Green Party of Washington

No War With Iran

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People wave Iranian flags during a rally in Tehran on Saturday. Arash Khamooshi/The New York Times/Redux

Statement by the South Sound Green Party – February 28th, 2026

The South Sound Green Party strongly condemns the joint U.S.-Israel military strikes on Iran launched on February 28, 2026, which have already resulted in over 200 deaths, including 85 students killed in school strikes in Minab and Tehran, and hundreds more injured.

These attacks, codenamed “Roaring Lion” by Israel and “Operation Epic Fury” by the U.S., targeted sites in Tehran, Isfahan, and other cities without UN authorization or congressional approval, violating international law and the principles of national sovereignty and self-determination enshrined in the Green Party of the United States’ (GPUS) platform.

These attacks escalate tensions and make peace in the area near impossible to achieve without a massive loss of human life. We call for an immediate cessation of attacks and an end to U.S.-Israeli military cooperation.

We stand with the people-led movements for self-determination around the globe, including in Iran. Self-determination cannot be achieved through military intervention by colonial and imperialist nation-states like the U.S. and Israel. We reject the flawed logic of “preemptive strikes,” which only serve to escalate hostilities and entrench opposition.

These strikes have caused devastating loss of life, with Iran’s Red Crescent reporting at least 201 dead and 747 injured in the initial hours, alongside confirmed killings of IRGC commanders and civilians in residential areas. Such aggression exacerbates suffering in the region, contradicting the GPUS commitment to non-violence and opposition to U.S. wars that prioritize empire over human lives. 

Executed unilaterally by President Trump without democratic oversight, these preemptive strikes flout international law and the UN’s role in maintaining peace, directly opposing long-standing Green Party demands to close foreign bases, end U.S. imperialism, and promote diplomacy over military intervention. Our platform explicitly supports nations’ rights to self-determination free from foreign interference.

The South Sound Green Party demands an immediate ceasefire, U.S. troop withdrawal, and a shift to multilateral diplomacy and humanitarian aid that must include reparations from the US, Israel, and their enablers. We support the people of Iran and Kurdistan in liberation from both local tyranny and global empire.

Original statement from the South Sound Green Party

Disobedience Works

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The United States, including Washington, has a rich history of civil disobedience actions bringing about material political victories where other tactics fell short.

We often think about the progress made through civil disobedience during the civil rights era in the US. In our own state, we remember the Native American fish-ins of the ’60s, where state law was intentionally broken by fishing without a permit in protest of the denial of Native treaty rights, leading to the landmark Boldt decision that largely restored those rights.

But today, the establishment has learned how to neuter movements that rely on civil disobedience alone. Their allies in corporate media intentionally ignore movement actions and marginalize popular demands.

That’s why it’s time for political disobedience. This means defying establishment orders to vote or run as a Democrat or a Republican as part of a comprehensive political strategy. This doesn’t mean forfeiting electoral politics altogether — it means accepting that you cannot change a corrupt, corporate party from within and organizing outside of it.

Joining the Green Party of Washington to organize for people, peace, and planet while taking clear steps to reject the capitalist order maintained by the duopoly is the kind of disobedience that will accomplish real, progressive change.

As a fellow anti-capitalist progressive activist and voter who recently took the step to join the Green Party of Washington, I look forward to welcoming new members and I thank existing members for already having taken an important “politically disobedient” step.

Organizing with you in solidarity,

Karissa Halstrom
GreenPartyWashington.org

Your Anti-Capitalist Political Home for People, Peace, and Planet

  • Become a GPWA member: Members can organize local chapters, endorse candidates, elect state party leaders, and elect representatives to the national Green Party US organizations. Learn more about becoming a member here.
  • Join or form a GPWA chapter: Organizing GPWA members into chapters across Washington State amplifies our message. When you join GPWA as a member and form or join a chapter, you have a voice in determining which candidates get endorsement. Explore existing local chapters here and learn what it takes to form your own here.
  • Run for office: Are you considering running for office or thinking of encouraging someone else to run for office? Now is the time to begin planning for a run and putting together campaign teams! Filing week in WA for most elected offices is May 4-8, 2026. Learn about running for office here.
  • Send us a donation: Don’t have extra time to volunteer right now? You can still be part of building the Green movement by chipping in financially, either as a dues-paying member or a one-time donation here. If you’re already a member or donor, THANK YOU.

Eliminate Money in Politics

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We have exciting news. With your help…

We can undo Citizens United in Washington State and get corporate and dark money out of our elections!

Fix Democracy First and the Center for American Progress have drafted legislation that would reduce the powers given to artificial entities (corporations, etc.) by restating the powers of such entities to not include the power to spend money on elections. This will eliminate such spending in local, state, and federal elections and applies to all corporations, no matter where they are chartered.

If you would like more information before signing the Citizen Resolution, you can find it HERE. Take a look at the short video introducing CAP’s plan and read the introduction.

Resolution:

“We the People of the State of Washington hereby resolve that the Legislature shall pass and the Governor shall sign a law providing that entities created under Washington law do not have the power to expend resources to influence elections and ballot measures.”

Please sign to show your support!

Thank you!

Start a Green Organizing Group

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Did you know that it just takes a few people to start a Green Party of Washington local organizing group?

As GPWA Organizer, I am here to help you organize.

Do you have friends, family, and neighbors who share your disapproval of corporate-sponsored politics? Do you have a local political establishment — or even a single establishment darling — who is indifferent to your community’s needs and whose power you want to challenge?

Don’t do it alone. It only takes two or three to start the tango in your community.

Connecting with fellow anti-capitalists is the first step. All it takes is a few people getting together not only to lament about the problems, but to visualize solutions.

There are existing Green Party supporters and members all over Washington State, with even more who resonate with our message as we collectively watch the two-party system utterly fail us during this time of crisis. We have to start building an alternative.

Let’s do this all over the Evergreen State.

Currently, we have an informal group of GPWA members in Snohomish County who would like to get more involved. Let us know if you are in Snohomish County and would like to connect with Greens in your area!

Once an informal group has a few achievements under its belt, the next step to building political power is to form a chapter.

Learn what it takes to form a local Green Party chapter.

In Southwest Washington, there are so many progressive-minded folks and a local Democratic Party that is entrenched in the status quo and corrupted by corporate cash. People are hungry for another option, and several important local seats are up for grabs.

Would you like to connect with other anti-capitalists in Southwest Washington and start a GPWA organizing group?

Official chapters already exist in Seattle / King County and in Olympia / South Sound. If you would like to see the Green Party of Washington become stronger in more areas, please let me know what you can do to help make organized anti-capitalist political actions more visible.

“We are not outnumbered, we’re out-organized.” – Malcolm X. Let’s get organized!

In peace and solidarity,

Karissa Halstrom
GreenPartyWashington.org

Your Anti-Capitalist Political Home for People, Peace, and Planet

  • Become a GPWA member: Members can organize local chapters, endorse candidates, elect state party leaders, and elect representatives to the national Green Party US organizations. Learn more about becoming a member here.
  • Join or form a GPWA chapter: Organizing GPWA members into chapters across Washington State amplifies our message. When you join GPWA as a member and form or join a chapter, you have a voice in determining which candidates get endorsement. Explore existing local chapters here and learn what it takes to form your own here.
  • Run for office: Are you considering running for office or thinking of encouraging someone else to run for office? Now is the time to begin planning for a run and putting together campaign teams! Filing week in WA for most elected offices is May 4-8, 2026. Learn about running for office here.
  • Send us a donation: Don’t have extra time to volunteer right now? You can still be part of building the Green movement by chipping in financially, either as a dues-paying member or a one-time donation here. If you’re already a member or donor, THANK YOU.

ICE OUT of our Communities: General Strike on Friday, January 30th

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The violence and assaults on our civil liberties we’re seeing in Minnesota and around the country at the hands of federal agents is unconscionable. As a truly anti-war party, we understand that fascism is imperialism turned inward.

As anti-capitalists, we understand the language that the ruling class speaks and the power of withholding our labor. Fortunately, we are seeing a surge of working-class consciousness emerge in response to the Trump administration’s attacks on our communities.

The Green Party calls for abolishing ICE, and we urge everyone to heed the call for a general strike this Friday, January 30th. We must SHUT IT DOWN to ensure our collective demands are met.

Check out the Green Party of the US Latinx Caucus endorsement of the January 30th national shutdown here and the Green Party of Utah’s statement here. For more information on the general strike, you can go to nationalshutdown.org.

Beyond the general strike, we need to get organizing. As Green Party candidate for Governor of California, Dr. Butch Ware, often quotes from Malcom X: “We are not outnumbered, we are out-organized.”

We know that the pro-war, pro-corporate, pro-police state duopoly will not be coming to save us—even as we’ve reached a crisis point with lawless federal agents executing our loved ones in the streets for the crime of protecting our neighbors from being kidnapped by ICE thugs.

Finally, I’ll leave you with a statement from our own Marc Mixon, Chair of the Green Party of Washington State:

“We are living in dark times, and as the empire crumbles, the violent lashing out at home and across the world will increase. Standing up and fighting back can be scary. But they are scared, too. Scared of our collective power. Scared of our active resistance. We can beat them. If we couldn’t, they wouldn’t be spending so much time and money fighting and oppressing us. Germany fell to the Nazis because ninety percent of people allowed themselves to be bystanders…Unwilling to take a risk to do what is right. Don’t be a bystander. Doing nothing makes you complicit in the assault on our freedoms and lives. The time is now. Stand up with your community, defend the lives we love. If you won’t fight for them, who will fight for you?”

I hope you’ll let us know how you can organize with the Green Party in the coming weeks to amplify our message and challenge the powers-that-be who brought us to this moment. We’re in a fight for our lives.

In peace and solidarity,

Karissa Halstrom
GreenPartyWashington.org

Your Anti-Capitalist Political Home for People, Peace, and Planet

  • Become a GPWA member: Members can organize local chapters, endorse candidates, elect state party leaders, and elect representatives to the national Green Party US organizations. Learn more about becoming a member here.

  • Join or form a GPWA chapter: Organizing GPWA members into chapters across Washington State amplifies our message. When you join GPWA as a member and form or join a chapter, you have a voice in determining which candidates get endorsement. Explore existing local chapters here and learn what it takes to form your own here.
  • Run for office: Are you considering running for office or thinking of encouraging someone else to run for office? Now is the time to begin planning for a run and putting together campaign teams! Filing week in WA for most elected offices is May 4-8, 2026. Learn about running for office here.
  • Send us a donation: Don’t have extra time to volunteer right now? You can still be part of building the Green movement by chipping in financially, either as a dues-paying member or a one-time donation here. If you’re already a member or donor, THANK YOU.

SUPPORT UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE

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New bills advance the cause of Universal Healthcare for Washington

Two bills are scheduled for hearings in January 2026!

SJR 8206 will protect the right to healthcare in the Washington State Constitution.

SB 5947 will create a Board when the federal government takes specific actions. Both are important steps toward our goal of establishing universal healthcare in WA State.

They both need your voice!

SJR 8206 Amending the Constitution to establish a right to affordable health care.

Sponsors: Hasegawa, Chapman, Liias, Lovelett, Nobles, Saldaña, Slatter, Stanford, Valdez, Wilson, C.

This resolution would provide constitutional protection for cost-effective, clinically appropriate, and affordable healthcare for all Washington State Residents.

SJR 8206 explainer video

SB 5947 Establishing the Washington health care board.

Sponsors: Hasegawa, Bateman, Chapman, Orwall, Riccelli, Saldaña

This bill would establish a board to create a single-payer, universal healthcare system after receiving federal waivers (ERISA/Medicare) or the State-Based Universal Health Care Act legislation passes nationally.

SB 5947 explainer video

See Whole Washington for more information on these and other healthcare bills in the Washington State Legislature.

Organizing for Campaigns and Endorsements in Washington

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First and foremost, we want to extend a word of solidarity in light of the ICE actions currently terrorizing American cities and the escalating illegal acts of war we’re all watching take place. We hope you are taking care of yourself and your community wherever you are in Washington State.

This year demands more from all of us as we contend with the symptoms of late-stage capitalism, the blowback of US imperialism, and the knowledge that both corporate parties, whose partnership brought us to this moment, will not be coming to save us.

The political moment calls for building power for uncompromising anti-capitalist voices and organizing outside of the corporate duopoly for people, peace, and planet. Have you thought about how you can help us achieve this in 2026? There are many ways you can take action:

  • Become a GPWA member: Members can organize local chapters, endorse candidates, elect state party leaders, and elect representatives to the national Green Party US organizations. Learn more about becoming a member here.
  • Join or form a GPWA chapter: Organizing GPWA members into chapters across Washington State amplifies our message. When you join GPWA as a member and form or join a chapter, you have a voice in determining which candidates get endorsement. Explore existing local chapters here and learn what it takes to form your own here.
  • Run for office: Are you considering running for office or thinking of encouraging someone else to run for office? Now is the time to begin planning for a run and putting together campaign teams! Filing week in WA for most elected offices is May 4-8, 2026. Learn about running for office here.
  • Send us a donation: Don’t have extra time to volunteer right now? You can still be part of building the Green movement by chipping in financially, either as a dues-paying member or a one-time donation here. If you’re already a member or donor, THANK YOU.

We’ve got big goals for 2026.

Please reach out to me to help organize and strengthen Green Party Washington campaigns.

For additional reference, visit our Candidate Recruitment page to see information about and a link to a recording of a webinar that GPWA conducted last year with two Green elected officials.

Karissa Halstrom
Organizer

action@greenpartywashington.org

Green Party of Washington State

Your Anti-Capitalist Political Home for People, Peace, and Planet

Meet GPWA’s New Organizer – Karissa Halstrom

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The Coordinating Council of the Green Party of Washington is pleased to warmly welcome and to introduce you to Karissa Halstrom, who has just signed on as GPWA Organizer.

Karissa’s life passions for environmental, social, and economic justice and for human rights are manifest in her Clark County activism and in her support for progressive candidates, including Green Party candidates. She recognizes the imperative not only to organize outside of the corporate duopoly, but also to utilize elections as a platform for the Green Party’s message in order to grow the movement for people, planet, and peace.

Karissa lives in Southwest Washington, has been a proud member of the working class throughout most of her adult life, and entered the anti-capitalist left through her journey learning about the climate crisis and engaging in environmental activism. Some of Karissa’s efforts in recent years have been founding a mutual aid community fridge network in her community, working on local land use policy, and launching a citizen advocacy journalism podcast called Everything is Fine in SWWA, where she advances progressive viewpoints in local politics and interviews candidates.

As GPWA Organizer, Karissa will have three areas of focus as she reaches out to GPWA members:

  1. Volunteer Engagement
  2. Candidate Development
  3. Party Growth – Members, Volunteers, Chapters, and Income

GPWA members who are eager to reach out to Karissa to assist her with her responsibilities are welcome to contact her at action@greenpartywashington.org.

In Solidarity,

greenpartywashington.org

Your Anti-Capitalist Political Home for People, Peace, and Planet

PLEASE DONATE to GPWA

GPWA Organizer – Seeking applicants!

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Green Party of Washington Organizer – Contract Position

Application deadline is December 5th, 2025

Online interviews will be scheduled on the evening of Tuesday, December 16th.

To grow, we must engage volunteers, increase membership, and run candidates. Engaging volunteers, increasing membership, and supporting candidates and campaigns will ultimately build strong Green Party chapters. Engaging an organizer is a good investment and more efficient and effective than relying entirely on volunteers.

The Organizer will serve as a contractor, not an employee. The contract will last for three months (probationary period), with an option to renew for 9 months, based on work performance. The contract begins on January 1, 2026.

The Organizer position will be a contract for 20 hours per month at $500 per month. Any changes in hours or pay per month must be approved by the GPWA Coordinating Council (CC).

The contractor will provide monthly status reports to the CC on their work.

Volunteer Engagement (10 hours per/month)

1. Call all new volunteers and members to engage people in action and encourage volunteers to join as members. Encourage new members to join Loomio.

2. Helping volunteers move into leadership roles, including organizing for their area and forming local chapters. Develop tabling kits and literature, etc., for volunteers to do outreach.

3. Organize periodic state-wide and/or regional Zoom calls on topics of interest to volunteers, including campaign support.

4. Coordinate Eblasts, texts, and phone calls on behalf of the State Party.

Membership & Income (5 hours per/month)

1. Call GPWA supporters and create automations in NB to increase membership and income from membership, including converting non-members to members and increasing the level of dues paid by individual members.

2. Provide follow-up for calls made by the Contract Fundraiser.

Candidate Recruitment and Campaign Support (5 hours per/month)

1. Serve as a liaison for Green Party candidates by engaging Green Party members and volunteers to become involved.

2. Recruit new candidates and develop a Green Party recruitment webpage.

3. Social media outreach to support candidates and engage volunteers.

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To apply:

Send your letter of interest, qualifications, and references to hello@greenpartywashington.org

NO NUCLEAR PROLIFERATION – Call to Action!

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GREENS & anti-war allies in Washington:

NO NUCLEAR PROLIFERATION!

Please make at least one phone call today to the capital switchboard.  202-224-3121

It is an easy few minutes of effort for People, Peace, and Planet. Real human beings are there to listen to your messages, not email-aggregating AI bots. Ask to connect to the office of Senator Cantwell, Senator Murry, or Representative Larson.

In your own words, tell them that:

  • Washington does not want the US to resume nuclear testing
  • Washington supports limits and cuts in nuclear arsenals. The U.S. and Russia must renew the 2010 New START commitment, which expires February 5, 2026.
  • Washington Supports both H. RES. 100 and S. Res. 61 –

“Expressing support for the continued value of arms control agreements and negotiated constraints on Russian and Chinese strategic nuclear forces.”

Pramila Jayapal and Adam Smith are co-sponsors from Washington State.

Ask Rick Larsen to do the same. Call the office, or write to him online, call him at (202) 225-2605, or mail a letter to 2163 Rayburn HOB, Washington, DC 20515.

Some Backstory:

President Trump dropped a bomb and announced in early November that “Because of other countries testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis. That process will begin immediately.”

In point of fact, the U.S. has not conducted a nuclear test since 1992, China and France last did so in 1996, and the Soviet Union in 1990.

Trump’s order was widely criticized by nuclear scientists and nonproliferation experts, who said that Washington had little to gain from live drills, which would likely only embolden Moscow and Beijing.

Either he is not fully cognizant of what this really means, or he just does not care. Sen. Ed Markey coined the term ‘Trumpatomics’ to characterize this new directive.

Pete Hegseth, everyone’s favorite Guantanamo Bay Alum and, ‘Secretary of War’ apparently lives in an alternate reality where nuclear testing makes us all safer. The ‘us’ he refers to are the weapons & petrol-based dollah big C Capitalists.

In the House, Congresswoman Dina Titus of Nevada introduced the ‘Renewing Efforts to Suspend Testing and Reinforce Arms Control Initiatives Now’ (RESTRAIN) Act on October 30, 2025.

“With just 97 days until the only arms control agreement between the U.S. and Russia expires, now should be the time to negotiate further arms-control agreements, not create mushroom clouds in the Nevada desert.” – Dina Titus [NV]

In the Senate, Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts, a long-time disarmament advocate, introduced legislation ‘To prohibit the use of funds for an explosive nuclear weapons test’ on October 30.

“The No Nuclear Testing Act would use Congress’s power of the purse to deny the Trump administration from restarting nuclear testing. We should not simply ignore the terrible lessons of the Cold War and expose a new generation of Americans to the horrors of radiation sickness. We will not learn anything new about the nuclear stockpile from new tests; we will only endanger our health and security.” -Ed Markey [MA]

Make that call today!

Call the Capitol switchboard (202-224-3121), where an operator will direct your call to Senator Cantwell or Senator Murray or Representative Larsen. Phone calls leave a stronger impression than a form letter, but ANY ACTION is helpful.