Green Party of Texas
| Green Party of Texas | |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1999 |
| Ideology | Green politics |
| National affiliation | Green Party (United States) |
| Colors | Green |
| Website | |
| www.txgreens.org | |
| Part of a series on |
| Green politics |
|---|
.svg) |
|
Core topics
|
 Environment portal |
 |
This article's lead section may not adequately summarize key points of its contents. (February 2012) |
The Green Party of Texas is the state party organization for Texas of the Green Party of the United States.
Contents |
History [edit]
The Green Party of Texas began to organize a serious, statewide, grassroots effort in the late 1990s. Small, active Green groups existed in large cities throughout the state (particularly Houston, Dallas and Austin) before this time, but Ralph Nader's 2000 campaign helped spur the growth of the Green Party of Texas.
2000 [edit]
Ballot access was achieved in Texas by the Green Party, which allowed Ralph Nader and the names of statewide and local Green candidates to appear on the ballot alongside Democrats, Republicans, Libertarian and Independents.
The drive in 2000 was achieved using volunteers with a little help from paid petitioners, most of them Greens from other states; over 30,000 of those signatures were collected in the last two weeks alone. The goal for signatures was about 64,000 (based on the gubernatorial election of 1998, including a sizable cushion for invalid signatures); over 76,000 qualified signatures were collected. Three Green Party candidates reached the required 5 percent threshold for one statewide candidate to achieve in order to retain ballot access for 2002 (the highest was Ben Levy for State Supreme Court, who received 9.7 percent with 451,338 votes).
2002 [edit]
Having retained access to the ballot for this year, the Green Party of Texas fielded 28 candidates to appear on the ballot around the state, in addition to candidates for several local races. None of the statewide candidates achieved the required 5 percent of the vote, so the Green Party lost ballot access for 2004. Of the statewide Green candidates, Lesley Nicole Ramsey got 21.7% with 63,871 votes for State Board of Education, District 10; Ruben Reyes got 1.72% with 77,177 votes for Comptroller of Public Accounts; several candidates for statewide judge seats received votes within that range.
2004 [edit]
Since ballot access was lost, the Green Party of Texas would have had to gather in well in excess of 45,540 signatures (1% of the votes cast for Governor in 2002) in order to regain ballot access. Instead, the party focused on local elections.
2006 [edit]
The deadline for petition signature gathering ended after only 75 days for the Green Party of Texas on May 29, 2006. The party did not reach the goal of 75,000 signatures or the legal requirement of 45,540 signatures. The actual number collected, mostly by volunteers, was about 27,000 statewide. This election cycle included competition for signatures from two independent candidates (Kinky Friedman and Carole Strayhorn). Many registered voters had already voted in the primaries, meaning that they could not sign petitions for other candidates; remaining eligible people may have been confused by the fact that they were not allowed to sign a petition for more than one independent, nor for more than one third party, but they could sign one of each. Election laws differ widely between states, adding to possible voter confusion.
While they did not gain ballot access, the Green Party was required by the Texas Secretary of State to have declared by January 2 what candidates it would have run for which races if it had gained ballot access. The party announced candidates in about 22 statewide and local races. The highest offices its candidates would have sought were governor and a U.S. Senate seat. Charles Waterbury was a write in candidate for Texas Supreme Court. A number of local offices were also sought, including a county commissioner's seat in Bexar County, Texas. Further information can be found at TXGreens.org.
2010 [edit]
The Green Party's efforts to get its candidates on the ballot for the 2010 elections was challenged when it was revealed that the Green Party's petition drive had been funded by corporate interests linked to Republican operatives.[1] Republican operatives linked to the reelection campaign of Governor Rick Perry helped to fund the signature drive for ballot access.[2][3] A court challenge resulted in the Green Party candidates being allowed to remain on the ballot, and the near 92,000 signatures gathered in support of the Green Party from registered Texas voters were validated.[4][5]
2010 and 2012 elections [edit]
In 2010, in the election for Comptroller of Public Accounts, Ed Lindsay received more than 6 percent of the vote, which allows the Green Party to stay on the ballot for the Presidential election in Texas in 2012.
2012 Candidates [edit]
State Wide [edit]
David B. Collins - U.S. Senate
Charles E. Waterbury - Texas Supreme Court - Place 4
Chris Kennedy - Texas Railroad Commission - Place 1
Jim Chisholm - Texas Supreme Court - Position 6
Bexar [edit]
Federal [edit]
Antonio Diaz - US House of Representatives, Texas 20th Congressional District
Ed Scharf - US House of Representatives, Texas 23rd Congressional District
Meghan Owen - US House of Representatives, Texas 35th Congressional District
Michael D. Cary - US House of Representatives, Texas 28th Congressional District
Rhett Smith - US House of Representatives, Texas 14th Congressional District
State [edit]
Chris Christal - Texas Senate - District 26
Chuck Robinson - Texas House of Representatives - District 123
Gregory L. Fox - Texas House of Representatives - District 120
Herb Gonzales, Jr - Texas House of Representatives - District 124
Irene Meyer Scharf - State Board of Education - District 5
Timothy Giddens - Texas House of Representatives - District 125
Local [edit]
Eric M Fahrenthold - County Commissioner - Precint 3
Joel Benavidez - Justice of the Peace - Precint 2, Place 1
Paul Pipkin - County Tax Assessor-Collector
Sonia Lucy Benavides - County Commissioner - Precint 1
Brown [edit]
State [edit]
Tony Mathison - Texas House of Representatives - District 60
Dallas [edit]
Federal [edit]
Brandon Parmer - U.S. House of Representatives - District 6
State [edit]
Angela Sarlay - Texas House of Representatives - District 113
Josh Wendel - Texas Railroad Commission - Place 2
Michael Joseph Spanos - Texas House of Representatives - District 102
Saul Arechar - Texas House of Representatives - District 105
Denton [edit]
State [edit]
Alex Mendoza - Texas House of Representatives - District 65
Harris [edit]
Federal [edit]
Don Cook - U.S. House of Representatives - District 22
Lance Findley - U.S. House of Representatives - District 7
Mark A. Roberts - U.S. House of Representatives - District 2
Vanessa Foster - U.S. House of Representatives - District 9
Maria Selva - U.S. House of Representatives - District 29
State [edit]
Alfred Molison, Jr. - Texas House of Representatives - District 131
Art Browning - Texas House of Representatives - District 130
David Courtney - Texas Senate District 17
Deb Shafto - Texas House of Representatives - District 147
G C Molison - State Board of Education - District 6
Henry Cooper - Texas House of Representatives - District 148
Local [edit]
Carlos Villalobos - Harris County Constable - Precint 1
Remington Alessi - Harris County Sheriff
Lubbock [edit]
Federal [edit]
Roger Quannah Settler - U.S. House of Representatives - District 25
State [edit]
Leanne Lamb-Vines - Texas House of Representatives - District 84
Local [edit]
W.L. Matheny - County Commissioner - Precint 1
Randall [edit]
Federal [edit]
Keith F. Houston - U.S. House of Representatives - District 13
Tarrant [edit]
Federal [edit]
Ed Lindsay - U.S. House of Representatives - District 33
Travis [edit]
State [edit]
Bill Stout - U.S. House of Representatives - District 21
Webb [edit]
Local [edit]
Emily Marie Sanchez - Tax Assessor-Collector
Wise [edit]
State [edit]
Matthew Britt - Texas House of Representatives - District 61
Elected officials [edit]
The following are known elected Green Party officeholders in Texas.[6]
Current officials
- Enrique Valdivia, Water Board, Edwards Aquifer Authority District 7
Past officials
- David Lanman, Mayor, Marfa
- Bob Brewer, City Council, Ward 5, Alpine
- George Rice, Water Board, Bexar County
References [edit]
- ^ Haenschen, Katherine (11 June 2010). "Top Perry Political Consultant Linked to Green Party Petition Scam". Burnt Orange Report. Retrieved 30 July 2010.
- ^ Slater, Wayne (25 June 2010). "Circle of Perry associates grows in the Green Party scandal". Dallas Morning News. Retrieved 30 July 2010.
- ^ Alexander, Kate (24 June 2010). "Former Perry aide paid for aborted Green Party petition effort". Austin American Statesman. Retrieved 30 July 2010.
- ^ Bustillo, Miguel (15 June 2010). "Texas Democrats Sue After Green Party Secures Ballot Spot". The Wall Street Journal.
- ^ Hamilton, Reeve (2 July 2010). "Green Party Candidates Allowed on Texas Ballot For Now". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved 30 July 2010.
- ^ "Greens holding elected office - US". US Green Party. Retrieved 2010-09-04.
External links [edit]
|
|||||||||||||||||
