[Iowa-dx] Fwd: Green Party breaks through (Chicago Tribune)

[hhart@blue.weeg.uiowa.edu]

Our neighbors to the east have some of the worst ballot access laws in =20
the country; not only did they make the ballot, they successfully =20
fought a challenge  which cost the taxpayer of Illinois $800,000.  The =20
Illinois gubernatorial race wasn't close, people there are fed up with =20
their hideous system and it showed.  The percentages gained by their =20
gubernatorial candidate gained the ILGP ballot status statewide for =20
20008.  Had they not succeeded, it is unlikely they would have been =20
able to get a presidential candidate on in ILL in 2008.

(In Illinois, a party can become official in specific counties; =20
unusual, but there have been a few official green party county =20
chapters in ILL).

CAveat:  Do NOT compare state by state - it's not apples and oranges, =20
it's apples and Mars rocks.  I.e., don't go into shock when you see =20
our candidates got 1%, because getting that is a bigger deal here than =20
getting higher (or lower) percentages elsewhere.  (In fact, IAGP =20
candidates tie or beat the Green Party of New York's percentages all =20
the time.  Had their gubernatorial candidates had our numbers, GPoNYS =20
would have gained ballot status.)

Coming soon... "Ballot Access! - The Board Game" (yes, there really is =20
one motly developed)

Holly



http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/custom/newsroom/chi-061108greens,1,728045=
.story?coll=3Dchi-news-hed


chicagotribune.com >> Breaking news
Green Party breaks through

By Crystal Yednak
Tribune staff reporter
Published November 8, 2006, 8:05 PM CST

Green Party gubernatorial candidate Rich Whitney
declared victory Wednesday, though he won no office.

With unofficial returns showing that Whitney had
grabbed about 10 percent of the votes cast for
governor, it appears the Green Party will become an
established political party across Illinois.

"As far as getting our candidates on the ballot
through petitioning we'll be on a level playing field
with the Democrats and Republicans at least for the
next four years," Whitney said.

By winning more than 5 percent of the vote, the Greens
will not have as strict signature requirements to meet
when filing election petitions over the next four
years, election officials said.

"It doesn't happen very often," said Dan White,
executive director of the Illinois State Board of
Elections.

The last time a political organization became a
statewide established party was in 1986, when Democrat
Adlai Stevenson III tried to distance himself from two
Lyndon LaRouche candidates who were nominated in the
Democratic primary. Stevenson instead formed the
Illinois Solidarity Party for his unsuccessful
gubernatorial run.

With unofficial returns Wednesday showing Whitney took
345,000 votes, Whitney said he hopes the results
change viewpoints on third parties in Illinois.

"Breaking through this psychology of defeatism is
terribly important," he said. "We haven't overcome it,
but our showing this election will go a long way
toward overcoming it."

Whitney, 51, a lawyer from Carbondale, said he knows
some of the votes came from people casting protest
votes against Republican Judy Baar Topinka and
Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich, but he doesn't think
that can account for all of his support.

With little money, Whitney mounted a low-key campaign,
traveling around the state to talk about Green Party
platforms. Over the weekend, he was hit by Republicans
for being a top national official of the Socialist
Labor Party as recently as the early 1990s.

Whitney shrugged off the criticism, saying it was part
of his "political evolution."

"Despite efforts to paint me or the Greens as fringe
candidates, when we're talking about the budget,
school funding, single-payer health care and clean
government, I was running on a more mainstream
platform than the other two candidates," Whitney said.

Whitney said the Greens will now focus on building
precinct organizations.

cyednak@tribune.com

Copyright =A9 2006, Chicago Tribune