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The Maine Green Independent Party is the oldest state Green Party in the United States .1 It was founded in 1984 in Augusta, Maine . TEN KEY VALUES The party is based on the 10 Key Values of: 1. Grassroots Democracy, 2. Social Justice and Equal Opportunity, 3. Ecological Wisdom, 4. Non-Violence, 5. Decentralization, 6. Community-Based Economics and Economic Justice 7. Feminism and Gender Equity, 8. Respect for Diversity, 9. Personal and Global Responsibility; and 10. Future Focus and Sustainability PARTY QUALIFICATION The party achieved its current ballot status in 1998 . Previously the Maine Green Party achieved ballot status in 1994 with the Jonathan Carter gubernatorial campaign, but lost it in 1997 after Ralph Nader failed to get 5% of the vote for President in 1996, a requirement of state law that has since changed. In 1998, Pat LaMarche requalified the political party with her campaign for governor, but under the a new name, the Maine Green Independent Party. LaMarche ran again in 2006 capturing almost 10% of the vote in a 5-way race. The campaign's website was indexed by the Library of Congress and won a Golden Dot Award, because of the site's use of new ways to interact with voters. The party (in terms of registered votes) is currently in a period of continuous growth stretching back to 2000 according to state records [http://www.maine.gov/sos/cec/elec/votreg.htm . As of november 2006 there were 29,273 greens in the state comprising 2.95% of the electorate [http://www.ballot-access.org/2007/03/26/maine-green-registration-rises-again/], and that figure has most certainly risen since then. PORTLAND GREENS The party realizes its greatest successes in the state's largest city, Portland. From 2002 to 2006, the highest-ranking elected Green in the United States was John Eder , who served in the Maine House of Representatives for Portland's West End neighborhood [http://www.maine.gov/sos/cec/elec/2004n/sr.htm [http://www.maine.gov/sos/cec/elec/2006g/gen06sr.html]. Seven of the state's elected Greens are Portland officeholders, including three School Committee members, two City Councilors and two Water Trustees. The School Committee was once the second "Greenest" governing body in the United States and from 2004-2006, significant media attention was attributed to conflicts between the Committee's Greens and Democrats[http://www.gp.org/greenpages/content/volume10/issue1/elections5.php . The Greens successfully passed precedent-setting policy limiting military recruiters' access to city high schools, and were recognized by the National School Board Association[http://www.nsba.org/site/doc_sbn.asp?TrackID=&SID=1&DID=36815&CID=1735&VID=58]. The 2006 election of two under-30 Green councilors in Portland's high profile West End and East End districts, continues to attract comment among the local news media. Previously, both the School Committee (prior to 2001) and City Council (prior to 2006) had been dominated by Democrats. ELECTED OFFICIALS There are currently 18 elected Green officeholders in Maine.
Cumberland County of Maine has the highest number of elected officials of any county in the nation {Link without Title} . EXTERNAL LINKS CITATIONS 1. Rensenbrink, John. The Greens and the Politics of Transformation, 1992, R & E Miles |
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