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Nine of Thirteen
Wisconsin Green Party’s Endorsed Candidates
Elected
The Wisconsin Green Party is
pleased to note that eight of its endorsed candidates
were elected on April 4th. Seven are Green Party
members, and the eighth, Kyle Richmond, is prohibited
membership in a political party due to his employment
at the Wisconsin State Elections Board. All
eight won their bids for seats on county boards
around the state.
John Hardin (Barron County),
Ben Farrell (Winnebago County), Bob Ryan (Door
County), Barbara Vedder (Dane County), John
Hendrick (Dane County), and Kyle Richmond (Dane
County) all won re-election to county board
seats. Vedder had been appointed to an open
seat a few months before the election.
Jeff Peterson (Polk County)
and Ashok Kumar (Dane County) will take their
seats as county board officials for the first
time.
Eric Krszjzaniek won a write in campaign for
Portage Co. Board of Supervisors.
Four more candidates lost their
bid for election, but had excellent showings:
Rev. Glen Halbe - Racine Common Council, 2/2
with 188 votes for 41%, Larry Harding - Somers
Township Supervisor 2/2 with 436 votes for 46%,
Phillip Peterson - Portage County Board, 2/2
with 106 votes for 49.3%, Gerry Steltenpohl
- Portage County Board 2/2 with 195 votes for
42.2%.
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Wisconsin ballot initiative
urging withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq passes
in 24 out of 32 communities; 'Bring the Troops
Home' campaign was led by Greens
Green Party leaders across the
U.S. congratulated Wisconsin Greens for their
leadership in the campaign to pass antiwar ballot
initiatives in 32 Wisconsin communities.
The nonbinding initiatives,
which called for withdrawal of U.S. troops from
Iraq, passed in 24 (75%) out of 32 cities, towns,
and villages where the measure appeared on the
ballot.
"The Green Party is proud
to have initiated the effort that achieved this
victory at the polls," said Marc Sanson,
co-chair of the Green Party of the United States.
"The Wisconsin Green Party, among the most
successful and well-organized in the U.S., deserves
full credit for introducing and leading the
'Bring theTroops Home' campaign. Working with
other antiwar groups, Greens used their leadership
and experience in
organizing political campaigns to win the support
of a 63% majority of those who voted."
Greens, expressing hope that
other towns, cities, and states will entertain
similar ballot initiatives, stressed that such
measures carry more weight than opinion polls
-- which have also consistently shown dwindling
support for the occupation of Iraq.
"After more than 2,300
U.S. troop deaths and tens of thousands of Iraqi
civilian deaths, and as Iraq moves closer to
civil war, more and more Americans feel betrayed
by the White House," said Ruth Weill, co-chair
of the Wisconsin Green Party. "The Wisconsin
initiatives are a mandate to save lives."
Among the supporters of the
antiwar initiative was Rae Vogeler, Green candidate
for the U.S. Senate . Ms. Vogeler traveled the
state campaigning for its passage.
"The disaster of the Iraq
War is a political crisis -- the result of deception,
radical ideology, militarism, and greed on the
part of Republicans and many Democrats,"
said Jill Bussiere, co-chair of the Ahnapee
River Green Party, which organized the coalition
that got the question on ballots in nine municipalities
in Door and Kewaunee Counties. "The first
step in reversing prowar politics is street
protest; the next step is victories like the
Wisconsin plebescite. Ultimately, we need to
unseat all those Republicans and Democrats who
made the war possible, and replace them with
candidates -- such as Greens -- who are dedicated
to peace. And we need to enact the
kind of democratic reforms that will prevent
such wars in the future -- especially removing
the power of Exxon-Mobil, the Carlyle Group,
Halliburton, and other corporations over public
policy."
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