Nationally, the Green Party won some important victories and took some small steps forward. Most importantly, the Green mayor of Richmond, CA, Gayle McLaughlin, won her bid for City Council despite Chevron’s massive campaign against her. And New York gubernatorial candidate Howie Hawkins received nearly 5% of the statewide vote, making the Green Party THE third party in New York. Other highlights across the country have been posted by Green Party Watch.

In Massachusetts, the Green-Rainbow Party regained major party status on November 4th when each of its three statewide candidates surpassed the 3% threshold, each gaining more votes and higher percentages than the well- and self-financed Evan Falchuk campaign, which also received more media coverage. Since Falchuk’s campaign also surpassed the 3% threshold, his United Independent Party will join the official party ranks along with the Green-Rainbow Party.

Discrepancies between federal and state recognition of political parties along with Secretary of the Commonwealth Bill Galvin’s apparent contempt for the Green-Rainbow Party have made it difficult to consistently organize a progressive political alternative to the Democrat/Republican national duopoly, or one-party rule in Massachusetts. The latest example was Galvin’s dismissal of Green-Rainbow Party candidate Jason Lowenthal’s nomination papers to challenge incumbent Democratic Congressman Michael Capuano, who went on to run unopposed on the November ballot. Galvin, with a proud history of ducking debates despite being the state’s elected overseer of elections, took a cheap shot at the Green-Rainbow Party for the party’s stubborn refusal to continue on in electoral politics:

From The Republican (Springfield):

Secretary of State William Galvin said the state will be required to print primary ballots for all the parties, even if there are no competitive races. In the past, the state has used paper, rather than the more expensive cardstock, to print ballots for the Green-Rainbow Party or other third parties. “We’ll have to kill many trees,” Galvin told reporters on Monday. “We do this all the time with the Greens, which is ironic.”

Isn’t it ironic, don’t you think? Coming from the man who mailed all registered Green-Rainbow Party voters, twice now — at taxpayers’ expense — postcards that made it sound like the Green-Rainbow Party no longer existed (it did, both as a political designation and as the state affiliate of a federally recognized political party) and that if they wanted to vote in a primary they would have to change their registration?  Or the man with so much contempt for the democratic process that he oversees that “scheduling difficulties” and various other phony excuses have prevented him from agreeing to debates against his opponents, other than last-minute sham debates. Spare us the sermonizing, Bill.

On a more positive note, GRP State Auditor candidate MK Merelice’s letter to the Brookline Tab, does a nice job of summarizing the highlights for the Green-Rainbow Party slate and the pockets of strong, local support they received, so I’ll leave you with that:

Across the country, there were some strong showings and nice victories for Green Party candidates running for local office.  Minneapolis City Councilor Cam Gordon, and Cleveland City Councilor Brian Cummins, were both re-elected. 16 California Greens won local office, which was a record for off-year elections. And in New England, Josh Plourde was elected to the Bangor City Council, Anna Trevorrow was elected to the Portland School Board, and Mirna Martinez was elected to the New London Board of Education.

In Massachusetts, Green-Rainbow Party candidates for local office included three first-time candidates. Joe Carvalho’s bid for Mayor of Fall River saw him place second in a field of six to advance to yesterday’s election, but fell short of ousting incumbent Mayor William Flanagan. Elie Yarden’s campaign for Cambridge City Council saw him place 20th out of 25 candidates for 9 seats. And Francisco White’s bid for Boston City Council At Large placed him 16th out of 19 candidates for 4 seats during September’s preliminary election. Rick Purcell came in 12th out 13 candidates for Holyoke’s eight At Large City Council seats. And Mark Miller, who came within 981 votes of Pittsfield’s State Representative seat in 2010, came in 6th in a field of 7 for 4 at large Pittsfield City Council seats.

While some of the most exciting progress for the Green Party has been with municipally elected Greens, the party does not seem to be gaining much traction overall, after nearly three decades of running for local office. I think it’s an important time to reflect on those three decades, and the experience we have developed  engaging with this admittedly rigged process. The times are a-changing, but I’m not sure our tactics are changing with them. I’m also not convinced they should change dramatically, but I’d like to see them add up to dramatic change. Unfortunately, I don’t see it. I invite all Green and Green-Rainbow candidates and supporters, as well as all of our dear readers, to comment here with your reflections. And I am incredibly grateful, even though I haven’t made that particularly clear, for the work, sweat, vision and courage that the brave few throwing their hats into the ring have brought to the table.  

Germany’s Merkel Suffers Election Blow Over Nuclear Policy

Greens and Social Democrats Make Big Gains on Nuclear Debate

by Christiaan Hetzner, Reuters

STUTTGART, Germany – Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives appeared set to lose power in a major regional stronghold on Sunday after early results suggested the anti-nuclear Greens were surging to their first ever state premiership.

Supporters of the German Green Party react as they watch the first exit poll predictions for the state elections in Baden-Wuerttemberg Photo: AP

In Baden-Wuerttemberg state, where anti-nuclear sentiment has been mobilised by Japan’s nuclear crisis, the Greens and Social Democrats (SPD) were set to win 48.3 percent, eclipsing the Christian Democrats who have held power for six decades.