Green Party of New Jersey

The Green Party of New Jersey is the state party organization for New Jersey of the Green Party of the United States. It was founded in January 1997 by Nick Mellis (2008-2009 chair) and Steve Welzer.[1]

Green Party of New Jersey
ChairpersonCraig Cayetano, Diane Moxley, Tom Violett
FoundedJanuary 1997 (1997-01)
IdeologyGreen politics
National affiliationGreen Party of the United States
ColorsGreen
Seats in State Upper Houses
0 / 40
Seats in State Lower Houses
0 / 80
Website
www.gpnj.org

Activity

The Green Party of New Jersey is one of the more active Green state affiliates, having nominated over 150 candidates for office. The party experienced its first non-partisan electoral victory in 1999 when (1997-1998 Party chair) Gary Novosielski was elected by voters in Rutherford to the Board of Education of the Rutherford School District.[2]

In January 2003, Matt Ahearn, a New Jersey state legislator who had been elected to the New Jersey General Assembly as a Democrat in 2002, switched his registration to the Green Party, becoming the party's first state-level representative.[3] Ahearn ran for re-election as a Green Party candidate in 2003 but lost to Robert M. Gordon, the Democratic candidate for office.[4] In 2012, medical marijuana advocate Ken Wolski was the Green Party nominee for U.S. Senator from New Jersey. He finished in fourth place out of eleven candidates.

In December 2014, there were 1,302 registered Greens in New Jersey, with the highest registration numbers in Bergen, Monmouth, Middlesex, and Camden counties.[5] In May 2016, the Green Party of New Jersey saw a spike in registration, registering as many new voters in the past two months as it had in the past four years.[6] By the end of 2016, there were 3,252 voters registered as Green.[7]

In the 2016 election, Green Camden City Council candidate Gary Frazier received 6% of the vote, and Green Congressional candidates Raj Mailiah and Steve Welzer each received 0.7%.[7] By November 2017, ten New Jersey counties had local affiliates recognized by the state party: Monmouth, Ocean, Atlantic, Gloucester, Essex, Camden, Bergen, Union, Mercer, and Morris.

The Green Party of New Jersey's 2017 gubernatorial candidate was Rev. Seth Kaper-Dale of Highland Park, with Lisa R. Durden of Newark as his running mate.[8]

The Green Party of New Jersey ran two candidates in the 2018 general election: Madelyn Hoffman for U.S. Senate,[9] and Diane Moxley for Congressional District 7.[10] Neither won, but Madelyn Hoffman received 25,150 votes and Diane Moxley received 2,676 votes.[11]

Current state party co-chair Craig Cayetano ran for Hawthorne Council in the November 2019 election. Although he did not win, he plans to run again in 2020 for a seat that has become vacant. Madelyn Hoffman is running for U.S. Senate again in the 2020 election.

As of May 2020, there were 10,325 registered Greens in New Jersey, and new registrations come in every month.

Elected officials

From April 1999 to December 2015, there was one elected registered Green in New Jersey for a non-partisan office.[12]

  • Gary Novosielski, Board of Education, Rutherford (member from April 1999 to December 2015, president from January 2014 to December 2015).[13]

In the 2017 election, Green party member Jessica Clayton of Brick was elected to the Brick Board of Education as a non-partisan candidate.[14] Green party member Erika Jacho was elected to the school board of Belleville, although she was not formally endorsed by the Green Party.

In 2019, Green Party endorsed candidate Corey Teague won a seat on the Paterson School Board and was sworn in on 1/2/20. [15]

Election results
U.S. Senate[16]
Year Nominee Votes %
2018 Madelyn R. Hoffman 25,150 0.79
2020 Madelyn R. Hoffman

Governor[8]
Year Nominee Votes
1997 Madelyn R. Hoffman 10,703 (0.44%)
2001 Jerry L. Coleman 6,238 (0.28%)
2005 Matthew Thieke 12,315 (0.54%)
2009 None NA
2013 Steve Welzer 8,295 (0.39%)
2017 Seth Kaper-Dale 10,053 (0.47%)
2021

Presidential nominee results [17]
Year Nominee Votes
1996 Ralph Nader 32,465 (1.06%)
2000 Ralph Nader 94,554 (2.97%)
2004 David Cobb 1,807 (0.05%)
2008 Cynthia McKinney 3,636 (0.09%)
2012 Jill Stein 9,888 (0.27%)
2016 Jill Stein 37,772 (0.99%)
2020

See also

References
  1. Personal communication, Steve Welzer, 4/14/18.
  2. "Greengram". gpnj.org. Green Party of New Jersey. May 1999. Retrieved 10 October 2007. Congratulations to longtime GPNJ member and outgoing Chair, Gary Novosielski, who was elected to the Rutherford, NJ Board of Education on April 20.
  3. "GREEN ASSEMBLYMAN MATT AHEARN VOWS FIGHT FOR CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM" (Press release). The Green Party of New Jersey, updated 28 March 2003. 26 January 2003. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 27 July 2007. State Assemblyman Matthew Ahearn (G - Fair Lawn), who left the Democrats for the Green Party last week, vowed today to battle for campaign finance reform, a key Green issue, when he returns to the legislature
  4. Kornacki, Steve (5 November 2003). "In huge win for McGreevey, Democrats win control of Senate, gain six Assembly seats". nownj.org. National Organization for Women, New Jersey. Archived from the original on 3 November 2005. Retrieved 27 July 2007. former Fair Lawn Mayor Robert Gordon and Fort Lee Councilwoman Joan Voss won the 38th districts seats of Heck and Green Party Assemblyman Matt Ahearn.
  5. "Statewide Voter Registration Summary" (PDF). nj.gov. State of New Jersey Department of State. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
  6. Symons, Michael (30 May 2016). "Thanks, Clinton & Trump: Huge boon for third parties in NJ". nj1015.com. Townsquare Entertainment News. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
  7. "Statewide Voter Registration Summary" (PDF). nj.gov. State of New Jersey Department of State. 31 December 2016. Retrieved 30 January 2017.
  8. "New Jersey Department of State - Division of Elections". nj.gov. State of New Jersey Department of State. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  9. Biryukov, Nikita (July 17, 2018). "20 years later, Hoffman again running with Green Party". New Jersey Globe. Retrieved August 7, 2018.
  10. Stack, Liam (August 1, 2018). "Green Party, Eyeing the 2020 Presidential race, Prepares for the Midterms". The New York Times. Retrieved August 7, 2018.
  11. "New Jersey Department of State Division of Elections". Retrieved December 30, 2018.
  12. "Greens holding elected office - US". feinstein.org. Michael Feinstein city council. Archived from the original on 2 October 2003. Retrieved 4 September 2010.
  13. Gary Novosielski on LinkedIn
  14. Mikle, Jean. "NJ Election: Here are your Ocean County results". Asbury Park Press.
  15. "2019 School Board Results". Passaic County, NJ Election Results. Retrieved December 29, 2019.
  16. "NJ DOS - Division of Elections - 2018 Election Results". www.state.nj.us. Retrieved 2020-05-23.
  17. "New Jersey Department of State - Division of Elections". nj.gov. State of New Jersey Department of State. Retrieved 30 January 2017.
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