[GPCA Updates] RELEASE: Green candidate vote nearly triples registration rate in election

[Jim Stauffer]

                              News Advisory
                        THE GREEN PARTY OF CALIFORNIA
                           www.cagreens.org


OR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
Wednesday, December 7, 2005

Green candidate vote nearly triples party
registration in 48th congressional special
election; Bea Tiritilli finishes fourth


SANTA ANA (December 7, 2005) – A high school teacher – making opposition to
the war in Iraq and social justice the focus of her campaign – collected
nearly triple the percentage of Green Party registered voters in the 48th
Congressional District Special Election here Tuesday.

Bea Tiritilli, who was fourth behind the two major party candidates and an
ultra-conservative, shut-down-the-borders American Independent Party
candidate, earned about 1.3 percent of the vote in the District, where just
.5 percent of voters are registered Green. Tiritilli finished ahead of
Libertarian Bruce Cohen in conservative Orange County. Cohen had just .9
percent of the vote. Republican John Campbell won with 44.7 percent,
followed by Democrat Steve Young, 28 percent and AI's Jim Gilchrist, 25.1
percent.

"My campaign was a success. I gave voters an opportunity to choose an
alternative voice to represent their views, we registered many new Green
voters and I did receive more votes than I expected in this extremely
conservative district," said Tiritilli. And, while her platform largely
focused on ending the war, developing an intelligent energy policy, and
forming sane immigration laws which don't scapegoat immigrants for all of
society's ailments, Tiritilli said she also received support from
conservative voters.

"Over and over again during this campaign, I spoke with voters from various
parties who didn't believe their philosophies were represented by the other
candidates," Tiritilli said. "Some anti-war Republicans were surprised to
learn how closely my views mirror their own. Many people have the
impression the Green Party is only about the environment. They don't
realize we're much deeper than that. Others have the misconception that
being socially liberal equates with being fiscally liberal.

"There was a time in this country when being a conservative meant you were
fiscally restrained and wanted to minimize government intrusion into
private lives.  Perhaps that is why many old-school Republicans are able to
find common ground with me," added Tiritilli, who said her campaign
focused, in part, on "fiscal responsibility, ending our national debt, and
giving local governments greater control over law-making and promotion of
individual liberties—issues upon people from a wide cross-section of
society can agree."

Sixty-seven Greens hold office in California. Tiritilli is the third
California Green to run in a Special Election in 2005. In April, Aimee
Allison finished fourth of eight candidates vying for an empty Oakland City
Council spot, and Pat Driscoll was eighth of 12 candidates in a 5th
District election.