Green Party Activist Elected to Maine Legislature as an Independent Candidate

Posted on by November 5, 2010
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No nationally-organized minor party elected any state legislators in 2010.  However, in Maine, former Green Party activist Ben Chipman was elected to the legislature as an independent candidate.  He had been the Legislative Assistant to Green Party legislator John Eder.  Eder had been elected as a Green in 2002 and 2004, but was defeated for re-election in 2006.

The Maine Green Party is still ballot-qualified, and Chipman could have chosen to run in 2010 as a Green, but for election law-related reasons he opted to be an independent candidate.

2010 Voter Turnout Seems Higher for a Midterm Year Than Any Previous Midterm Year Since 1982

Posted on by November 5, 2010
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Curtis Gans, long-time student of U.S. voter turnout, has estimated that 2010 general election turnout is 42% of the number of persons who could potentially have registered to vote and then voted.  While this is very bad relative to other nations, it is higher than any midterm year since 1982.  The 2006 figure was 40.8%, and the 2002 figure was 39.7%.   Gans estimates that 90,000,000 persons cast a ballot in 2010.

Arkansas Greens Win Partisan County Office

Posted on by November 4, 2010
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On November 2, the Green Party nominee for Saline County, Arkansas Collector was elected.  This is a partisan race.  The nominee, Joy Ballard, was the only candidate listed on the ballot.  She received 19,131 votes.  Various write-in candidates received, together, 8,484 votes.  Saline County is the 8th most populous county in Arkansas, and is just west of Pulaski County, which contains Little Rock.

Connecticut Working Families Party Polls 2.2% in its First Statewide Showing

Posted on by November 4, 2010
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The Connecticut Working Families Party had been on the ballot for some district and local office ever since 2002, but until 2010 it had never been on the ballot for a statewide office.  This year, for Governor, it appears to have polled 2.2%.  It cross-endorsed the Democratic nominee, Dan Malloy.  The race between Malloy and the Republican nominee, Tom Foley, is very close and still contested, although it seems Malloy is more likely to be declared the winner.  The only other candidate in the race, Thomas Marsh, the Independent Party candidate, polled approximately 17,700 votes.