According to the campaign website, Cindy Sheehan has qualified for the ballot as an independent against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in California’s 8th district.
An email sent this afternoon to supporters says she turned in over 20,000 signatures with at least 10,198 qualifying.
Sheehan is the first independent House candidate to qualify for the California ballot since 1996. California’s requirement for independent candidates for U.S. House is the 4th most difficult in the nation (only Georgia, Illinois, and North Carolina have more severe requirements).
She has the endorsement of the local Peace and Freedom Party and Green Party.
Kudos to Cindy Sheehan for this huge accomplishment–and for being the conscience of the
movement against aggressive, fraudulent war.
Seems to me she barely made it by the skim of her teeth. She should have sought the nomination of the Peace and Freedom Party or the Greens and she wouldn’t have needed that final plea to make the ballot.
Is Pelosi even remotely concerned?
The Age of Miracles is not over…..
and the Reform Party of California [per Reform Party USA]
Hmmmmm will do nothing centrist Callifornia’s Fancy Nancy join South Dakota’s Ex- Senator Tom Dahchle on the dust bin of politics….
Laine is correct.
It was really a waste of money and time, when she could have had ballot access of two parties.
The Green Party pulled out all the stops to get her on the ballot as an Indy. And the Green Party should be applauded for their work.
God bless you Cindy, and may God bless the Green Party.
Fred Behmer
“The Green Party pulled out all the stops to get her on the ballot”
i commend grassroots level Greens who volunteered to circulate petitions for Cindy; i suspect many would have done so without an offical endorsement from GP “leadership”, just as they’ve done with Nader04 & 08.
i have nothing but contempt for the GP “leaders”, especially in San Francisco.
by far, the most prominent Green in the country is SF District 5 Board Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi; and he has endorsed and i assume will vote for Obama.
are his actions really different from 04 GP Presidential candidate, David Cobb, encouraging supporters to vote kerry in toss-up states or his VP indicating she might not vote for herself?
and the Green Party expects to be taken seriously.
Laine wrote: “Seems to me she barely made it by the skim of her teeth. She should have sought the nomination of the Peace and Freedom Party or the Greens and she wouldn’t have needed that final plea to make the ballot.”
This is always an interesting proposition for a prospective candidate. There are solid arguments on both sides of the issue.
First, the California Secretary of States requires all candidates to be registered in to the party they wish to run on at least 13 months prior to the date of election. Cindy may not have made her decision to run until after the deadline.
Second, even if Cindy had registered into a political party she still would need signatures to run. Although far fewer they all would have to be registered party members. A very high number of Green Party members in San Francisco and Marin Counties are actually closet DemocRATS who wouldn’t even dream of crossing up the Machine. So getting 300 Greens to sign on wouldn’t be a lead pipe sinch. P&F Party members are pretty scarce so that poses another problem.
Three as to Cindy herself, she is a relative newcomer to the politics game. She only got in to it seriously through the death of her son. And I can see from some of the things she says her political development is in a very formative stage.
Nonetheless Cindy is on the ballot and it will be very interesting to watch how her campaign does. Running on an antiwar platform she should be able to easily peel off 5% of Pelosi’s support considering how Pelosi sold the movement out before she took her oath of office. If Sheehan can go beyond that and Bosco Pelosi then Cindy might as well register in P&F because she would never be welcome at any Democrat Party Central Committe Meeting.
Great news!
More like 10 -15% of Nancy Not So Nice. For a lot of reasons, Pelosi, [Barbara] Boxer, [Diane] Feinstein and deposed possible 2004 Dem Presidential corrupt insider Governor Gray Davis, have/ had support which is ‘a mile wide and an inch deep’. Even the corporate main street media portrayed California voters in 2002 electing Davis by an over whelming majority while holding their nose[s] in the ballot booth.
I am so thrill that Cindy pulled it off, as for the longest time it appeared that she was self sabotaging the entire effort. Hope she runs a tighter, more logical ‘ship’ toward November 4th. She can start with photos of a serious candidate, rather than a grinning goofy soccer mom on summer vacation.
Beat em, kick em, slash em, Cindy, ‘they’ deserve it!
Yay!
Great news!
Cindy will certainly get alot more than 5%. A no-name Green challenged Pelosi last time – before she betrayed her constituents as House Speaker – and got 8-9% of the vote.
I think Cindy will get 15-20%. Name recognition alone will be a plus.
Dear Friends
“A waste of time and money” to get me on the ballot?
Do you realize that we have been campaigning for the last 3 months and Nancy Pelosi apparently doesn’t even have a campaign office.
Do you realize that 20,000 signatures is significant and represent 20,000 votes? That is much more than “5 percent.”
I may not, thank god, be a political genius, but the last month we have been able to mobilize a significant amount of committed volunteers who will continue with us through November and help us in the next stage of the campaign. We have a good amount of money coming it to be able to get our message out.
And I am not even going to dignify the “grinning goofy soccer mom on summer vacation” comment with a comment. Pelosi is a vacuous tool of the Military Industrial Complex who can’t even sell her book with a concentrated book tour and mainstream media blitz.
I did it the way that I had to do it to retrain my integrity…win of lose, I will win or lose with my integrity intact. And that is a victory in our political system.
Our campaign is credible, viable and winnable and we would have obtained our signatures sooner if the process was equitable for all…not just corporate party members.
I am grateful to Richard for his Ballot Access News and for signing my petition.
Cindy
Lose the Steve Kubby grin, lose the Steve Kubby grin!
Dear Cindy;
I am sorry for the lose of your son, and I am glad that you have chosen a productive way to help find some measure of sanity and or recovery in your own life.
I am glad that you were able to successfully complete, perhaps building up a coalition of support in the process, an unjustly unfair petitioning drive in order to be listed on the ballot as an Independent.
I do not live in California, and I am not sure if I would vote for your, evem if I could. But I do support the right of adult citizens to vote and to seek public office, do feel that its good for voter’s to have more choices and I and have been involved in various election law reform projects, including ballot access law reform.
Regards
Is there a way to verify if Cindy Sheehan did indeed post here? If so then thanks for your work Ciny I really do appreciate you drawing in support to end the war and put focus back on impeachment. Why however, did you not seek the nomination of the Green Party or the Peace and Freedom Party?
This is great news. I hope that Cindy wins, that would be an earth shattering victory for minor party and independent candidates.
In CA, for all offices except President, the candidate needs to be a registered member of the party nomination they’re seeking at least six months in advance.
Therefore, Cindy’s only option was running independent. Sure, ballot access is hard, but the independent label has made it much easier for CA’s two progressive parties to put aside the usual partisan sectarianism and unite behind her campaign.
Don’t worry about the “grinning goofy soccer mom on summer vacation†comment, Cindy. My friend, Don Lake, went off the deep end quite some time ago. He seems to mistake insulting people with profundity. It is very sad.
Keep up the great, wonderful work!
Phil
Philippe Sawyer
Peace and Freedom Party of California
State and Sac. County Central Committees
Oh, so I am incorrect? Jetting all over the world was the best way of securing LOCAL ballot access? 2008 trips to Egypt and other places were intelligent decisions?
[And as some one whom will not be able to vote for the Peace Mom, I am still Trilled that she apparently got on the ballot!] How ever she not only has a first hand reputation of being ‘goofie’ —-not by me, but by others whom I have talked to DIRECTLY, but for folks whom do not know her, do not know of her, and do not have a set opinion of ‘traitor’ Nancy Pelosi, and the failed Loyal Opposition Democratic Party —-is grinning like an idiot the way to go?
Come on Phil, LOOK AT HER OWN WEB SITE [as I have requested you do almost a dozen times!] It is Her Steve Kubby like photo which is an insult to her volunteers, contributors and supporters! Please display to all that you think she has directed a wonderful, logical, rational compaign. Hhh?
[Phil is it just sooooooooo important that a large number of folks LIKE YOU?] May I suggest that you ‘say what you mean and mean what you say’ and ‘let the chips fall where they may’!
Harry S. Truman, better than the average 20th Century President: ‘I don’t give ’em hell! I give ’em the truth and they think it is Hell!
Facts, facts, facts, Ms Sheehan:
Cindy’s own quote is hinting that she can win but really does not want to! She can ‘do this thing’! But why does she squeak by when she could coast? Drama for the six o’clock television news is one thing, risking the entire enterprise on sloppy management is another!
“I did it the way that I had to do it to retain my integrity…win of lose, I will win or lose with my integrity intact. And that is a victory in our political system.” Potential Congressional winner Cindy Sheehan
OUR political system? I will not speak for you and you need to please not speak for me. YOUR hippie dippie, all show no go ’embarrass Nancy Pelosi with out replacing her ‘system!
My system has you, Ms Sheehan, forcefully replacing Pelosi, a la South Dakota’s Democratic Party FORMER President of the Senate Tom Daschel! Like Governor Gray Davis recall effort, the toppling of evil is more than just a polite debating society at high tea!
Again, look at your own quote! A large number of folks whom are donating time, effort and dollars to your campaign might GREATLY DISAGREE! [Oh, but because they shout ‘the Emperor has no clothes’, they are being insulting, altho VERY correct! Hmmm, people that care enough to be honest —-and you treat them how?]