Green Party Nominates Congressional Candidates, Others

The Green Party of Arkansas met this weekend and drafted a slate of candidates for office.

The left-of-center group nominated Dr. Jill Stein as their Presidential nominee. Stein, a Massachusetts physician and environmental activist, has garnered 16 state parties’ nominations.

There were four Green Party nominees for Congress — one for each Congressional District — and two candidates have made previous runs.  The Congressional nominees are:

Jacob Holloway- U.S. House 1st District
Barbara Ward- U.S. House 2nd District
Rebekah Kennedy- U.S. House 3rd District
Joshua Drake- U.S. House 4th District

Kennedy has made several attempts at office before, including U.S. Senate and Attorney General. Drake ran in the Fourth District in 2010.

In past Congressional races, Green Party candidates have had little impact in the final outcome. In 2010, the best performing Green Party Congressional candidate was Ken Adler, who pulled 4.6% of the vote in the First District.

Two other nominees were drafted for legislative offices. Former State Rep. Fred Smith, who was kicked off the Democratic ballot for improperly filing to run, will be a nominee in House District 51.  He’ll be up against State Rep. Hudson Hallum (D-Marion) who won Smith’s seat after he vacated in 2011.

Travis Mason will run as a Green Party nominee in House District 45. That seat is currently held by Rep. Jeremy Gillam (R-Judsonia) and Mason will be his only opponent.

The Green Party also fielded a candidate for Craighead County Clerk and Garland County Tax Assessor as well as several Justice of the Peace candidates.