Green Presidential Candidate Stein Challenges the "duopoly"

BALTIMORE, MD - The Green Party 2012 National Convention will nominate their presidential candidate Dr. Jill Stein, tomorrow. She is running on a platform called "the Green New Deal" which emphasizes economic justice, tough financial regulation, the repeal of Citizens United "corporate personhood" and a transition to a "green economy." The Green Party expects to be on the 2012 ballot in at least 45 states and plans to spend approximately $1 million on its campaign. Stein is the party’s first candidate to independently qualify for federal matching funds, a milestone for this 11-year-old third party.

The convention is marking U.S. Green growth over the last decade, and look to accelerate the already increasingly important Green presence in U.S. politics for the 21st Century. Over 220 Green Party candidates are running for office in 2012, and many are attending the convention.

The Green Party was founded in 2001 as a national party, after spending the 1990s building on the local and state level. Today, 134 Greens hold elected office across the nation, and approximately 300,000 voters are registered Green. Many Thousands more identify themselves as Green in states that don't have party membership by voter registration. Greens are organized in all 50 states, as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, and the number of state Green parties affiliated with the national party stands at 44, more than double the number in 2001.

The Green Party has ballot lines 21 states, including the five largest states, and expects to exceed 40 and possibly reach 45 this year.

"Internationally, U.S. Greens are part of a global movement of Green Parties in almost 90 countries, reflecting a shared commitment to heal our planet that transcends national identities and political boundaries," according to party statements. 

The Green Party in the U.S. participates as a member of the Federación de Partidos Verdes de las Américas, and globally as a charter member of the Global Greens. This year, over 600 Greens from 76 countries attended the third Global Congress held in Dakar, Senegal. The Congress approved the Rio+20 Summit resolution, which calls for actions supporting a Green economy across the globe.