Bad news for green voters: the executive committee of the Green Party of Texas has decided not to petition for ballot access in the primaries or the general election. This means that candidates who thought they would be part of a party slate, including presidential hopefuls at the top of the ballot, now have to face a tough decision: give up, or go on as an independent.
Apparently, the party had failed to reach its targets for signatures and fund-raising this time around, so it’s deferring and will try again in 2010 instead. However, Travis County Green Party Chairperson Bill Holloway said that party members who had intended to run under the party banner – and are now independents – can call themselves Greens.
UPDATE: Whoops, our bad – that’s just the Travis County Green Party, not the statewide party. This just affects party candidates in county-level races: the Green Party of Texas made its filing for state-wide ballot access on Dec. 7. Our apologies for the mistake and any confusion.
FURTHER UPDATE: Hmm, less whoops, less our bad. Even some candidates seem confused, but according to Green Party of Texas chair Doug Reber, the state party has filed for ballot access, but won’t find out until later in the year whether they’re getting it or not: they may not know until their convention in June, because they may still be waiting on the secretary of state to verify their petition signatures. To avoid a situation like 2006, he said, when candidates were left off because they didn’t get access, the latest crop of Greens were given the option: go independent (and guarantee a slot), or stay on the party list, in the hopes there’s a party slate to be on. The list of those that remain can be found here.
This article appears in 2007.
