Democratic National Committee chair candidate Jason Paul has responded to statements from New York State Senator James Skoufis denouncing the Green Party of the United States as “Republican-enablers” and threatening them with continued legal challenges. Skoufis made these remarks while running for DNC chair but has since left the race.
Following Skoufis’ remarks, Independent Political Report asked Jason Paul, as well as his fellow current candidates Quintessa Hathaway, Robert Houton, Ken Martin, Martin O’Malley, Nate Snyder, Ben Wikler, and Marianne Williamson, via email the following questions in one form or another:
1.) Do you agree with Mr. Skoufis’ approach to the Green Party’s participation in U.S. elections? If you do or do not, why?
2.) As DNC chair, would you advocate for electoral reform measures such as ranked-choice voting for “chief executive offices” plus the Senate, and/or proportional representation for the House of Representatives and lower legislative offices, and/or the dissolution of the Electoral College – all of which the Green Party calls for in its national platform?
Paul, a Massachusetts-based Democratic activist, did not take umbrage at the views Skoufis shared. “I believe that under our current system, The Democratic Party has an obligation to protect its odds of winning by preventing third party candidates from getting on the ballot by all legal means when those third party imperil our odds,” he wrote.
However, if elected DNC chair, Paul would back ranked-choice voting “for all offices” and the elimination of the Electoral College. He characterized proportional representation as “an interesting concept,” though he is wary of it because “the public tends to have an aversion to change/loss and so I would like to see it used in Left-Leaning municipalities to build support for it first.”
Hathaway, Houton, Martin, O’Malley, Snyder, Wikler, and Williamson did not respond to IPR’s requests, nor did any representatives for their campaigns. But O’Malley, who served eight years as governor of Maryland, previously endorsed ranked-choice voting and scorned the Electoral College in a 2017 speech at the Rappaport Center for Law and Public Policy. His fellow challenger, Williamson, a two-time Democratic candidate for president, has also promoted ranked-choice voting and come out against the Electoral College. Additionally, in 2020, she boosted the Movement for a People’s Party.
Independent Political Report was unable to reach Faiz Shakir or his campaign team for comment on Skoufis’ remarks.
“The Democratic Party has an obligation to protect its odds of winning by preventing third party candidates from getting on the ballot”
No amount of waffle about RCV is going to change this quiet part said out loud. And wishing to abolish the Electoral College only drives home the point that they will do anything to prevent the electorate being fairly and accurately represented.