Dr. Jill Stein, the Green Party’s 2012 and 2016 presidential nominee, announced on Thursday afternoon her intention to pursue the nomination for a third time. Stein’s announcement came approximately one month after she began her search for a replacement candidate following Dr. Cornel West’s decision to leave the Green Party field and run as an independent.
“The political system is broken. Over 60% of us now say the two-party establishment has failed us and we need a party that serves the people,” Stein posted on social media website X. “I’m running for President to offer a better choice for the people.”
Stein previously served as the Green Party’s presidential nominee in both the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections.
In her first national campaign during the 2012 election cycle, she appeared on the ballot in 37 locations, including Washington, D.C., where she secured a fourth-place finish with 469,627 votes. Her second bid in 2016 saw her qualifying for the ballot in 45 locations, once again including Washington, D.C., where she garnered a more substantial 1,457,218 total votes. Before that, she was involved with several statewide and local campaigns in her home state of Massachusetts, including a gubernatorial campaign and a bid for the legislature. In 2005, Stein was elected as a Town Meeting Member of Lexington, Massachusetts, and reelected in 2008.
After her 2016 campaign, Stein faced accusations of being a ‘spoiler’ candidate, with critics claiming that her candidacy had an impact on the election’s outcome. This was particularly emphasized in states like Michigan and Wisconsin, where her vote totals were seen as potentially influencing the final result by covering the vote spread between Republican Donald Trump and Democratic Hillary Clinton.
Stein has also faced accusations of having connections to Russia, which initially arose from her attendance at a Moscow dinner in December 2015. During the event, she was photographed sitting at the same table as Russian President Vladimir Putin and former U.S. National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. Stein has consistently maintained that her visit was an act of international diplomacy and has denied any allegations of wrongdoing or conspiracy.
Stein initially chose not to run in the 2024 election cycle. According to commentary she has made on social media, Stein and her former running mate Ajamu Baraka approached Dr. Cornel West in early June 2023 to invite him into the Green Party field. From there, she took a leadership role with the West campaign, first as his interim campaign manager and then as a senior advisor to his ballot access efforts.
Following West’s departure, Stein herself left the West campaign. In early October, she announced on social media her involvement in the search for a new candidate to replace Dr. Cornel West, who had left the Green Party that same month to pursue an independent presidential candidacy. “In light of Dr. West’s decision to run independently, we are in discussion with several former candidates about potentially entering the race to carry the Green Party’s anti-war, pro-worker, climate emergency agenda into this critical election,” Stein initially said in the aftermath.
Candidate Jill Stein now enters a crowded field of nearly a dozen other individuals.
An earlier analysis by Independent Political Report conducted after Cornel West’s departure found that 11 candidates, including one of the Green Party’s original co-founders, had declared their intent to seek the Green Party nomination. The most significant barrier for many of these candidates has been fulfilling the Green Party’s strict candidate criteria; however, they are still actively in the running.
In order to be recognized by the Green Party, candidates must meet specific criteria assessed by the Green Party’s Presidential Campaign Support Committee. This list includes completing an internal questionnaire, creating a campaign site that supports online donations, establishing a recognized FEC committee, demonstrating a viable fundraising effort, and securing a minimum of 250 signatures of support from Green Party members, among other requirements.
Before Stein entered the race, Independent Political Report could only identify two candidates who met the criteria outlined by the Green Party’s Presidential Campaign Support Committee as of early October: Jorge Zavala of California and Emanuel Pastreich of Massachusetts. Furthermore, Pastreich dropped out of the running in the weeks leading up to Cornel West’s departure, leaving only Zavala as the sole candidate meeting the necessary requirements.
Still, based on past conventions, an estimate for the timing of the Green Party’s Presidential Nominating Convention suggests that the remaining candidates have nearly nine months to meet the qualification requirements and challenge Stein for the nomination. Readers of Independent Political Report can learn more about the Green field in a previous article here.
A glance at Stein’s campaign shows that she has filed the appropriate FEC paperwork, listing the National Field Manager for American Promise, Christopher Cayer, as her campaign treasurer, has a website centered around her campaign as a Green Party candidate and can solicit donations. A formal campaign launch is scheduled to take place later this month. Independent Political Report has contacted a spokesperson of the Green Party for confirmation on whether Jill Stein has satisfied the other criteria and will update the article with further information when available.
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