SocraticGadfly: Green Party 2020 presidential candidates: An initial take

March 04, 2019

Green Party 2020 presidential candidates: An initial take


Between Wikipedia and Ballotpedia, I have listed

Dario Hunter
Ian Schlackman
Ivan-jan Cruz Desuasido
Joe Edward Collins III
Gary Swing
Kerry Kizer
James Ogle III
Curt Nichols
Eugene Patillo
Eduardo Manuel Torres Jr
Sedinam Kinamo Christin Moyowasifza-Curry (supposedly)
Kent Mesplay (likely)
Howie Hawkins (very possible, and would be my No. 1 choice with a bullet.)

Update, April 6: Hawkins has formed an exploratory committee and is soliciting comments. I told him to run, and to NOT be an AccommoGreen if nominated.

Update, May 22: OTOH, seven weeks later, Howie is still at exploratory committee stage, but soliciting money, not just comments, and part of it is for Green Part GOTV and ballot access efforts. That's stuff state or national parties should be doing, not an individual not yet a declared candidate, IMO.

Update, May 27: He's in, and I've modified my thoughts of the above paragraph.

(David Bruce Collins said he wants to make sure the national party doesn't put a thumb on the scale of the race. This piece explains that it maybe did put a small one on there already at the time of Hawkins' announcement.)

Update, Aug. 26: This is the list of party-certified candidates. No, it's not rocket science, and even within the confines of a relatively small third party, it's not serious hoops-jumping.

Jesse the Body Ventura???

See more from IPR. Or the Federal Election Commission list of filings. Note: Obviously fake candidates off the FEC filing list are not listed here.

I have plenty of knowledge of Hawkins.

And, he's too popular within the party to face potential gatekeeper issues like those that led Ralph Nader to opt to run as an independent in 2004. These same issues were related to the rise of David Cobb as AccommoGreen, an earlier split between Greens and GPUSA that is covered here by me (and that I've heard some Greens claim is "healed" when I don't really accept that), and that also lies behind the complaints already by 2004 Nader Veep candidate Peter Carmejo about "paper parties" in many states — itself still a problem. (Carmejo ran as a Green for prez himself in 2004; he was widely regarded as a Naderite, and considered by some to be a stalking horse for Nader. More on 2004 vote totals and their being undercut here.)

I have at least a bit of familiarity with Hunter and Schlackman. Think either would be OK to better. Hunter has the advantage of holding elective office already. OTOH, after converting from Islam to Judaism via a Reform process, per Wiki, he then underwent an Orthodox conversion. Curious what's up with that, and want to make sure it would not affect his views on Palestine. His rabbinic ordination was non-Orthodox, so he should be OK. Schlackman, I know, is a socialist-leaning Green.

I am also familiar with James Ogle III. Perpetual candidate. Inter/intra-party candidate. General nutter from what I've seen of him on third-party news websites. A real nutter.

Gary Swing ran for Congress in Arizona. And many other positions as a perpetual candidate.

Collins appears to be running first and foremost on his military service. I understand the military as a job opportunity if you grew up in South Central LA, but, you're apparently not familiar with the Green Party.

Moyowasifza-Curry went too far down the SJW road for me in 2016. And, she technically didn't officially file with the FEC.

Others are probably even less serious. Torres had a Twitter then deleted it, for example.

Ventura is too libertarian for me.

From comments below? Elijah, you're not constitutionally eligible. I don't care if you claimed on Independent Political Report in 2016 that you were.

Big questions otherwise?

Are any of these folks antivaxxer? Anti-GMOs?

Bill Kreml seemed the most sensible Green in 2016. Hawkins strikes me as similar, but of course with much more party experience. Hunter and Schlackman both also seem serious and sane. I mention Hawkins first due to having the most political experience while not being a perennial candidate.

Sidebar: On Book of Face, somebody claimed recently that the Greens and GPUSA had largely healed their split. Have they? I've not seen clear indication of that. See some of those links above, again.

Sidebar 2: As many Greens and Green-leaners here in Texas know, Robert Francis O'Rourke's GOTV effort in his run against Ted Cruz last year has greatly upped the signature numbers that will be needed for party line ballot access. Therefore, it's much more likely that whoever gets the nomination will be available only as a write-in here.

Sidebar 3: As American Greens tussle over eco-socialism and related issues and how much to be a left party in general, not just an environmental party, Jacobin notes that German Greens are more and more becoming less and less "left" and more and more "liberal" in the American sense of the word. This has been in the works for a few years.

Sidebar 4: Greens must fight against Democrat attempts in HR1 to cut federal campaign finance access to third party and independent candidates.

2 comments:

Gary Swing said...

Candidates for the Green Party's 2020 presidential nomination:

Sedinam Kinamo Christin Moyowasifza Curry - 2016 eco-socialist candidate for the Green Party presidential nomination. Running again for 2020. Los Angeles communications specialist and project planner. Sedinam sought the Green Party's vice presidential nomination for 2008.
Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/2340273269629886/
Campaign Website: www.sedinam2020.com

Dario Hunter, Youngstown Ohio board of education member, rabbi, and environmental attorney. In the 2015 general election, he won a write-in campaign for a seat on the Youngstown Board of Education. In May 2018, he joined the Green Party, becoming the only Green elected officeholder in Ohio. Campaign website: www.dariohunter.com

Ian Schlakman FEC filed on 12-03-18.
Eco-socialist, 2018 Green candidate for Maryland Governor (0.5%), 2016 candidate for Baltimore City Council, 2014 candidate for U.S. Representative (2.7%). Campaign website: www.schlakman.com/

Jennifer Walters - Civil rights attorney for New York City law firm Goodman, Lieber, Kurtzberg & Holliway. Filed on 05/02/2017 as a Green Party candidate for President.
Jennifer Walters for President: www.facebook.com/SheHulkforPresident/

Eugene Patilio from Action Pack in Louisville, Kentucky. - Filed for Vice President on 04/13/2017 as Jennifer Walters' running mate.
Eugene Patilio for Vice President: www.facebook.com/EugenePatilioForVicePresident

Joe Collins (California), 13 year U.S. Navy veteran.
Campaign website: joecollinsforpresident.org
Facebook: www.facebook.com/votecollins2020/

Howie Hawkins (New York), exploratory committee filed for President. Green Party candidate for Governor of New York 2010 (1.3%), 2014 (4.8%), 2018 (1.7%), Syracuse city council in 2011 (48%) and 2013, Syracuse city auditor 2015 (35%), U.S. Senate in 2006 (1.2%), U.S. Representative in 2000 (1.2%) and 2008 (3.8%).
Green Party bio on Howie Hawkins: www.gp.org/howie_hawkins
Howie Hawkins for Governor: www.howiehawkins.org/
The Green New Deal: newrepublic.com/article/153127/democrats-stole-green-partys-best-idea

Elijah Manley - Declared youth candidate for the Socialist Party's nomination, also open to Green Party nomination. Candidate for 2016 Green Party presidential nomination, Broward County (FL) school board candidate 2018 (18.6%). Website: www.elijahmanley.com/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ManleyforUSA/

James Ogle (California). James Ogle runs a game called the USA Parliament, advocating proportional representation: www.usparliament.org/google2020.php
He filed as a candidate for Governor in California's Green Party primary for Governor in 1994. He was defeated by None of the Above: www.cagreens.org/history/1994/nobody-wins

Gary Swing – FEC filed on 5-18-18, later withdrew candidacy and left the Green Party. 2018 Green Party candidate for U.S. Representative (14.2%) and for U.S. Senate (5.5%) in Arizona. Colorado Green Party candidate for U.S. Representative in 2010 (1.4%), 2012 (1.4%), 2014 (2%), state representative in 1996 (8.5%). Performing arts events promoter in Denver. Gary Swing's statement on leaving the Green Party: www.newprogs.org/it_s_not_easy_being_green
Gary Swing, Standing for Progress: www.facebook.com/RunFromCongress

Gadfly said...

Manley is of course nowhere near old enough to be eligible for the presidency. It's sad that he's putting himself forward.