The San Francisco Bay Guardian wrote earlier this week that Green Party membership in San Francisco and California has been on a “steady downward slide” since 2003. However, the results of the recent special election in California’s 72nd Assembly District reveal that support for the Green Party candidate outpaced membership percentages by a wide margin. From a GPCA press release:
Green Party State Assembly candidate Jane Rands collected an astounding 13 times her party’s registration here Tuesday night in the 72nd Assembly District seat vacated by a lawmaker nabbed who boasted about sexual exploits with lobbyists.
Ms. Rands said the relatively high vote for an underfunded political party reflects growing voter disenchantment with the GOP and Democrats, and special interest money.
Ms. Rands finished third in the heavily Republican district, but her 1,963 votes accounted by 6.1 percent of the total vote – far above the .47 Green registration.
GOP candidate Chris Norby won with 20,292 votes but spent more than $254,000 (to Rands’ few thousand dollars). Democrat John MacMurray had 10,018 votes.
“As the first Green Party candidate to ever run for State Assembly in the72nd District it is exciting to see voters responding to a campaign funded by individuals and not lobbyist groups. By continuing to refuse corporate and union money the Green Party can be part of the solution to Sacramento’s lobbyist driven agenda, and instead work for a future of clean renewable energy, real mass transit, conservation based water plans and single payer health care for all Californians,” Ms. Rands said.
She also urged winner Norby to save taxpayer money by adopting Instant Runoff Voting.
“The state of California might have saved hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on the second round election if they had adopted Instant Runoff Voting. IRV would not only give the voters a chance to rank their ballot choices, but would eliminate the ‘spoiler effect’ and save money at the same time. I call on the election’s victor, Chris Norby, to introduce this legislation,” Ms. Rands added.
“growing voter disenchantment with the GOP and Democrats, and special interest money.”
My first vote was a write in for Mickey Mouse decades ago. This was not pro Green Party, a deform reform style passive almost dysfunctional cabal, endorsement. It was an Establishment Duopoly protest effort!
Just because the third party-particularly Green & Libertarian-voters aren’t registered party members, doesn’t mean they moved to Mars! They are there & waiting for a VIABLE third choice. One that COULD WIN. A progressive supported by libertarians OR a libertarian supported by progressives.
It’s completely ordinary for minor party nominees to poll ten times or so their own party’s registration. In 2008 the only Green Party California legislative nominee, John Paul Lindblad, got 8.06% in his district, the 39th district in Los Angeles County. This has been true for decades, for minor parties generally. The only exception is the handful of minor parties that has “Independent” or “Independence” in its name. They have artificially pumped-up registration.