Green Party of the United States
Governing body	Green National Committee
Founded	April 2001; 18 years ago (2001-04)
Split from	Greens/Green Party USA
Preceded by	Citizens Party Association of State Green Parties
Headquarters	6411 Orchard Avenue, Suite 101, Takoma Park, Maryland 20912
Newspaper	Green Pages
Youth wing	Young Ecosocialists
Women's wing	National Women's Caucus
LGBT wing	Lavender Greens
Latinx wing	Latinx Caucus
Black wing	Black Caucus
Membership	~250,000[1]
Ideology	Anti-capitalism[2] Eco-socialism[3] Green politics[4]
Political position	Left-wing[5][6]
International affiliation	Global Greens
Continental affiliation	Federation of the Green Parties of the Americas
Colors	Green
Seats in the Senate	0 / 100
Seats in the House	0 / 435
Governorships	0 / 50
State Upper House Seats	0 / 1,972
State Lower House Seats	0 / 5,411
Territorial Governorships	0 / 6
Territorial Upper Chamber Seats	0 / 97
Territorial Lower Chamber Seats	0 / 91
Other elected offices	162 (2019)[7]
Website
gp.org
Politics of United States Political parties Elections

The Green Party of the United States (GPUS) is a green federation of political parties in the United States.^[8] The party promotes green politics, specifically environmentalism; nonviolence; social justice; participatory, grassroots democracy; gender equality; LGBT rights; anti-war and anti-racism. On the political spectrum, the party is generally seen as left-wing.^[2]

The GPUS was founded in 2001 as the evolution of the Association of State Green Parties (ASGP), which was formed in 1996.^[9] After its founding, the GPUS soon became the primary national green organization in the country, eclipsing the Greens/Green Party USA (G/GPUSA), which formed in 1991 out of the Green Committees of Correspondence (CoC), a collection of local green groups active since 1984.^[10] The ASGP had increasingly distanced itself from the G/GPUSA in the late 1990s.^[11]

The Greens gained widespread public attention during the 2000 presidential election, when the ticket composed of Ralph Nader and Winona LaDuke won 2.7% of the popular vote. Nader was vilified by many Democrats and even some Greens, who accused him of spoiling the election for Al Gore, the Democratic candidate.^[12] Nader maintains that he was not a spoiler in the 2000 election.^[13]

History[edit]

Early years[edit]

The political movement that began in 1985 as the decentralized Committees of Correspondence^[14] evolved into a more centralized structure by 1990, opening a national clearinghouse and forming governing bodies, bylaws and a platform as the Green Committees of Correspondence (GCoC) and by 1990 simply The Greens. The organization conducted grassroots organizing efforts, educational activities and electoral campaigns.

Internal divisions arose between members who saw electoral politics as ultimately corrupting and supported the notion of an "anti-party party" formed by Petra Kelly and other leaders of the Greens in Germany^[15] vs. those who saw electoral strategies as a crucial engine of social change. A struggle for the direction of the organization culminated a "compromise agreement", ratified in 1990 at the Greens National Congress in Elkins, West Virginia and in which both strategies would be accommodated within the same 527 political organization renamed the Greens/Green Party USA (G/GPUSA). It was recognized by the FEC as a national political party in 1991.

The compromise agreement subsequently collapsed and two Green party organizations have co-existed in the United States since. The Green Politics Network was organized in 1990 and the National Association of Statewide Green Parties formed by 1994. Divisions between those pressing to break onto the national political stage and those aiming to grow roots at the local level continued to widen during the 1990s. The Association of State Green Parties (ASGP) encouraged and backed Nader's presidential runs in 1996 and 2000. By 2001, the push to separate electoral activity from the G/GPUSA issue-based organizing led to the Boston Proposal and subsequent rise of the Green Party of the United States. The G/GPUSA lost most of its affiliates in the following months and dropped its FEC national party status in 2005.

In 2016, Mark Salazar set a new record for a Green Party nominee for Congress. Running in the Arizona 8th district against incumbent Republican Congressman Trent Franks, Salazar received 93,954 votes or 31.43%.^[16]

Ideology[edit]

Part of a series on
Green politics
Core topics Green politics Green party List of topics
Four pillars Ecological wisdom Social justice Grassroots democracy Nonviolence
Perspectives Bright green environmentalism Deep ecology Eco-capitalism Eco-feminism Queer ecology Eco-nationalism Eco-socialism Green anarchism Green conservatism Green left Green liberalism Green libertarianism Social ecology Green Zionism
Organizations Asia Pacific Greens Federation European Green Party Federation of Green Parties of Africa Federation of the Green Parties of the Americas Federation of Young European Greens Global Greens Global Young Greens
Related topics Anti-environmentalism Climate change politics Conservation movement Eco-terrorism Ecocentrism Ecofascism Ecological economics Ecological modernization Environmental issues Environmental justice Environmental movement Environmentalism Localism
v t e

The GPUS follows the ideals of green politics, which are based on the Four Pillars, namely ecological wisdom, social justice, grassroots democracy and nonviolence.^[17]

The Ten Key Values, which expand upon the Four Pillars, are as follows:^[18]

1. Grassroots democracy


2. 
   Social justice and equal opportunity
   


3. Ecological wisdom


4. Nonviolence


5. Decentralization


6. Community-based economics


7. 
   Feminism and gender equality
   


8. Respect for diversity


9. Personal and global responsibility


10. Future focus and sustainability
    

Peter Camejo was quoted in 2002 as claiming that he was a watermelon—green on the outside, but red on the inside.^[19] In January 2004, he initiated the Avocado Declaration, which compares Greens to avocados. "An avocado is Green on the outside and Green on the inside".^[20] The Declaration goes on to explain that Greens have a vital role in bringing democracy to the otherwise undemocratic two party system of the United States; that the Greens have a unique and independent identity as a third party, which cannot be subsumed into the Republican or Democratic parties; and that they cannot be dismissed by Republican or Democratic critics by implying that they are merely socialists or communists.

The Green Party does not accept donations from corporations, political action committees (PACs), 527(c) organizations or soft money. The party's platforms and rhetoric harshly criticize corporate influence and control over government, media and society at large.^[21]

Political positions[edit]

Economic issues[edit]

Healthcare[edit]

The party supports the implementation of a single-payer healthcare system. They have also called for contraception and abortion procedures to be available on demand.^[22]

Education[edit]

The Green Party calls for providing tuition-free college at public universities and vocational schools, increasing funding for after-school and daycare programs, cancelling all student loan debt, and repealing the No Child Left Behind Act. They are strongly against the dissolution of public schools and the privatization of education.^[23]

Social issues[edit]

Criminal justice[edit]

The party favors the abolition of the death penalty, repeal of three-strikes laws, banning of private prisons, legalization of marijuana, and decriminalization of other drugs.^[24]

Racial justice[edit]

The Green Party advocates for "complete and full" reparations to the African American community, as well the removal of the Confederate flag from all government buildings.^[25]

LGBT+ rights[edit]

The party supports same-sex marriage, the right of access to medical and surgical treatment for sex reassignment, and withdrawing foreign aid to countries with poor LGBT+ rights records.^[25]

Foreign policy[edit]

The Green Party calls on the United States to join the International Criminal Court, and sign the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty and Non-Proliferation Treaty. Additionally, it supports cutting the defense budget in half as well as prohibiting all arms sales to foreign countries.^[26]

Iran[edit]

Greens support the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.^[27]

Israel/Palestine[edit]

The Green Party advocates for the right of return, cutting all U.S. aid to Israel, and a one-state solution. It has also expressed support for the international Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.^[28]

Structure and composition[edit]

Committees[edit]

The Green Party has two national committees recognized by the Federal Election Commission (FEC):

• The Green National Committee (GNC)


• The Green Senatorial Campaign Committee (GSCC)^[29]

Green National Committee[edit]

The GNC is composed of delegates elected by affiliated state parties. The state parties also appoint delegates to serve on the various standing committees of the GNC. The National Committee elects a steering committee of seven co-chairs, a secretary and a treasurer to oversee daily operations. The National Committee performs most of its business online, but it also holds an annual national meeting to conduct business in person.

Caucuses[edit]

Five Identity Caucuses have achieved representation on the GNC:

• Black Caucus^[30]


• Latinx Caucus^[31]


• Lavender Greens Caucus^[32] (LGBTQIA)


• National Women's Caucus^[33]


• Young Ecosocialists^[34]

Other caucuses have worked toward formal recognition by the GNC:

• Disability Caucus^[35]


• Labor Caucus^[36]


• Indigenous Caucus^[37]

Geographic distribution[edit]

The Green Party has its strongest popular support on the Pacific Coast, Upper Great Lakes, and Northeast, as reflected in the geographical distribution of Green candidates elected.^[38] As of June 2007^[update], Californians have elected 55 of the 226 office-holding Greens nationwide. Other states with high numbers of Green elected officials include Pennsylvania (31), Wisconsin (23), Massachusetts (18) and Maine (17). Maine has the highest per capita number of Green elected officials in the country and the largest Green registration percentage with more than 29,273 Greens comprising 2.95% of the electorate as of November 2006^[update].^[39]Madison, Wisconsin is the city with the most Green elected officials (8), followed by Portland, Maine (7).

The 2016 presidential campaign of Jill Stein got substantive support from counties and precincts with a high percentage of Native American population. For instance, in Sioux County (North Dakota, 84,1% Native American), Stein gained her best county-wide result: 10.4% of the votes. In Rolette County (also North Dakota, 77% Native American), she got 4.7% of the votes. Other majority Native American counties where Stein did above state average are Menominee (WI), Roosevelt (MN) and several precincts in Alaska.^[40][41]

In 2005, the Green Party had 305,000 registered members in states allowing party registration and tens of thousands of members and contributors in the rest of the country.^[42] One challenge that the Green Party (as well as other third parties) faces is the difficulty of overcoming ballot access laws in many states.

State and District of Columbia parties[edit]

The following is a list of accredited state parties which comprise the Green Party of the United States.^[43]

In addition, the Green Party has a chapter in the United States Virgin Islands.^[44] The Green Party does not currently have active state chapters in The Dakotas, or Vermont.

Office holders[edit]

Musician Jello Biafra ran for several offices with the Green Party, including for President in 2000

Malik Rahim, former Black Panther Party activist, ran for Congress in 2008 with the Green Party

Psychiatrist Joel Kovel ran for the Green Party's presidential nomination in 2000

2012 and 2016 Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein

As of October 2016^[update], 143 officeholders in the United States were affiliated with the Green Party, the majority of them in California, several in Illinois, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, with five or fewer in ten other states.^[45] These included one mayor and one deputy mayor and fourteen county or city commissioners (or equivalent). The remainder were members of school boards, clerks and other local administrative bodies and positions.^[45]

Several Green Party members have been elected to state-level office, though not always as affiliates of the party. John Eder was elected to the Maine House of Representatives, re-elected in 2004, but defeated in 2006. Audie Bock was elected to the California State Assembly in 1999, but switched her registration to independent seven months later^[46] running as such in the 2000 election.^[47]Richard Carroll was elected to the Arkansas House of Representatives in 2008, but switched parties to become a Democrat five months after his election.^[48]Fred Smith was elected to the Arkansas House of Representatives in 2012,^[49] but re-registered as a Democrat in 2014.^[50] In 2010, former Green Party leader Ben Chipman was elected to the Maine House of Representatives as an unenrolled candidate and was re-elected in 2012 and 2014.^[51]

Gayle McLaughlin was twice elected mayor of Richmond, California, defeating two Democrats in 2006^[52] and then reelected in 2010; and elected to City Council in 2014 after completing her second term as mayor.^[53] With a population of over 100,000 people, it was the largest American city with a Green mayor. Fairfax, California; Arcata, California; Sebastopol, California; and New Paltz, New York are the only towns in the United States to have had a Green Party majority in their town councils. Twin Ridges Elementary in Nevada County, California held the first Green Party majority school board in the United States.^[54]

On September 21, 2017, Ralph Chapman, a member of the Maine House of Representatives, switched his party registration from unaffiliated to Green, providing the Green Party with their first state-level representative since 2014.^[55]Henry John Bear became a member of the Green Party in the same year as Chapman, giving the Maine Green Independent Party and GPUS its second currently-serving state representative, though Bear is a nonvoting tribal member of the Maine House of Representatives.

No nominee of the Green Party has been elected to office in the federal government.

List of national conventions and annual meetings[edit]

The Green National Convention is scheduled in presidential election years and the Annual National Meeting is scheduled in other years. The Green National Committee conducts business online between these in-person meetings.

• 1996 – Los Angeles, California


• 
  2000 – Denver, Colorado


• 2001 – Santa Barbara, California
  


• 2002 – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania


• 2003 – Washington, D.C.
  


• 
  2004 – Milwaukee, Wisconsin


• 2005 – Tulsa, Oklahoma
  


• 2006 – Tucson, Arizona
  


• 2007 – Reading, Pennsylvania
  


• 
  2008 – Chicago, Illinois


• 2009 – Durham, North Carolina
  


• 2010 – Detroit, Michigan


• 2011 – Alfred, New York
  


• 
  2012 – Baltimore, Maryland


• 2013 – Iowa City, Iowa
  


• 2014 – Saint Paul, Minnesota
  


• 2015 – St. Louis, Missouri


• 
  2016 – Houston, Texas


• 2017 – Newark, New Jersey
  


• 2018 – Salt Lake City, Utah


• 2019 – Boston, Massachusetts

Presidential ballot access[edit]

Electoral results[edit]

President and Vice President[edit]

Year	Presidential nominee	Home state	Previous positions	Vice presidential nominee	Home state	Previous positions	Votes	Notes
1996	Ralph Nader (campaign)	Connecticut	Lawyer, activist	Winona LaDuke	Minnesota	Environmentalist	685,297 (0.7%) 0 EV	[63][64]
2000	Ralph Nader (campaign)	Connecticut	Nominee for President of the United States (1996)	Winona LaDuke	Minnesota	Nominee for Vice President of the United States (1996)	2,882,955 (2.7%) 0 EV
2004	David Cobb (campaign)	Texas	Lawyer Nominee for Attorney General of Texas (2002)	Pat LaMarche	Maine	Nominee for Governor of Maine (1998)	119,859 (0.1%) 0 EV	[65]
2008	Cynthia McKinney (campaign)	Georgia	Member of the Georgia House of Representatives (1989–1993) Member of the United States House of Representatives from Georgia's 11th district (1993–1997) Member of the United States House of Representatives from Georgia's 4th district (1997–2003; 2005–2007)	Rosa Clemente	New York	Community organizer	161,797 (0.1%) 0 EV	[66]
2012	Jill Stein (campaign)	Massachusetts	Nominee for Governor of Massachusetts (2002; 2010) Nominee for Massachusetts's 9th Middlesex State House of Representatives district (2004) Member of the Lexington Town Meeting (2005–2011) Nominee for Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth (2006)	Cheri Honkala	Pennsylvania	Activist Nominee for Sheriff of Philadelphia (2011)	469,627 (0.4%) 0 EV
2016	Jill Stein (campaign)	Massachusetts	(see above for previous positions) Nominee for President of the United States (2012)	Ajamu Baraka	Illinois	Activist	1,457,216 (1.1%) 0 EV	[67]

Congress[edit]

House of Representatives[edit]

Senate[edit]

Fundraising and position on Super PACs[edit]

In the early decades of Green organizing in the United States, the prevailing American system of money-dominated elections was universally rejected by Greens, so that some Greens were reluctant to have Greens participate in the election system at all because they deemed the campaign finance system inherently corrupt. Other Greens felt strongly that the Green Party should develop in the electoral arena and many of these Greens felt that adopting an alternative model of campaign finance, emphasizing self-imposed contribution limits, would present a wholesome and attractive contrast to the odious campaign finance practices of the money-dominated major parties.

Over the years, some state Green parties have come to place less emphasis on the principle of self-imposed limits than they did in the past. Nevertheless, it is safe to say that Green Party fundraising (for candidates' campaigns and for the party itself) still tends to rely on relatively small contributions and that Greens generally decry not only the rise of the Super PACs, but also the big-money system, which some Greens criticize as plutocracy.

Some Greens feel that the Green Party's position should be simply to follow the laws and regulations of campaign finance.^[70] Other Greens argue that it would injure the Green Party not to practice a principled stand against the anti-democratic influence of money in the political process. Candidates for office, like Jill Stein, the 2012 and 2016 Green Party nominee for the President of the United States, typically rely on smaller donations to fund their campaigns.^[71]

State and territorial parties[edit]

See also[edit]

• 
  Green Party of the United States portal
  

References[edit]

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Green Party of the United States.

• 
  Official website


• Green Party of the United States archive


• 
  Green Party of the United States at Curlie
  


• Green Senatorial Campaign Committee (GSCC)


• Green Party Archives Project