Category: Election 2020

David Bruce Collins for US Senate—the Official Site

Hunter's Accusations of Impropriety

30/6/2020

The late, legendary Barbara Jordan was the first-ever Congressmember from Texas District 18, which she helped create as a state senator, and which I have inhabited for the past nine years. From the very beginning of her tenure, she admonished staff that not only must there be no impropriety in the office, but there must not even be the appearance of impropriety. She knew better than to give ammunition to colleagues or press who might seize any opportunity to bring down an outspoken black liberal woman from the old Confederacy's largest city.

Have the insiders in the Green Party of the United States engaged in enough appearance of impropriety that attorney and rabbi Dario Hunter can build a case against them?

Here’s tonight’s special announcement. Thank you for your patience and for your support for Green values.https://t.co/oIdbP61yas
— Dario Hunter (@dario4america) June 30, 2020

1 Comment

GP Keeps on Truckin': We Have a Presumptive Nominee

21/6/2020

1 Comment

Head-on portrait photo of Green presidential candidate Howie Hawkins

By GreenIn2010 - Own work, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=87716286

Nothing will be official until 11 July, but Howie Hawkins of New York has amassed a simple majority of the 350 delegates apportioned for the Green Party's Presidential Nominating Convention. There are fewer than 50 delegates still to be selected.

This news is hardly unexpected given how the quest for the nomination has played out. Hawkins entered the race with an actual track record of running for high offices in New York State, and he is considered a co-founder of the Party. (Second-place candidate Dario Hunter has actually been elected to a school board in Youngstown, Ohio.) The Green New Deal on which Dr. Jill Stein ran in 2012 and 2016 started with Hawkins, whether or not he actually coined the term.

In case you haven't caught the news, Teamster activist Hawkins has selected long-haul truck driver and activist Angela N. Walker as his running mate. For those of you keeping identity politics scoresheets, Walker checks off not only the African American and Woman boxes, but also the LGBT+ box. An Armed Forces veteran like Hawkins, Walker also has electoral experience, including a run for sheriff of Milwaukee County (Wisconsin) in 2014. They have also both worked with Socialist Party USA, which has endorsed their ticket; Hawkins-Walker will likely appear on the ballot lines for SPUSA and GPUS in New York, which allows fusion candidacies.

On a personal note, I have donated to the Hawkins and Hunter campaigns, and I did not have a stated preference between them. My habit is never to presume anyone's nomination until it's signed, sealed, and delivered; I'm not happy about the way he has acted in public appearances as if his nomination was in the bag, appearing on programs such as Redacted Tonight VIP without more than an indirect reference to the other Green presidential candidates. However, I will be glad to be able to answer the inevitable question from the mis- and underinformed, "Who's your (y'all's) candidate?" without saying, "Well, the nomination hasn't been determined yet, and we have about six candidates contesting for it..." by which the asker has fallen asleep.

1 Comment

Ballot-Access Chickens Remain Uncounted

27/5/2020

At least Laura Palmer is optimistic. The GPTX co-chair said last night in a Green Party Houston Zoom conference that she is interpreting as good news the Secretary of State's Office's reply to the list of electoral nominees that she filed. If there's any truly good news, it's that SOS did not remark in this reply that the candidates who had not paid filing fees would not be granted official candidate status.

I don't see how SOS could avoid enforcing the statutory fee or petition requirements for minor-party candidates as set forth in last year's HB 2504. We still have to wait for the outcome of the pending lawsuits to see whether SOS can waive those fees legally and without major parties throwing a major hissy fit. We have made it a matter of public record that only two of the eight nominees ponied up to run for office, those being Hal J. Ridley, Jr. (US House District 36) and Brody Mulligan (Texas House District 92).

As of now, it's a little less unofficial that GPTX has three statewide nominees in addition to the presidential ticket. We'd certainly feel better if all nine million or so who vote in the general election have more Green choices than just the top of the ticket, rather than the 150,000 or so in Ridley's and Mulligan's districts.

The Green nominee for US Senate, yours sincerely, may begin doing something like campaigning soon. It will be a very low-key effort. As I told Laura, as much as I'd love to travel the state as I did in 2012, the current pandemic makes that impractical; making a lot of noise on the Internet seems to be the only way to go, but there's so much other noise competing for voters' attention.

The watchword for now is "wait & see."

kat Dropping District 51 Campaign, Focusing on RRC

18/5/2020

In last night's online meeting of the State Executive Committee of the Green Party of Texas, state co-chair Laura Palmer revealed that the Secretary of State's Office had some questions about katija gruene's occupying two places on the 2020 general election ballot. As a result, ms. gruene decided to stay in the statewide race for the Railroad Commission seat and drop out of the Texas House District 51 race.

The Texas Election Code does not state explicitly that one person cannot run for more than one office in the same election—or, at least, I have not found such language. However, no one person may serve in two elected offices in the event of winning both races. Hypothetically, if gruene could be elected to both positions in the event of a sudden Green Wave, she should not take a chance on a dual victory.

Possibly Moot Point
This is the paragraph where we remind readers that gruene is not officially on the ballot for either position, despite being nominated for both. She did not pay the new HB 2504 filing fees to run, nor did she submit petition signatures in lieu of the fees. The fee provision for candidates irrespective of party is in legal limbo, pending the lawsuits filed in hopes of overturning it.

Virtual GPUS Convention Announced

8/5/2020

The Green Party of the United States officially announced earlier this week that its 2020 Presidential Nominating Convention and Annual National Meeting will take place in cyberspace. GPUS has also extended early registration so that delegates and others may still register for only $100 each. That's right, only. If I recall correctly, registration at Baltimore in 2012 was $120. But that's just the suggested donation: Lots of Greens without the means can negotiate their ticket price downward.

As previously discussed here at dbcgreentx, the decision had been made back in April, but was only announced this week after the organizers had all the particulars nailed down.

One of the unfortunate oversights in the appointment of delegates at the GPTX convention last month was forgetting to inform attendees that there was indeed an admission price for the convention. However, nobody should be too upset about not having to travel to Detroit or book lodging there, thus saving hundreds they might otherwise have spent.

(Cue nostalgic music and slow-mo images of seven Texas Greens back in 2004, including yours truly, traveling to Milwaukee and back in a rented van.)

As always, there are discounted tickets available, particularly for members of one of the identity caucuses or even those who are eligible to join those caucuses.

GNC SC Meets Re PNC and CCC, etc.
I'm not generally tuned in to the National Committee scene, but it came to my attention via some Facebook browsing that the Steering Committee of the NC will have its monthly meeting this Sunday night. The highlight of the agenda appears to be an update on the PNC (Presidential Nominating Convention) so that it at least appears in the official minutes. But I'm excited about a proposed change to the GPUS Bylaws regarding the gender composition of the Coordinated Campaign Committee, which will likely be adopted by Steering Committees and State Executive Committees thereafter (bolds mine):

Proposal
To replace language which governs elections to the CCC, the goal of which is to retain the aim of gender balance to advance women’s participation, while also providing space for non-binary individuals to join the committtee in a way that does not force them to choose a “male” or “female” election in which to run.

Current language:
The committee shall always have an equal number of males and females on Its roster except when it has an odd number of members. Then its makeup can Be +1 for any gender. The exception to this rule is that no member of the committee shall be asked or forced to resign from the committee in order to reestablish the gender balance. The balance will be re established by Adding members to the committee. Each year the election to fill seats on the CCC shall actually be two elections, one to elect males to the committee, one to elect females to the committee. The number of men and women elected in any given year shall be determined by nature of the vacancies in that year with the goal of having 5 men and 5 women on the committee.

Proposed new language:
The committee shall strive to include women and gender non-conforming individuals at high levels to counteract years of patriarchy which results in cis gendered men being over-represented in political office. Each year the election to fill seats on the CCC shall take place using Ranked Choice Voting. The number of men, women and non-binary individuals elected in any given year shall be determined by nature of the vacancies in that year with the goal of having at least 5 women on the committee. This may mean skipping over men who place higher than women and non-binary candidates in order to ensure gender diversity.

No "Body" Is a Green Candidate for President

4/5/2020

I wish I could just leave this alone and let the online chatter keep raising the profile of the Green Party in public consciousness. Fortunately or not, anything I say here or on Facebook or on Twitter will not put a dent in this whole "Jesse Ventura is running for president as a Green" phenomenon.

"None of the Above" will still be an option, but I doubt that any "Body" will have delegates in the GPUS Convention just two months and change from now.

As of this moment, Ventura. Is. Not. A. Candidate.

The rumors were flying a year and a half ago, and The Body denied that he was in the running for the GPUS nomination. He hasn't formally declared even now. If he had announced last spring or summer, put together an organization, and filed the appropriate paperwork, he would at least be a candidate.

Would he be a viable candidate? Plenty of Greens said last year, via social media and otherwise, that they would not support his quest for the nomination, given his Libertarian leanings. What these people forget is how much the Green and Libertarian platforms have in common, even if the core philosophies beneath those platforms are quite different.

My hope is that Ventura will meet with the candidates and head up the street team for the eventual nominee. As cool as it was to have Cornel West stumping for Jill Stein in 2016, Dr. West does not have the name recognition that Ventura enjoys. It might even lead to other celebrities helping us out, including not just occasional Green Susan Sarandon but those who have thrown their support behind the Movement for a People's Party (e.g., John Cusack). I don't foresee the Green campaign garnering as much celebrity support as Nader/LaDuke 2000 did (Eddie Vedder, Patti Smith, among many others), but, given the way 2020 has gone thus far, I may yet be proven wrong.

GPTX Online Convention: Some Smooth, Some Rough

18/4/2020

Not gonna lie: It could have gone better. But it could also have gone a lot worse. I'm happy with the process and results, despite some bumps. I'm happy to get a chance, however virtual, to see old comrades and meet some relatively new ones.

We had about 32 delegates, representing eight Texas counties, show up at the Green Party of Texas's first-ever online convention. We also had a lurker to two. Among the best news that I can report is that personalities that have clashed at past state meetings remained not just civil but amicable to each other and the rest of the delegates.

GPTX Convention This Saturday in Cyberspace

13/4/2020

The 2020 Green Party of Texas Annual State Meeting and Nominating Convention will happen Saturday 18 April at 9 am. You will not need to worry about arranging travel and lodging to attend: Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it will be a video conference. Other parties' conventions have also received dispensation from the Secretary of State's Office to have their conventions online.

The actual site of the convention will be at an apartment complex in Austin. Delegates can attend via Zoom. GPTX strongly recommends registering via the event on the txgreens.org Calendar. That's the only way to receive notification of the Zoom Meeting ID and password.

These state conventions normally spread out over two days, but the plan is to fit everything into Saturday between 9 am and 3 pm. The somewhat abbreviated agenda will include some of the usual highlights:

nominations of candidates running for statewide office
elections of new State Executive Committee members
introduction and consideration of resolutions for adoption by GPTX

The statewide candidates are Charles Waterbury for Supreme Court Position 1, katija gruene for Railroad Commission, and David B. Collins for US Senate.

Diane Wood, a longtime member in Tarrant County, has announced that she will nominate herself for the position of co-chair. There was some worry about whether a candidate for state co-chair could even be appointed, since no members filed to run last December along with the candidates for public offices. The Secretary of State's Office has confirmed that this provision applies to the primary-nominating parties and is not a problem for convention-nominating parties such as the Greens and Libertarians.

Just wanted to keep this announcement short and tidy. Look for follow-ups with more information in the next few days.

2020 District Conventions—and Some Oopsies

23/3/2020

David B. Collins and Hal J. Ridley, Jr., in front of Nokturne restaurant and coffee shop

US Senate candidate dbc reaches out a friendly elbow to US House candidate Hal J. Ridley, Jr., maintaining the necessary social distance.

We got our Internet connection fixed this morning, after three or four days of spotty-to-nonexistent service. Sadly, it required switching from a locally-owned provider, Phonoscope, to the AT&T Death Star. (Our complex allows only those options.) So now the story of the past weekend's Green Party district conventions can be uploaded for the world to see.

Janis Richards and I did make the trip to Nokturne in Clear Lake Saturday to meet up with Hal J. Ridley, Jr., as planned. Some folks advised against it. Nokturne itself was not even open for pickup and delivery, with weekend hours shifted to 5-11 pm. We got all the necessary paperwork signed; as a bonus, Ridley and his guitar provided some music.

Despite our efforts, GPTX was able to arrange a consolidated district convention via a Zoom conference Saturday evening. We confirmed the nominations of Ridley in Congressional District 36 and two other candidates in multi-county district races. It was also revealed that three of our candidates did not win enough support to gain nomination, and two of those three actually paid their filing fees.

HCGP Convention Goes Smoothly

17/3/2020

First off, here we are at the greenest of days, Saint Padraig's. Like so many holidays, major and minor, aside from providing an excuse to buy a lot of single-use plastic decoration and drink to excess, this celebration of Irish and Celtic culture is historically and environmentally problematic, rooted as it is in the religious oppression of the Hibernian pagans.

In the shadow of the COVID-19 pan[dem]ic, eleven local Greens turned out for the Harris County Green Party nominating convention Saturday afternoon at Midtown Bar & Grill. It was largely, but not completely, the same bunch who turned out for last Tuesday's consolidated precinct conventions.

The convention went through the prescribed steps in order. I am happy to report that, despite the potential for confrontations and controversies, those present conducted their business without rancor. Even if we had disagreements, we all seemed to be on the same team, a most welcome development.

Highlights included confirmation of the vote counts from Tuesday night, selection of delegates to the state convention, and the passing of resolutions to be discussed at next month's state convention.

The unofficial vote tallies that I reported last week have been updated and now made official:

Charles Waterbury and katija gruene both received unanimous approval for their nominations to run for State Supreme Court and Railroad Commission, respectively. Their nominations will be up for final confirmation at the state convention.
I did indeed receive nine approvals out of ten, with one delegate voting for None of the Above.
The presidential vote went exactly as shown in last Wednesday's post: Dario Hunter 10, Howie Hawkins 7, Kent Mesplay 4, Susan Prohocki 2, Dennis Lambert and SKCM Curry 1 each, David Rolde and Chad Wilson 0. That tally will be reflected, roughly, in Harris County's state delegation.

I may have misreported the criteria for participating in the state convention: One does not have to have been a delegate to one's county convention. In addition to the nine voting delegates at Saturday's proceedings, the convention appointed nine other area Greens to fill out (well almost) the county chapter's allotment of state delegates. This is something of a tradition among Greens in Texas: calling or texting absent Greens and asking if they would like to serve as delegates to state.

Four resolutions—presented by Alán Alán Apurim (the first two), Joel West, and Nancy Saibara-Naritomi—were passed on to state by majority vote:

to promote Dr. David Criswell's Lunar Solar Power initiative as a way to bring about an end to the fossil fuel age and the wars that fossil fuel use engenders;
to support the Democracy Amendment, an effort to bring initiative and referendum on important matters at the national level;
to change the state party's bylaws on selection of delegates back to voting for statewide offices only at state, rather than beginning at the precinct level; and
to foster greater transparency in the passing of financial records from county party treasurers to their successors.

GPTX has been in consultation with the Texas Secretary of State's Office to inquire whether online conventions will be allowed, given the current pandemic. As of now, SOS has granted no such authorization to any party, following the Texas Election Code statutes requiring in-person conventions. The Greens are unlikely to assemble more than 50 delegates, the maximum number considered "safe," but thousands will gather for the Democratic and Republican equivalents. I envision a last-minute change of heart, for which the big parties will have video conferencing infrastructure in place but the technologically challenged Greens likely will not.

<<Previous

Hunter's Accusations of Impropriety

GP Keeps on Truckin': We Have a Presumptive Nominee

Ballot-Access Chickens Remain Uncounted

kat Dropping District 51 Campaign, Focusing on RRC

Virtual GPUS Convention Announced

No "Body" Is a Green Candidate for President

GPTX Online Convention: Some Smooth, Some Rough

GPTX Convention This Saturday in Cyberspace

2020 District Conventions—and Some Oopsies

HCGP Convention Goes Smoothly

DBC Sez...

Categories

Archives