GREEN PARTY POSTS KEY MAYORAL, LOCAL WINS; State and Congressional candidates also garner high vote totals, including more than 20% in South State race
GREEN PARTY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS RELEASE
SACRAMENTO (Nov 3, 2010) - The Green Party of California claimed key mayoral and supervisorial victories in local election results, and its state and congressional candidates garnered significant vote totals Tuesday far above party registration, according to party officials.
The Green Party said the high number of votes cast for its candidates show voters are dissatisfied with the two "major" parties in the state.
Gayle McLaughlin won re-election as mayor of Richmond, despite a well-financed effort by Chevron Oil and other special interests to unseat her.
Bruce Delgado won re-election as mayor of the City of Marina with nearly 57 percent of the vote. Former Democratic Congressman Dan Hamburg, now a Green, captured the District 5 Supervisor spot in Mendocino County with 55.3 percent.
Green Jack Lindblad served notice that he's a force in Los Angeles politics by garnering more than 21 percent (only one percent of voters in the state are registered Green) in his Assembly District 39 race.
Law student Cynthia Santiago also bucked registration numbers, winning 18 percent of the vote in the State Assembly District 51 election.
And independent Green Party candidate Ben Emery drew 7 percent of the vote in the very conservative 4th Congressional District in Northern California. He had as much as 11 and 12 percent in some counties in the race against a Democrat and incumbent Tom McClintock.
In other local race victories, Joe Navarro picked up a Hollister School Board seat, and three Greens - Jesse Townley, Pam Webster and Lisa Stephens - retained spots on the Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board. Robert Deutsch was the leading vote-getter for the Healthcare District in Alameda County.
"It's hopeful to see examples of obvious big money losing: from Meg-abucks to Texas Oil," said Green Party gubernatorial candidate Laura Wells, referencing Whitman's obscene $175 million-plus, and the defeat of big oil-backed Prop. 23, which would have rolled back environment laws.
"Green Party candidates did extremely well in virtually every race, receiving far more than Green Party registration. This indicates voters want real change and real solutions. We look forward to the time when independent voters exert all their power and vote their values as they did in Green Party victories.
"Voters are not apathetic, they are discouraged. Many, many voters find it hard to believe that voting means anything, when all they see are the two 'Titanic' parties trading off leadership in this state, while steering us in the same direction - straight to the iceberg," she said.
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Contacts:
Derek Iversen, Spokesperson, 323.481.8984,
Laura Wells, 510.504.4254,
Cres Vellucci, Press Secretary, 916.996.9170,
The Green Party of California
PO Box 2828
Sacramento, CA 95812
Phone: (916) 448-3437
Web: http://www.cagreens.org
EMail: