About the Green Party

The Green Party has its origins in the environmental, civil rights, anti-war, anti-nuclear and feminist movements of the 1960s and 1970s. The first Green parties formed in Tasmania and New Zealand in 1972. Today there are Green parties and political movements in almost 100 countries. Greens are represented in the national governments of Mexico, France, Germany, Belgium and Latvia.

The Green Party began in the United States in 1984 with the formation of the Green Committees of Correspondence. The Ten Key Values were adopted at this time. In 1990, the Green Party of Alaska became the first green party in the U.S. to achieve ballot status. Today, the Green Party has ballot status in 22 states.

In 1986, only one green candidate stood for election in the United States. In 2004, 433 Green candidates ran in 42 states. Seventy Greens were elected. As of March 2006, 226 Greens hold elected office in 28 states and DC. This growth signals the Green Party's evolution into an increasingly strong political force.

One of the best ways to understand the Green Party is to read our platforms.

The Green Party of New York

The Green Party of New York obtained ballot status in 1998 after organizing in this state since the late 1980s. We lost ballot status in 2002, but won a federal court order in 2005 directing the Board of Elections to continue allowing New Yorkers to enroll in the Green Party or in any other party that successfully places a candidate on the ballot in the previous gubernatorial election.

Under the New York Election Law, political parties gain or lose ballot status depending upon how many votes their gubernatorial candidate receives. New York has one of the most restrictive ballot access laws in the country, due to the fact that ballot status hinges entirely upon one race every four years. In many states, any statewide candidate or presidential candidate can qualify a party for ballot status. In New York, only one race qualifies.

2006 was the first opportunity the Green Party had had since 2002 to regain ballot status and become an official political party in New York. Because our candidate for governor received only 42,188 votes, the Green Party did not gain ballot status. To qualify the Green Party for ballot status for the next four years, our candidate for governor needed to receive at least 50,000 votes. In 2006, all our candidates except our gubernatorial candidate received over 50,000 votes. Julia Willebrand, our candidate for comptroller received almost 118,000 votes. Our next opportunity to gain ballot status is in 2010.

Despite our lack of ballot status, Greens are being elected to local office in New York. In May 2007, Dr. Edgar Rodriguez was elected to the New Paltz School Board and Rome Celli was reelected to the Brighton School Board. In 2005 three Greens were elected to office in New York: Mike Sellers was elected Mayor of Village of Cobleskill, Mary Jo Long was elected to the Town Council of Afton, and Steven Krulick was re-elected a Trustee of the Village of Ellenville.

The Green Party of Steuben County

The Steuben Greens formed in 2002 to help build the Green Party in Steuben County. We work on Green issues and run candidates in local, state and federal elections. Steuben County is in Region 6 of the Green Party of New York.

Four members of the Steuben Greens have run for public office. In 2009, Joe Duffy ran for Mayor of the City of Hornell in a two-way race and received 34% of the vote. Darin Robbins ran for 7th Ward Alderman in the City of Corning in a three-way race and received 10% of the vote. In 2007, Joe Duffy ran a write-in campaign for 10th Ward Alderman in the City of Hornell, and Mike Povoski ran for Bath Town Board on the Bath Citizens party line. In 2006, Rachel Treichler was the Attorney General candidate of the Green Party of New York and received almost 62,000 votes, about 1.5%. In 2005, Joe Duffy ran as a write-in candidate for Mayor of Hornell and received 78 votes. Darin Robbins ran for 7th Ward Alderman in the City of Corning in a two-way race and received 27% of the vote. Darin received a similar percentage of the vote when he ran for the same office in 2003. In 2002, Rachel ran for US Congress in the 29th CD and received almost 2% of the vote.

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