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The Green Party of
Virginia is the electoral arm of the Green movement in
Virginia. Recognized by the Virginia State Board of elections, the
GPVA, made up of
affiliated locals and at large members, is the only
Green Party in Virginia accredited by the Green Party of
the United States (GP-US), which in turn is recognized by the
Federal Election Commission (FEC). Hundreds of Greens belonging to the
46 State Parties accredited by the GP-US have been elected to public
office, including several in Virginia.
We invite you to join the
Green Party of Virginia in building an alternative political party and
a
movement dedicated to promoting our Ten
Key Values, including ecology, democracy, justice,
community
and peace.
Meetings
Our
last state party meeting was held April 27, 2013 in Charlottesville.
Details of our next state party meeting will be posted here soon.
To keep things organized, if you are considering
submitting a new proposal at future meetings, it is suggested
that you download a
Proposal Form, fill it out, and have copies handy at the
meeting. Remember to break down long proposals into shorter,
individual proposals to increase the odds of success.
The lack of affordable housing in Arlington, Virginia has reached
critical proportions. In fact, it is estimated that two
thirds of all affordable housing units in the county have been lost in
the last decade. The Arlington Green Party (AGP) is
petitioning to get a referendum on the ballot that would
create a
housing authority to increase the supply of affordable
housing. If you want to assist AGP in its petition drive, contact Audrey Clement
or John Reeder.
For more information, see HERE.
FEC Approves GPVA as a State Political Party
Committee
Dear Greens,
I am happy to report that I attended the FEC meeting this morning in
which the full commission unanimously approved draft Advisory
Opinion 2012-39 designating GPVA as a state political party committee.
The practical effect of this ruling is that GPVA's contribution limit
to federal candidates has been doubled from $2,500 to $5,000 for both
the primary and the general election phase of every federal election
cycle.
Thanks to GPVA members Tamar Yager, Kirit Mookerjee,
and GPUS Secretary Budd Dickinson for providing critical
information in support of GPVA's application for state political party
status.
Thanks also to 2012 federal candidates Joe Galdo and Jill
Stein without whom this designation would not have been possible.
Audrey Clement
Co-Chair, Green Party of Virginia
Virginia Governor McDonnell proposed in early January that the General
Assembly eliminate the state tax of 17.5 cents per gallon on gasoline,
and raise the retail sales tax of 5 percent to 5.8 percent.
This is bad policy on many grounds: motor fuel taxes should be raised
to: #1, reduce consumption to help reduce global warming; #2, raise
revenues for Virginian transportation by a tax that directly
corresponds to the amount of fuel used, and #3 use only transportation
tax revenue to fund highway and other transport expenses.
For more information, see HERE.
2012 Campaign Notes
Dear Greens and Friends,
Thank you to all Virginia
Greens who supported our three candidates on the ballot this year. I
thank everyone who got signatures for the candidates to get on the
ballot; for helping distribute campaign literature, and who gave of
their own money and time to help them.
Jill Stein for President got about 8,000 votes (0.3%) statewide, fairly
well distributed across the state with slightly more in the 8th, 11th
and 1st Congressional Districts. Audrey Clement got 9,400 votes in
Arlington County Board of Supervisors election or 12 percent of the
total votes cast. Green Joe Galdo in his first campaign for office for
the 11th Congressional seat in Fairfax area got about 1,200 votes.
Arlington Greens have had a Green candidate for county board for six
years straight. Audrey got the highest percentage of the vote for any
Green facing both a Republican and Democratic candidate. In 2009, the
Green candidate got about 32 percent of the vote against only a
Democratic candidate for County Board in Arlington.
Unfortunately, Jill Stein only
got about 350 votes in Arlington County. Despite Audrey's excellent
vote results, many Green voters for local candidates showed they
would not vote for our national Green presidential candidate.
With that said, Jill Stein got nearly three times the number of votes
our 2008 Green candidate Cynthia McKiney received. Nationwide, once the
counting is through, Stein is expected to get over 1 million votes, the
highest for any Green candidate since Ralph Nader in 2000. The Stein
campaign did well and was organized, despite widespread media blackout
and considering its lack of funding.
By contrast, the two major parties spent a reported $2 billion directly
for the presidential race, plus independent political campaign
comittees funded largely by rich people and corporations spent probably
another $2 billion. With about 135 million votes cast, the two major
parties and their corporate allies spent about $35 per vote cast.
Jill Stein Campaign weblink : http://www.jillstein.org
Audrey Clement Campaign
weblink :
http://audreyclement.org
Thanks,
--John Reeder
Thank you for volunteering on behalf of the
Stein, Clement, and Galdo campaigns!
Campaigns 2013 and Beyond
Grassroots
Democracy
Green
Issues
Have an idea for a
grassroots issues advocacy campaign? Contact the Chair of
the Activism Committee.
Press
Releases of Green Activities
Discuss
the Issues with Your Fellow Greens
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