[Sosfbay-discuss] No great press out of Pennsylvania

[Erik Kiehle]

For those who remember me I was seriously interested in running in  
2004 for State Assembly District 24. Long-time Assemblyman Joe  
Simitian was termed-out and I thought it would be interesting to run  
as a Green candidate in the Silicon Valley area where I grew up.

I filed the "Intention to File" paperwork that became public record  
of my intention to run. I was getting a late start and realized I  
would probably need to pay the Filing Fee instead of gathering  
signatures. In then end I moved with my family just outside of the  
district boundaries and therefore couldn't run in that district.

However, as the filing deadline approached I received calls from two  
very determined persons interested in paying my filing fee for me to  
get me on the ballot. Since the election had a very strong Republican  
candidate (who spent millions of his own money), the race was won by  
only 3.2 percent in the Democratic candidate's favor.

After reflection I realized that during the November 2002 election  
the average vote for the statewide Green candidates was about 4.5  
percent. It may not have made any difference in the AD 24 election  
results but I had to think that for about $1100 filing fee donation  
to my campaign, any Republican may have made it a very narrow margin  
for that election.

I think the statistics in past elections (especially the recall  
election) show that the Democrats are their own worst enemy. But, I  
think it is a relatively cheap tactic for the Republicans to pay for  
a 3rd party candidate's filing just to stir things up. I'm actually  
surprised we haven't seen more Republican's changing party  
registration just so they can try to draw off Democrat voters. (This  
strategy could also be used in reverse where there are Republican  
majorities though maybe with Libertarian candidate or other parties).  
I'm not sure if there are any statistics of numbers reflecting how  
often Republicans vs Democrats vote for Green party candidates.

Thanks,
Erik Kiehle

On Aug 1, 2006, at 9:05 AM, Larry Cafiero_Liaison wrote:

> I'm going to assume, Sam, that your statement about Greens taking  
> money
> from Republicans is sarcasm, as there is no "tradition" of this  
> sort at all.
>
> However, we have had Republicans co-opt the party for their own  
> purposes
> right in our own backyard. In 2004, a Monterey Republican Central
> Committee member named Paul Bruno put up the filing fee for Carmel
> electrician unknown to anyone in the local party in Monterey for the
> 15th Senate District in an effort to take votes away from the Democrat
> in that race.
>
> I don't know this guy Romanelli, or the Green Party gubernatorial
> candidate they mention, but I would be willing to bet that they are
> Greens by registration only, and nothing else (or, worse, Republicans
> trying to game the electoral system at our expense). I think they are
> props set up by the Republicans in the same way this guy in SD15  
> was set up.
>
> True, it looks bad, but then it would be interesting to see how the  
> Pa.
> Green Party reacts to this.
>
> Larry Cafiero
> Liaison to the Secretary of State
> Green Party of California
>
> Sam Rafter wrote:
>> The proud tradition of Green Party candidates taking money from  
>> Republicans
>> continues?
>>
>> http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssentinel/15166569.htm
>>
>> I couldn't get www.Romanelli2006.com to load, but I'm curious how  
>> Romanelli
>> spins this.  Greens taking money from Republicans seems like an  
>> unhealthy trend
>> to follow.
>>
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