The North Carolina Green Party is a political party in the state of North Carolina, and the NC affiliate of the Green Party of the United States.[4] It has officially qualified for ballot access as of 27 March 2018, until 2020 statewide election.[5][2][3] Since 2006, it has worked in collaboration with other organizations seeking to reform state election laws.[2]

The state party has five chapters, which are located in the Charlotte, Triad, and Triangle metropolitan areas and the Eastern and Western areas of the state.[6]

It is listed in The A to Z of the Green Movement, which was published in 2007.[7]

The party ran four candidates in November, 2018, including state legislative and congressional races.[8]

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.[9]

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,[10] the party questioned the counting of the votes and if all were counted.[11]

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.[12] The party, in collaboration with the Stein/Baraka presidential campaign, helped garner more write-in votes for Jill Stein than any presidential write-in candidate has ever received in North Carolina.[13]

Local elections

In 2010, Richard Allen Weir (now known as Rachel Alayna Weir) of Pitt County ran as a Green write-in candidate for United States Senate. [14]

In 2013, Michael Zytkow ran for the Charlotte City Council seat representing District 4 as an independent with the Green Party's endorsement.[15] Zytkow garnered 33% of the vote.[16]

On June 22, 2017, the Western chapter of the party endorsed Dee Williams for Asheville City Council[17]

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.[18] '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.”'[19] At 4,756 votes he received 3.5% of the vote in a three-way race.[20] 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 and statues of Robert E. Lee.,[21][22] in response to a recent Ku Klux Klan rally and counter protest in Durham[23] resulting in a General Lee statue being torn down by vandals.[24]

On August 23, 2018, the NC Green Party endorsed the 2018 National Prison Strike.[25]

Personnel

The former chair of the party was Doug Stuber.[26][27] In 2000, Stuber ran Ralph Nader's Green Party presidential campaign.[28] As of 2019, the co-chairs for the party were Tony Ndege and Tommie James.[6]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Voter Registration Statistics". North Carolina State Board of Elections.
  2. ^ a b c "HISTORIC BALLOT ACCESS BILL PASSES IN NORTH CAROLINA: GET THE GREEN PARTY ON THE BALLOT NOW!". North Carolina Green Party. March 27, 2018.
  3. ^ a b Schwartz, Benji (August 22, 2016). "Third parties in North Carolina fight for ballot access". Daily Tar Heel. Retrieved January 4, 2017.
  4. ^ "State Parties". Green Party US. Retrieved November 21, 2016.
  5. ^ Robertson, Gary (March 27, 2018). "NC Green Party becomes latest official party". Burlington Times.
  6. ^ a b "Contact and Officers". North Carolina Green Party. Retrieved November 21, 2016.
  7. ^ The A to Z of the Green Movement by Miranda Schreurs, Elim Papadakis
  8. ^ "Meet the North Carolina Green Party's Candidates for 2018". North Carolina Green Party. Retrieved March 17, 2019.
  9. ^ "State Board Recognizes Green Party as NC Political Party".
  10. ^ Winger, Richard (November 25, 2008). "Presidential Vote Totals Chart Changes of November 25". ballot-access.org. Ballot Access News. Retrieved January 28, 2017.
  11. ^ Independent Political Report - Ballot Access: North Carolina Supreme Court will hear oral arguments from Green Party and Libertarian Party (press release)
  12. ^ Hesse, Dan (September 1, 2016). "Party crashers: The fight for the right to N.C. ballot access". Mountain Xpress. Retrieved May 5, 2018.
  13. ^ Winger, Richard (December 6, 2016). "Jill Stein Sets New Record for a Write-in Presidential Candidate in North Carolina". ballot-access.org. Ballot Access News. Retrieved March 13, 2017.
  14. ^ "» Interview with Green Party Candidate for NC Senate – Richard Weir". zcomm.org.
  15. ^ "Famed Occupier runs for City Council | News Feature | Creative Loafing Charlotte". clclt.com.
  16. ^ Results[permanent dead link]
  17. ^ "Western NC Green Party Endorses Dee Williams for Asheville City Council". North Carolina Green Party.
  18. ^ Green, Jordan (September 27, 2018). "Forsyth County Commission at-large race draws three candidates". The NC Triad's altweekly. Retrieved March 16, 2019.
  19. ^ Journal, Fran Daniel Winston-Salem. "Kaplan defeats Collins and Altic to keep his Forsyth County commissioner at-large seat". Winston-Salem Journal. Retrieved March 16, 2019.
  20. ^ "NC SBE Contest Results". er.ncsbe.gov. Retrieved March 16, 2019.
  21. ^ "North Carolina Green Party Supports Durham Protesters, Removal Of Confederate Monuments and symbols". NC Green Party Website.
  22. ^ "North Carolina Green Party Supports Durham Protesters, Removal Of Confederate Monuments". Retrieved May 6, 2023.
  23. ^ "Anti-hate protesters march in Durham, North Carolina, after KKK rally rumors". CBS News.
  24. ^ "Eight people charged for toppling Confederate statue in Durham as scores line up to confess". Washington Post.
  25. ^ "NCGP endorses National Prison Strike". NC Green Party Website.
  26. ^ Korea and Beyond. Lulu.com. ISBN 9780967385549 – via Google Books.
  27. ^ Privacy Lost: How Technology Is Endangering Your Privacy, By David H. Holtzman - Page 221
  28. ^ Elliston, Jon (August 23, 2000). "Ballot Blues - Will North Carolina voters have the Nader option?". Indy Week. Retrieved May 5, 2018.