homeowners could no longer pay them what they demanded, they went to government and got trillions of dollars of bailouts. Every effort of the Obama Administration has been to prop this system up and keep it going at taxpayer expense. It's time for this game to end. It's time for the laws be written to protect the victims and not the perpetrators.[38]

On October 16, 2012, Stein and Honkala were arrested after they tried to enter the site of the presidential debate at Hofstra University while protesting the exclusion of smaller political parties, such as the Green Party, from the debates.[39] On October 31, Stein was arrested in Texas for criminal trespass, after trying to deliver food and supplies to environmental activists camped out in trees protesting the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline.[40][41]

She received 456,169 votes for 0.36% in the election,[42] making her the most successful female presidential candidate in U.S. history.[43] Stein received over 1% of the popular vote in three states: 1.3% in Maine, 1.1% in Oregon, and 1.0% in Alaska.

Presidential campaign, 2016

On February 6, 2015, Stein announced the formation of an exploratory committee in preparation for a potential campaign for the Green Party's presidential nomination in the 2016.[12]

Positions

Referring to President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal approach to the Great Depression, Jill Stein advocated a "Green New Deal",[44] in which renewable energy jobs would be created to address climate change and environmental issues; the objective would be to employ "every American willing and able to work".[44] Stein noted the successful economic effects of the 1930s' New Deal projects, and said she would fund the plan with a 30% reduction in the U.S. military budget, returning US troops home, and increasing taxes on areas such as capital gains, offshore tax havens, and multimillion dollar real estate. (She noted the research of Dr. Phillip Harvey, Professor of Law & Economics at Rutgers University, who has documented the multiplier economic effects of the New Deal.)[44]

Stein supports the creation of sustainable infrastructure based in clean renewable energy generation and sustainable communities principles, in order to improve or avoid what she sees as a growing convergence of environmental crises in water, soil, fisheries, and forests. Her vision includes increasing intra-city mass transit and inter-city railroads, creating 'complete streets' that safely encourage bike and pedestrian traffic, and regional food systems based on sustainable organic agriculture.[44]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Mass. doctor Jill Stein wins Green Party's presidential nod". USA Today. Associated Press. July 14, 2012. Retrieved July 15, 2012.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Levenson, Michael (October 24, 2011). "Jill Stein launches bid for Green Party presidential nomination". Boston Globe. Retrieved October 24, 2011.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Reply by Jill Stein, to the GPUS Outreach and exploratory questionnaire for the 2012 GPUS presidential nomination GP.org
  4. ↑ O’Sullivan, Jim (January 7, 2010). "Stein to jump into gov race with Green-Rainbow bid". Boston Globe. Retrieved July 18, 2012.
  5. ↑ 2 more candidates jump into Mass. governor's race Boston Globe, February 4, 2010
  6. ↑ "Wayland's Jill Stein to launch campaign for governor". MetroWest Daily News (Boston). February 4, 2010. Retrieved September 6, 2012.
  7. ↑ "Mass.Gov – Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine". Profiles.massmedboard.org. Retrieved September 9, 2012.
  8. ↑ Hirsch, David S. (October 2, 2002). "Governor Candidates Bicker in Debate". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved July 14, 2012.
  9. ↑ Saulny, Susan (July 12, 2012). "Party Strains to Be Heard Now That Its Voice Isn’t Nader’s". New York Times. p. A10. Retrieved July 14, 2012.
  10. ↑ Stein, Jill (March 6, 2012). "Chomsky endorses Stein – Jill Stein for President". Jillstein.org. Retrieved July 16, 2012.
  11. ↑ "National peace leaders urge support for Stein". jillstein.org. June 26, 2012. Retrieved September 17, 2012.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Pindell, James (February 6, 2015) "Jill Stein, Green Party candidate, considers a second run for president", The Boston Globe. Retrieved February 6, 2015
  13. ↑ "Going Green". The Forward. Retrieved August 21, 2012.
  14. ↑ Jill Stein 2010 gubernatorial campaign Boston Globe
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 "Jill Stein- Biography". Retrieved October 26, 2012.
  16. ↑ "Environmental Threats to Healthy Aging". Retrieved October 26, 2012.
  17. ↑ "In Harm's Way: Toxic Threats to Child Development" (PDF). Retrieved October 26, 2012.
  18. ↑ "2002 Election Results, Governor", CNN.com. Retrieved October 14, 2011.
  19. ↑ State Election 2004 Candidates for Election Elections Division, Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, retrieved February 8, 2010
  20. ↑ "State Election Results 2004." Elections Division, Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, retrieved November 3, 2006.
  21. ↑ "Massachusetts 2006 Election: Return of Votes" (PDF). Massachusetts Secretary of State. Retrieved September 9, 2012.
  22. ↑ "Jill E. Stein's Biography Candidate Details". votesmart.org. Retrieved July 16, 2012.
  23. ↑ "STATE ELECTION – NOVEMBER 7, 2006, SECRETARY OF STATE, CITY OF BOSTON" (PDF). cityofboston.gov. Retrieved July 16, 2012.
  24. ↑ "Green Party of the United States | Candidate Details". GP.org. March 3, 2008. Retrieved July 16, 2012.
  25. ↑ Stein denounces Beacon Hill "corruption tax" as she announces run for governor Boston.com, February 8, 2010
  26. ↑ Gubernatorial candidate Jill Stein of Green-Rainbow Party, introduces lieutenant governor candidate Richard P. Purcell, of Holyoke The Republican (Springfield), April 3, 2010
  27. ↑ Stein’s grass-roots campaign planted in Fields Corner Boston Globe, May 16, 2010
  28. ↑ Clifford, J (October 10, 2011). "Which Presidential Candidate Stands With The 99 Percent?". Irregular Times. Retrieved October 14, 2011.
  29. ↑ Winger, Richard. "Ben Manski Will be Campaign Manager for Jill Stein Presidential Run". Ballot Access News. Retrieved December 3, 2011.
  30. ↑ Hanscom, Greg. "Being Green: Presidential hopeful Jill Stein aims to rebuild a broken system", Grist. N.p., 4 June 2012. Web. 22 Jun. 2012.
  31. ↑ "Jill Stein says she has delegates for Green Party nod for president". Boston Herald. Boston.com. Retrieved June 26, 2012.
  32. ↑ "Mitt Romney won’t be the only Massachusetts resident on the presidential ballot". Boston.com. Retrieved June 26, 2012.
  33. ↑ Winger, Richard. "Jill Stein Campaign Appears to Qualify for Primary Season Matching Funds". Ballot Access News. Retrieved July 1, 2012.
  34. ↑ Caldwell, Leigh Ann (July 11, 2012) "Running mate revealed: Green Party running mate, that is", CBS News. Retrieved July 11, 2012.
  35. ↑ Steinmetz, Katy (July 11, 2012) "The Green Team: Jill Stein's Third-Party Bid to Shake Up 2012", TIME Swampland (election blog). Retrieved July 11, 2012.
  36. ↑ Kilar, Steve (July 14, 2012). "Green Party nominates Jill Stein for president at Baltimore convention". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved July 15, 2012.
  37. ↑ "Green Party nominee Jill Stein arrested in Philly bank sit-in". Boston Herald. Associated Press. August 1, 2012. Retrieved August 1, 2012.
  38. ↑ Nichols, John (August 2, 2012). "A Presidential Candidate Willing to Get Arrested to Fight Foreclosure Abuse". The Nation. Retrieved August 2, 2012.
  39. ↑ "Police arrest US presidential candidate Jill Stein at debate site". rt.com. Retrieved October 16, 2012.
  40. ↑ James B. Kelleher (October 31, 2012). "Green Party presidential hopeful arrested in pipeline protest". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved November 1, 2012.
  41. ↑ Mufson, Steven (October 31, 2012). "Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein charged with trespassing in Keystone XL protest". Washington Post. Retrieved November 1, 2012.
  42. ↑ 2012 Presidential General Election Results, Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections accessed November 19, 2012
  43. ↑ Rosenthal, Gregory (8 November 2012). "Election Results and Analysis". Pacific Dreams New York Life. Retrieved September 18, 2013.
  44. ↑ 44.0 44.1 44.2 44.3 "Jobs for All with a Green New Deal". Green-Rainbow.org. September 5, 2011.

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