GPWA Candidate Statements

Nominees for GPWA offices:


LEE SCOTT LAUGENOUR – CANDIDATE FOR DELEGATE TO GPUS NATIONAL COMMITTEE

Nomination Bio for Lee Scott LAUGENOUR (he/him/his)

Green Party Commitment:

  • 2022 – present: monthly financial contributor to GPUS
  • 2015 – present: monthly dues-paying member of GPWA
  • 2008 – 2015: registered Green-Rainbow Party (MA) voter
  • 2000: first Green vote cast

Candidate/Campaign Experience:

  • 2022 – present: Candidate for GPUS Coordinating Campaign Committee (CCC) member
  • 2021 – present: GPUS CCC Associate for GPWA
  • 2021: GPWA point person for Forks (WA) mayoral candidate Stephen Wright
  • 2013 – 2015: Director of the Green-Rainbow Party (MA) Candidate Development and Legal Committee
  • 2012: Green-Rainbow Party Candidate for State Representative, Fourth Berkshire District of Massachusetts
  • 2010: Green-Rainbow Party Candidate for State Representative, Fourth Berkshire District of Massachusetts
  • 2009 – 2013: Treasurer for JD Hebert’s Berkshire County (MA) Sheriff (partisan) and Pittsfield (MA) City Council (non-partisan) campaigns
  • 2008: Candidate for Lenox (MA) Select Board (non-partisan)

Other Green Party positions held:

  • Green-Rainbow Party Representative to the GPUS National Committee in 2011
  • Green-Rainbow Party Membership Director in 2008-2009
  • Elected Green-Rainbow Party State Committee Representative from the Berkshire Hampden Franklin and Hampshire State Senatorial District 2011-2015

Career / Professional Background:

I have worked as a teacher of English as a Second Language in Tokyo and in Hanoi, worked in various front-line and in executive positions for Marriott International, and have run an art gallery business.  I have served on a number of boards in various fields, including several appointed positions in town government.  Presently I am retired, residing both in Hanoi, Vietnam and in Reykjavik, Iceland.  I remain a registered voter in Washington State.

Education:

BA Liberal Arts, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Class of 1980


MATTHEW VILLATA – CANDIDATE FOR COORDINATING COUNCIL – AT-LARGE

Matthew Villata hails from California, though he is proud to call Washington State University his alma mater. He very much thanks you for your time and consideration.

There is no place quite like Washington. Here is a state that is diverse, beautiful with a thrilling combination of mystique and the simply strange. A new arrival to the state of Washington and the Washington Green Party, Matthew wishes to contribute constructive positivity to both of his new homes geographically and politically.

There is fertile soil in this country and State for the so-called minor parties to grow past the shackles the so-called major parties have imposed on them and the people of this nation. The Green Party is at the forefront of this. The Party can give people the hope and optimism they need to challenge the oppressive status quo and can do this in simple and practical ways, like continuing to heavily support ranked-choice voting reform and an end to the odious tradition of gerrymandering. The Party can also prioritize working with other minor parties, those who operate out of love and respect and should do so while not compromising its own integrity. The task of establishing multiparty democracy in America is great. Reasonable alliances should be made to this end.

With that in mind, Matthew believes that the chief duty of any representative is to listen to the hearts and minds of those represented. A representative must also be timely and responsive. He has modest political experience, though he has made a habit of attending rallies and protests in order to understand how to listen and hear. From BLM rallies in Sacramento to C.H.O.P in Seattle, Matthew has witnessed that people are demanding real solutions to painful problems. It would be his honor to contribute to the solutions.

The man you are reading about has a straightforward set of skills. Washington State University taught him to write and reason at a passable level. He is not afraid of public speaking or public communication. He constantly studies American History. Work in radio, visual interpretation for the blind and low vision, and Special Education have instilled communication and listening skills. Matthew considers himself a Green-Libertarian and also associates with the Libertarian Party. His most important personal issue is the establishment of multiparty democracy in the United States and an end of the reign of two parties guided by fear, greed and the military-industrial complex. No less important are the preservation of this planet for future generations, the protection of personal liberty including individual privacy and the correction of the injustices found within the historical record of the United States. Great strides can be made in all these avenues within this lifetime.

The Green Party can grow and provide real help to people who need it the most. Matthew would be humbled to contribute to this eventuality to the best of his ability if chosen to serve.


Nominees for GPUS Committees:

Animal Rights Committee – Charles Law (continuing, May 2022 – May 2024)

Bylaws, Rules, Policies and Procedures Committee – Rick Morrow (to be appointed)

Coordinated Campaign Committee – Scott Laugenour (elected by the GPUS National Committee)

Diversity Committee – Daniel Bumbarger (to be appointed)

International Committee – Noah Martin (continuing, May 2022 – May 2024); Scott Laugenour (to be appointed)


Link to all GPUS Committees.


GPWA Candidate Statements

Candidates for GPWA offices are listed alphabetically by first name.


ALICE GREEN – CANDIDATE FOR DELEGATE TO GPUS NATIONAL COMMITTEE

Hello GPWA Greens, my name is Alice, and I am currently the acting Treasurer of Green Party of Seattle, and our small workgroup is methodically rebuilding our local chapter at this time. I maintain the GPSEA.org website and blog and participate in projects with other activist groups as well. Currently my official address is in Shoreline Washington, and I am also spending a lot of time in Portland because of a prolonged medical leave from my regular job as a nurse. When GPSEA bylaws are solidified I may move out of that position. My work background is as a Labor & Delivery RN, I am officially an empty nester and none of my four children or any of their friends who call me mom are staying with me.

Originally, I became involved with the Green Party of Washington as a member of the ‘Action Faction’ late in 2015, the following year I joined the Green Party of Seattle and became involved with the Jill Stein Campaign. She was an easy candidate for me to support. Both ‘mainstream’ parties are disappointing in that they represent interest groups and large corporate donors, and both support endless war.

I want to work with the Green Party of Washington at the national level as a Delegate and feel that although the job would be new to me, there are reliable Greens that will be willing to mentor me through the process of learning. My grasp of Green Values is strong although my grasp of Bylaws is weak, and it does take me time to digest the information that I read there. However, I am willing to learn and will endeavor to keep up with the emails, which I hear are copious, contentious, and convoluted.

There are many potential Green Votes in Washington, and I believe that many people would welcome a viable national party alternative to Republican or Democratic corporatocracy. In the 2024 election cycle an openly Ecosocialist Party has many reasons to succeed as young voters come of age and entrenched political forces wane. The Greens must stand up for Peace, Sustainability, and advocate for Regenerative Systems at all levels, personally and globally. Peace does start at home.

My main political interests are Universal Healthcare and Single Payer insurance reforms. I also feel that local economies can thrive with community building systems in place such as Free Higher Education, Mutual Aid Organizations, and Green Job opportunities. Technology can help or it can hurt us, we must safeguard Grassroots Empowerment against the Corporate and Technocratic forces that seek to commodify everyday citizens. When the powerful divide communities to maintain their control the only interests they represent are their own. If elected I would represent Ecosocialist values for the State of Washington as a National Delegate.

Thank you for the opportunity to represent Greens.


BRENT ALAN MITCHEL-GAUDET – CANDIDATE FOR APPOINTMENT TO COORDINATING COUNCIL – AT-LARGE AND APPOINTMENT AS DELEGATE TO GPUS NATIONAL COMMITTEE

Brent has an educational background in Environmental Sciences and in Socio-Cultural Anthropology. An alumnus of the California State University, Fullerton, the University of Wyoming, Laramie, and the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, he is active in a number of scientific, cultural, heritage, and environmental organizations.

Brent was most recently the manager of the Hoodsport Visitor Information Center in Hoodsport, Washington. The Center is a partnership with the US Forest Service, the National Park Service, and the Shelton/Mason Chamber of Commerce.

He is a retired Lieutenant/Engineer with the Nenana Alaska Fire Department and has been the Nenana Cultural and Visitors Center Manager for 4 years.

He was a certified as an Emergency Trauma Technician with the State of Alaska. He was also certified in Healthcare Provider CPR.

Brent has worked as the Assistant Program Director for the tribal TCCC AmeriCorps program and has been the CERT program coordinator.

Brent worked at the Smithsonian Institution Museum of Natural History

Brent has worked in partnership with the National Park Service, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service, Tanana Chiefs Conference, and with other government agencies and non-profits, on projects in Virginia, Alaska, Minnesota, and California.

A former Habitat Restoration Specialist with the Fairbanks Soil and Water Conservation District, Brent has focused on Schoolyard Habitat Restoration Projects in the Alaska Interior. Brent has been the Environmental Youth Corps Coordinator for three years, which included training young adults in Ecology, CPR, and ETT.

Brent has worked with children K-12 on environmental projects and sustainable agriculture gardens, in classrooms. Brent has worked with Nenana City School, Tri-Valley School. Two Rivers School, Cantwell School, Hopson Middle School, Minto School, and many others.

Statement of Interest from Brent:

I am submitting this statement of interest in order to be considered for the two unfilled positions.

I believe I possess the qualifications to fill either the National Delegate or the At-large Coordination Council position.

I have a history of working in positions of service and environmental protection.

I have been on the front lines of struggle for social justice for minorities, women, and the under-served in our society, my entire adult life.

I have worked with Winona LaDuke on environmental and sustainable foods projects on the White Earth Reservation, Ogema, Minnesota.

I am currently on the Global Green COP26 working group.

I have developed and I continue to develop positive relationships with Greens from around the world. I have cultivated friendships and positive relationships with Greens from every continent (except Antarctica).

I am easy to work with. I am positive and caring. I get things done.

I have the time and dedication to serve in either of these very important positions.

Respectfully,

Brent A. Mitchel-Gaudet


DANIEL BUMBARGER – CANDIDATE FOR COORDINATING COUNCIL – AT-LARGE

Hello everyone, my name is Daniel Bumbarger and I’ve been nominated to the state Coordinating Council. I’ve been a formal member of the state party for a little over a year, but I’ve been a green voter and advocate since 2012.

I’m currently the Secretary and Webmaster for the South Sound Green Party chapter. I am also a member of the National Lavender Green Caucus and serve on the Green Party National Accreditation and Fundraising Committees. Additionally, I am a member and heavily involved with the GPUS Youth Caucus where I work on the media team.

Outside of the Green Party I am a long time HIV/AIDS prevention and education advocate helping form and serving on the board of governors for a local prevention non-profit.

I’m organized and a regular attendee of the GPWA CC meetings and feel I’d be a good fit. That’s of course up to you! Give me the work and I’ll be happy to do it.


JODY GRAGE – CANDIDATE FOR COORDINATING COUNCIL – AT-LARGE

I was born in Seattle and have been an activist for most of my live. I taught at-risk youth in the Central Area in the early 60s, at alternative schools, and at Juvenile Hall. I have deep roots as a community activist in Ballard where I have lived since 1976. I founded and ran the Seattle Nonviolent Peacekeeper Pool for over a decade back in the day and was one of the founders of both Sustainable Seattle and Sustainable Ballard.

In the mid-80s I worked with the issue-based group Cascadia Green Alliance and on our newspaper “Waves”. I continued as it grew into the Green Party of Washington State serving on many working groups as well as the Coordinating Council as Treasurer and an at-large member over the years. I served on the GPUS Steering Committee for several terms as an at-large member, as well as four years as Treasurer and two years as Secretary, and have been a member of many committees.

I bring with me institutional memory, an appetite for paperwork, a willingness to toil in the trenches, a vision of Green Party locals all across our state – and a feeling that the 11th Key Value is perseverance.


LISA CANAR (she/her) – CANDIDATE FOR COORDINATING COUNCIL – DEPUTY TREASURER

I have been a member of the Green Party of Seattle and Green Party of Washington since 2016. I currently volunteer as social media and communications coordinator for GPWA, and oversee our social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter), post news to our website, publicize events, and send organizational emails. I attended the GPUS annual convention in 2016 as a Presidential Nominating Convention delegate, and I have served on the GPWA Coordinating Council for five years, most recently as Deputy Treasurer. I am running to continue in the role of Deputy Treasurer for 2021-2022.

In my professional life, I am a Medical Consultant for a diagnostic and clinical testing laboratory. I completed my training in Naturopathic and Integrative Medicine at Bastyr University.

Our health depends on the health of our communities and our planet, and on establishing a comprehensive Green agenda. In my work and activism, I strive to uphold the Green visions and values of social and racial justice, grassroots democracy, environmental justice, sustainability, non-violence, cooperation, and ecosocialism. For people, planet, and peace over profit!


MARA BRAY (she/her) CANDIDATE FOR APPOINTMENT AS DELEGATE TO GPUS NATIONAL COMMITTEE

Hello everyone, my name is Mara Bray and I am submitting my biography for consideration to be nominated as a national delegate. I’ll be frank – I am new to the Green Party, and have little to no volunteer work with the party itself. However, what I can offer is my experiences, political involvement and education, and interest in supporting the Green Party. If, at the end of the day, what I offer is not enough to secure an elected position then I know it is not a good time for me – which is okay. So let me begin.

I am young, 29 years old, I have been on my own since I was 16 and have learned the importance of not only local community organizations, but a need for universal healthcare as well. I started volunteering in politics and voting at 18. My most involved bout of politics was in 2016 when I went all in for Bernie Sanders. This involvement with managing events, phone banks, and door knocking led me to not only winning a Congressional Delegate seat in Spokane, WA but an interest in politics as well. This was also the year I applied to, and got accepted into, Johns Hopkins University to pursue a Masters in Government. 2016 was also the year I chose to vote for Jill Stein and the Green Party over voting for a lesser evil. By 2018 I had spent two years researching millennials and voter turnout, finishing my Masters Thesis titled, “Deterioration of Civic Engagement: Millennial Behavior in Contemporary Politics.” In the most recent election I once again got nominated as a delegate representing Bernie Sanders, and while we continued to help edit and push a more progressive state platform, I once again found myself turning to vote for the Green Party. After two election cycles of voting Green, I realized what I wrote in my own thesis rang true to even me – the two party system is flawed. The vast cleavage growing between the two parties of Red and Blue is leaving middle of the road voters to choose between a lesser evil. We shouldn’t be sacrificing our values to choose a candidate that is slightly better than another. This is the moment I chose to officially join the Green Party. The Ten Key Values makes sense to me on a foundational level, which is why I am writing this today. While I do not have a strong foothold of volunteer time within the Green Party, I have spent years working in nonprofits, volunteering within the community, and being an activist.

When it’s all said and done I strongly believe that the Green Party needs fresh eyes, fresh ideas, and an individual who is both passionate and knowledgeable. I can offer both. I am here to stay in politics, and will eventually run for a locally elected position. I am also knowledgeable about the political agenda and the inner workings of the political arena, that I am not easily swayed nor fooled. I both recognize and respect that many of the Green Party members have put their blood, sweat, and tears into the party. A growing political party needs this. However, it also needs someone like me – new to the party, familiar with other parties, and the passion to help push us forward.

Thank you for your consideration and the opportunity to grow and represent the Greens.


MARGARET ELISABETH – CANDIDATE FOR COORDINATING COUNCIL – AT-LARGE AND APPOINTMENT AS DELEGATE TO GPUS NATIONAL COMMITTEE

Thank you for the privilege of letting me earn your vote for the Coordinating Council.

My name is Margaret Elisabeth and I’d like to tell you a little about myself, my involvement with the Green Party, my activism, and my general thoughts so that you’ll have something of an understanding of who I am and what I’m about.

I am a nonbinary person and recently served as Co-Chair of the National Lavender Green Caucus (April 2019 – April 2021). I have also served as the NLGC Alternate Delegate to the National Committee and as one of two Media Spokespeople for the Caucus. Both positions I was elected for in April 2020. Previous to my current positions in the NLGC, I was one of our National Delegates to the National Committee from 2017-2019. I take my obligations to my Caucus seriously and want to bring the same manner of serious mind to the GPWA CC should I win a seat. In those various positions, I’ve reinvigorated our Facebook Group and Community, created our YouTube and Discord Server, modernized, updated and added substantial new content to our website. I facilitate and moderate our Caucus monthly meetings and ensure that our Caucus gets its work done on the National Committees which we have reps on.

I believe in building the change we wish to see in the world. Nobody will build it for us. It’s difficult and time consuming however if we don’t do it, who will? I believe in speaking passionately and with courageous conviction regarding the values which matter to me personally, Social Justice, Non-Violence and Ecological Wisdom and I will do the same in my position on the Coordinating Committee to help our State grow and develop. Our Green ideals and values will be needed more than ever as we move, collectively, into a social milieu which will be dominated by issues of health, climate and social justice.

~Margaret Elisabeth  (They/Them)


MOLLY FEATHER (she/her) – CANDIDATE FOR ALTERNATE TO GPUS NATIONAL COMMITTEE

My name is Molly Feather. Thank you for nominating me as a candidate for National Alternate Delegate for the Green Party. I am part of the South Sound Green Party chapter and have held various positions over the years, and I would like to bring that experience to this position.

I am currently serving as the representative for The South Sound Green Party chapter to the GPWA coordinating council and a liaison to the Olympia Coalition To Abolish Nuclear Weapons. I also just got elected to represent or be seated to be on The Peace Committee in the National Lavender Caucus.

Thank you for the nomination and it would be an honor to represent The Green Party as a National Alternate Delegate.


NOAH MARTIN – CANDIDATE FOR ALTERNATE TO GPUS NATIONAL COMMITTEE

Noah Martin has been a community activist from a young age, when he would accompany his mother to Iraq War protests and “helped” sample frog populations and survey birds to protect local wetlands. After receiving his B.A. from Oberlin College in Politics and Latin American Studies, Noah has worked managing an in-school mentoring program for at-risk youth, as a counselor in a Seattle homeless shelter, as a landscaper, as a caregiver, and even as a geoducker. Today, he works in Olympia as a policy analyst and legislative advocate for Quaker Voice, a faith-based, grassroots organization that advocates for bold ecological action, criminal justice reform, and economic justice. He has worked with a range of organizations in Olympia, including Thurston County Progressives, Just Housing, Olympia IWW, Olympia Assembly, Olympia DSA, and as a founding member of Tenants of the South Sound.

Noah decided to vote for Jill Stein in 2012, his first vote ever cast for president. Noah has been a bonafide member of the Green Party since 2016, serving as the membership coordinator for the South Sound Green Party, as its delegate to the GPWA CC, and as one of GPWA’s delegates to the NC. He has served on the Green Party’s International Committee, and is its newest Youth Delegate to the Federation of Green Parties of the Americas. He also served as volunteer coordinator and field organizer for Renata Rollins’s successful 2017 campaign to put a Green on Olympia City Council.

Noah believes that the Green Party must be built from the ground up as a revolutionary, anti-capitalist alternative to the Democratic-Republican Party, engaging in mutual aid and direct action in addition to electoral politics. He is particularly interested in seeing the national party support these local efforts. If elected, his priorities will be continuing to champion and enforce LGBTQ rights in the party, restructuring the party to better track membership and coordinate nationwide actions, and revising the platform to better match the immediate needs of youth.


RICHARD REDICK – CANDIDATE FOR COORDINATING COUNCIL – AT-LARGE

Richard Redick joined the Green Party of the Mid-Columbia and the Green Party of Washington in January 2018 after spending roughly equal portions of his adult life as a Republican and as a Democrat. The events of the 2016 election cycle impelled Richard, as a matter of conscience, to permanently leave the 2-party system. With a degree in economics, and 21 years working for major corporations, he is convinced that, until Big Money is barred from influencing politics, the desires of the people will take a back seat with policy makers.

Deeply concerned, yet optimistic regarding the future, Richard sees a definite role for technology in both developing livable communities, and in linking them together in meaningful ways that are socially and ecologically healthy. He sees the Green Party platform oriented toward that constructive and hopeful end, and he is invigorated by it! Richard resides in Kennewick, Washington; presently sharing his home with 3 of his young adult children, and one playful, tabby cat.


SCOTT THOMPSON – CANDIDATE FOR COORDINATING COUNCIL – TREASURER

Scott grew up in Los Angeles but was very happy to move his family to Northwest Washington in 1993 to raise his kids in a more rural environment. Married over 38 years, he lives in a beautiful and peaceful place a bit up Sumas Mountain (in Whatcom County) enjoying time with his three grandkids. His bachelor’s degree is in Psychology with a Business minor. He worked as a Control Systems Engineer since moving to Washington, then took an early retirement in hopes of reducing his biological footprint. In 2001 he founded the Whatcom County Bicycle-Pedestrian Advisory Committee and now facilitates the local Green Party.

Scott admires all the Green Party 10 Key Values. However, he believes that Non-violence is clearly the most urgent… “Most US citizens have been manipulated into redirecting our country’s resources into unconstitutional wars that benefit international corporations and an imperialist agenda, but only harm the other 99%. If we could stop the wasteful practices of the military-industrial-intelligence complex, then we could easily implement the remaining 10 Key Values in our country. Let’s reject the fear-based narrative imposed on us from 9/11 by those that have benefited and work on awakening our fellow citizens to a brighter, sustainable future.”


STARLENE RANKIN – CANDIDATE FOR APPOINTMENT TO COORDINATING COUNCIL – AT-LARGE

I’d like to help our state party grow! I want to help us recruit and train more Green candidates and then win more elections. I want to work to improve our party’s image, strengthen our infrastructure, increase our presence on social media, increase our membership and create an affordable fundraising plan.

Green Party work:

Co-founder of the Iowa Green Party in 1996

Green Party organizing (mostly paid) in Iowa, Massachusetts, Chicago and Northern California from 1996-2002.

Co-founder of the National Lavender Green Caucus in 2003

First Lavender Caucus National Delegate 2003-2007

Co-founder of the National Women’s Caucus

Ran for City Council in 1999 in Ames, Iowa

Clearinghouse Coordinator for G/GPUSA in Lawrence, MA 2000-2001 (paid position)

Staff member of Rebecca Kaplan’s campaign for Oakland City Council in 2000 (paid position)

Staff member of Peter Camejo’s campaign for Governor in 2002 (paid position)

Green National Committee Delegate from GPCA

Lavender Green Caucus Co-Chair

Co-Chair GP Media Committee

GP Social Media Manager

GP-TV Livestream Producer

GPCA Clearinghouse Coordinator (paid position)

GPCA Standing Committee member

County Council member, Sacramento County GP

Previously on the Presidential Campaign Support Committee, Outreach Committee, Diversity Committee and Merchandise Committee

Co-chair of the Strategic Planning Working Group and was one of the writers of the Green Party National Strategic Plan

Fundraising Tech then Virtual Office Manager/Volunteer Coordinator for GPUS from 2015 to the end of 2020. (paid position)

Currently on the National Media Committee and the Annual Meeting Committee, hopefully will soon be on the Coordinated Campaign Committee (CCC)

Currently the Treasurer of the National Lavender Green Caucus and the National Women’s Caucus

Identify as: Senior, Lesbian, Disabled

Activism:

LGBTIQA+ Equality organizing, Food & Childcare coops and alternative schools, Natural childbirth and home birthing, Anti-war and Social Justice organizing, TV/Video Media activism, Arts Council Board member, Land Trust member, Neighborhood Association member, Summer festival organizer.

GPWA Candidate Statements

Candidates for GPWA offices are listed alphabetically by first name.

Note: All candidates for PNC delegate/alternate have pledged to vote in accordance with the results of our statewide primary on the first round of voting at the PNC.


ALICE GREEN – CANDIDATE FOR COORDINATING COUNCIL – AT-LARGE

“Alice Green is currently the chair of the Green Party of Seattle and is working diligently to revitalize Green activism in Seattle. She is the creative genius behind the engaging memes on the Green Party of Seattle Facebook page.” -Lisa Canar.

(I am leaving Lisa’s generous testimonial as is, mainly because of the part where she calls me a creative genius.)

In 2015 I became a member of the Green Party of Washington State as part of the ‘Action Faction’, a group of activist minded people that met weekly in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle. Later in 2016 I became an actual member of the Green Party of Seattle. My volunteer activities included tabling, vending, signature gathering, door knocking, bannering, commenting at Seattle City Hall, wheat pasting, letter writing, helping to edit the 2018 Green Party Agenda, and attempting to update the Green Party of Seattle website. For nearly 2 years I have been an ad hoc point person for Seattle Greens and the Green Party of Seattle treasurer.

In my work life I am a Registered Nurse on a Labor & Delivery unit here in Seattle. This job is very visceral but also quite phenomenological. You can actually look at something happen and five minutes later think, “Okay, that was impossible.” The genesis of things fascinates me. I feel that Seattle is pregnant with political possibilities for Greens that have yet to be realized. The framework we have is in place but needs to be fortified with right effort and expedient means. Greens must build a more resilient and sustainable political infrastructure at our State and Local Chapter levels. I don’t pretend to know how to do this but for now it is enough to believe that it could happen on my watch, and that I am here to help if I can.


C.J. SELLERS – CANDIDATE FOR PNC DELEGATE/ALTERNATE

My name is C.J. Sellers. As I haven’t been to any in-person Green Party events since I moved from North Carolina to King County (near Duvall), introductions are particularly necessary in my case. Thank you for your consideration.

I’m pretty much an open book, if you looked me up online. I’m semi-retired out of necessity—surviving cancer one day at a time. Most of my life I worked in retail and freelanced as a writer and graphic and web designer. Lately, I continue to write, have resumed making art, and working in the garden. I love animals and wildlife and living in the mountains. I’m a pacifist and the ‘B’ and ‘Q’ in LGBTIQ. I’m an atheist. Engaged to be married. One son. Two toy dogs and a cockatiel.

As a Green, I believe most strongly in respect for diversity. I’ve been known for my tolerance and friendliness, but I can be just the opposite about some things related to my values and principles. Election process reforms, advocating for peaceful means, and building the Green Party have been my top political agendas over the past decade and a half.

My Green Party Background: I left the Democratic Party after Kerry and became a Green, and I have proudly voted Green since 2006. I jumped into Green politics in Tennessee by working on Green candidates’ campaigns for higher office. I moved to Asheville, North Carolina around 2011, and soon did a lot of organizing events around ballot access and served as co-chair of my county party for a while.

Honestly, I can’t say I succeeded at all my goals as a Green. For instance, you may have seen a post on the Facebook group where I’ve tried to organize a chapter in the rural area of Eastern Washington. I had to back off when I had a setback with chemo treatment, but since that leveled out, I’m still open to it (email me at cjrsellers@gmail.com if you want to help/join).

I’m very happy for this opportunity to make this short-term commitment to serve the party. I’m in the Howie Hawkins camp, but my intention and promise as presidential nomination committee delegate is to vote in alignment with our primary’s outcome. I’ll pay my way into the convention.

Thanks for this opportunity to pitch in, and, I look forward to meeting you and, if possible, working with you at upcoming events.

Best wishes to all,  – C.J.


CHARLES LAW (he/him/his) – CANDIDATE FOR COORDINATING COUNCIL – AT-LARGE

Charles Law is at present a GPWA Coordinating Council member. He is seeking a second term for the at-large position.

His point of political view has always been far left of center.

While president of the Whatcom County wing of Jesse Jackson’s Rainbow Coalition, he pushed the group to adopt a worker’s rights position to their local platform.

Having since moved to Port Townsend in Jefferson County, he has restarted the Green Party of the Olympic Peninsula Facebook page and is now its administrator. Charles is a general member of GPWA. This is due to the fact there isn’t an active Green Party chapter in Jefferson County.

At present, he is working to resurrect the chapter as well as establish a compost manufacturing facility in Jefferson County. Living in a local farming community, he believes everything begins with the soil. If you feed the soil, then it will feed you. He wants to capture the county’s food scraps and turn them into a quality compost. This would curtail the use of petroleum-based fertilizers.

He is dedicated to making wasted food a thing of the past and reducing our reliance on fossil fuels into the future.

Why does Charles want to retain his position with the GPWA Coordinating Council?

“The Green Party is the only party remotely serious about Climate breakdown and is willing to collaborate with other social groups to develop solutions. I want to be a part of that.”


COLIN BARTLETT – CANDIDATE FOR ALTERNATE TO GPUS AND PNC DELEGATE/ALTERNATE

I’m a queer ecosocialist and proud union member of IWW Industrial Union 640. This past year I led the cooperatization of my workplace, and in 2017, I helped manage a successful campaign to elect a Green Party housing activist to the Olympia City Council. I have been elected as Secretary for the Lavender Greens, the LGBTQ Caucus of Green Party US, and I’m the outgoing Membership Coordinator for the South Sound Green Party. I’m also proud to be a dues-paying Socialist.

I’m so excited by the candidates we have running this year, both in local races and at the top of the ticket. I think all of our recognized presidential candidates represent exciting, passionate alternatives to the stupidly cruel and lethally stagnant neoliberalism the two dominant parties represent. I’m in love with the vision for our party that they have articulated.

Growing up in Chicagoland led me to recognize the dangers of Democratic Party hegemony at an early age, and several years of houselessness taught me the importance of Mutual Aid projects and public housing and utilities for a survivable world. My education is in evolutionary theory, and I appreciate being in a political movement that centers science in its policy. I think the Green Party has a unique and necessary perspective to add to the pan-leftist project of building a just and equitable society that exists within our ecological limits. I’m dedicated to collaborating with anyone who is willing to work with us to build the Fully Automated Gay Space Communist future we all deserve.

Survival Through Solidarity!


FRANK LOCKWOOD – CANDIDATE FOR ALTERNATE TO GPUS

Frank is a former teacher, news reporter and hobby gardener who became an eco-socialist and switched to the Green Party in view of the Democratic preliminaries of 2016. Soon after, he began texting for Jill Stein and facilitated the formation of a new local Green Party – the Green Party of the Mid-Columbia in southeast Washington State. Lockwood has joined many local protests and events, and helped his wife, Laura, to organize others, including an electric vehicle show, several food swaps, local GP meetings and gatherings. He supports a climate lobby, the building of a Consolidated Crisis Response Center, a local climate lobby, sustainable city planning, and safer transportation planning. GPMC-WA was fully incorporated on January 1, 2018.

Frank is an active blogger and maintains the local GP Facebook site (https://www.facebook.com/GPMCWA/), and a local GP Facebook Discussion page (https://www.facebook.com/groups/gpmidcolumbia/). He is also the creator/developer/administrator for the GPMC-WA’s web site (www.gpmc-wa.org).

Frank says, “I really like the Green Party’s Four Principles and Ten Key Values, and I appreciate the many reflective and deep-thinking Greens I have met. Serving as an alternate to the National Council has given me insights into the behind-the-scenes workings of the National Green Party and I trust that at least some of my input has been helpful. I am committed to serving the Green Party in ways consistent with my limited knowledge, skills and background. Thank you for considering me as an alternate candidate.”


HERB CAMET, JR. — CANDIDATE FOR COORDINATING COUNCIL – AT-LARGE; ALTERNATE TO GPUS; AND PNC DELEGATE/ALTERNATE

I have joined the Green Party US as a longtime non-corporate sociopolitical activist and as an anti-corporate-oligarchy one-party “Dems&Repubs” factions political system election candidate myself in 2017 with 24,000 voters in Seattle.

The Green Party US as officially an Eco-Socialist political organization must become the main political opponent and viable election alternative to the corrupt undemocratic corporate capitalist oligarchy “Dems&Repubs” factions. It is essential to understand that there is no such thing as a “corporate progressive” as the term itself is an oxymoron and both the corporate oligarchy “Dems” & “Repubs” factions must be directly opposed and challenged by the Green Party US in politics and in elections at federal, state, and local levels.

The Green Party US and the Green Party WA both have failed to even run Eco-Socialist election candidates at most federal, state, and local levels nationwide, especially in WA State which even in the current 2020 elections has not fielded a candidate in nearly any state election. This is a chronic political and ideological failure by the Green Party US & Green Party WA officials and apparatchiks to perform their jobs to recruit & support Green Party candidates thereby depriving the entire voter electorate, and the people, of any choice or alternative to the corporate oligarchy “Dems&Repubs” factions. This failure itself smacks of collusion or tacit cooperation with the corporate oligarchy “Dems & Repubs” factions, which is a betrayal of the Green Party’s actual identity as an eco-socialist party.

It is time now for the Green Party to be reinvigorated and redeveloped as an actual effective Eco-Socialist sociopolitical force and ideological alternative throughout this country and particularly in WA State. The Green Party must expand its reachout and recruitment efforts to all voters, and to minority communities (LGBT, black, Latino, Asian, & indigenous people). Also the Green Party US should expand its “10 basic values”, which are too much like pablum & platitudes, by adding expanded definitions of intrinsic human individual & societal rights in all sociocultures & countries, including free universal healthcare from birth to death for all persons, free public education from Pre-K through Ph.D., universal access to safe & adequate permanent housing for all persons from birth to death, universal freedom from discrimination or abuse on any basis whatever for all persons, and publicly guaranteed minimum monthly income for all persons from age 17 (as proved adequate for each nation-state).

And as an internationalist myself, the Green Party US and Green Party WA must implement expanded planning, cooperation, and integration efforts and programs with all Green parties and with eco-socialist parties or groups worldwide.

I appreciate your consideration and support of my candidacy for Green Party WA internal elected posts.

Herb Camet, Jr., M.A., PCV  —  Email: hjcjr1@gmail.com


JODY GRAGE – CANDIDATE FOR PNC DELEGATE/ALTERNATE

I was born in Seattle and have been working most of my life as an activist. I taught at-risk youth in the Central Area in the early 60s, at alternative schools, and at Juvenile Hall. I have deep roots as a community activist in Ballard where I have lived since 1976. I founded and ran the Seattle Nonviolent Peacekeeper Pool for over a decade back in the day and was one of the founders of both Sustainable Seattle and Sustainable Ballard, as well as Voluntary Simplicity.

In the mid-80s I worked with the issue-based group Cascadia Green Alliance and on our newspaper “Waves”. I continued as it grew into the Green Party of Washington State serving on many working groups as well as the Coordinating Council as Treasurer and an at-large member.

I have served on the GPUS Steering Committee for several terms as an at-large member, as well as four years as Treasurer and two years as Secretary, and have been a member of the Annual National Meeting Committee, the Ballot Access Committee, the Finance Committee, GPAX – the Peace Action Committee, the Credentialing Committee and others, often as co-chair.

I bring with me institutional memory, an appetite for agendas and minutes and other necessary paperwork, a willingness to toil in the trenches, a recognition of the need to develop the robust campaign support system necessary to attract credible candidates, a vision of Green Party locals all across our state – and a feeling that the 11th Key Value is perseverance.

If elected as a PNC Delegate/Alternate I pledge to vote proportional to the vote of the GPWA membership on the first ballot, as stated in the GPWA bylaws.


JONATHAN BETZ-ZALL – CANDIDATE FOR PNC DELEGATE/ALTERNATE

Jonathan Betz-Zall helped to found the Cascadia Green Alliance (CGA), a predecessor to the Green Party of Washington, in 1986. After the CGA dissolved in the early 1990s, he went on to volunteer for the Community Coalition for Environmental Justice, the American Friends Service Committee, the Fellowship of Reconciliation, and the Nakani Native Program, where he currently serves as Treasurer. The time pressure of his current activities make it too difficult to take on regular activity with the Green Party, but he was very impressed with some of the presidential candidates who spoke at the State Meeting and he would like to help the party select the most suitable one for the 2020 campaign. He has worked on political campaigns in the past and has six years’ experience representing state-level constituents at a national level through a professional organization.

Jonathan Betz-Zall — Seattle, WA — http://ecolibrarian.org


KYLE TAYLOR LUCAS — CANDIDATE FOR DELEGATE TO GPUS AND PNC DELEGATE/ALTERNATE

T’igwicid (thank you) for considering me as a candidate to the Green Party (GP) Presidential Nominating Convention to represent Washington, and as delegate to the GPUS National Committee.

A Sdohobsch (Snohomish) woman of the Coast Salish Tulalip Tribes and a hereditary chief of the Pukaist People of the Nlaka’Pamux Nation, B.C., I’ve dedicated my life as a frontline organizer addressing social and economic justice, homelessness, criminal justice system reform, environmental justice, farmworkers rights, wild salmon recovery, climate crisis, tribal treaty and Urban Indian rights, and the crisis of violence against Indigenous women and peoples.

I chair Urban Indians Northwest—a group dedicated to uplifting the community and the struggle for inclusion. For the past three years we’ve organized rallies and direct action blockades against fracking, protected with Protectors of the Salish Sea, opposed Liquified Natural Gas (LNG), and addressed the crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) with rallies, marches, and advocating for Urban Indians in the legislature.

As a Tumwater City Councilmember, I focused on water as a human right and worked to block planned fee increases on those seeking reconnection and threatened with water shut-off. I then advocated creation of a water and sewer assistance program to help those struggling, which became reality and helps low-income residents today. And I led the effort to ban the plastic bag with Tumwater becoming the first tri-city to do so.

An Indian policy leader in state and tribal policy executive roles for more than two decades I worked to negotiate the complex issues and delicate relations between them. As director of the Governor’s Office of Indian Affairs I managed a state agency instrumental in guiding cabinet agency appreciation of tribal culture, and the unique historical, contemporary, legal (treaties and case law), and political significance and relationship of Indian tribes to the state. Bringing people together around common goals was a cornerstone of my work and legacy in helping the state to move from a history of conflict and legal challenges to one of cooperation and collaboration.

As a freelance writer, I’ve written extensively on issues of Indigenous rights, the plight of invisible Urban Indians, migrant workers and immigration rights, criminal justice system reform, environmental justice, climate crisis, opposing war and occupation, healthcare as a human right, and the continuing impacts to Indigenous peoples from colonial oppression and unresolved historic and generational trauma.

A professionally trained and certified mediator, I hold a B.A. degree in Political Science and Native American Studies from the Evergreen State College.

I strongly support the GP Platform, Four Pillars, and 10 Key Values with the caveat I believe to ensure diversity the GP must expand its Social and Racial Justice Platform plank to address systemic racial inequity and injustice. I hope you agree my life and values striving for justice and human rights, of amplifying the voices of the oppressed, and defending the water and land—a lived experience of resistance and advocacy on behalf of the human and ecological condition merits support of my nomination.

https://about.me/KyleTaylorLucas  |  https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyletaylorlucas/


LISA CANAR (she/her) – CANDIDATE FOR DEPUTY TREASURER AND PNC DELEGATE/ALTERNATE

I have been a member of the Green Party of Seattle and Green Party of Washington since 2016. I currently volunteer as social media and communications coordinator for GPWA, and oversee our social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter), post news to our website, publicize events, and send organizational emails. I attended the GPUS annual convention in 2016 as a Presidential Nominating Convention delegate, and I have served on the GPWA Coordinating Council for four years, most recently as Deputy Treasurer. I am running to continue in the role of Deputy Treasurer for 2020-2021, and for PNC delegate/alternate.

In my professional life, I am a Medical Consultant for a diagnostic and clinical testing laboratory. I completed my training in Naturopathic and Integrative Medicine at Bastyr University.

Our health depends on the health of our communities and our planet, and on establishing a comprehensive Green agenda. In my work and activism, I strive to uphold the Green visions and values of social and racial justice, grassroots democracy, environmental justice, sustainability, non-violence, cooperation, and ecosocialism. For people, planet, and peace over profit!


MARGARET ELISABETH – CANDIDATE FOR COORDINATING COUNCIL – AT-LARGE

Thank you for the privilege of letting me earn your vote for the Coordinating Council.

My name is Margaret Elisabeth and I’d like to tell you a little about myself, my involvement with the Green Party, my activism, and my general thoughts so that you’ll have something of an understanding of who I am and what I’m about.

I am a nonbinary person and currently am the Co-Chair of the National Lavender Green Caucus, elected in April 2019 serving until April 2021, as well as the NLGC Alternate Delegate to the National Committee and one of two Media Spokespeople for the Caucus. Both positions I was elected for in our past April 2020 election. I’ll be serving a 2-year term in those capacities. Previous to my current positions in the NLGC, I was one of our National Delegates to the National Committee from 2017-2019. I take my obligations to my Caucus seriously and want to bring the same manner of serious mind to the GPWA CC should I win a seat. In those various positions, I’ve reinvigorated our Facebook Group and Community, created our YouTube and Discord Server, modernized, updated and added substantial new content to our website. I facilitate and moderate our Caucus monthly meetings and ensure that our Caucus gets its work done on the National Committees which we have reps on.

I believe in building the change we wish to see in the world. Nobody will build it for us. It’s difficult and time consuming however if we don’t do it, who will? I believe in speaking passionately and with courageous conviction regarding the values which matter to me personally, Social Justice, Non-Violence and Ecological Wisdom and I will do the same in my position on the Coordinating Committee to help our State grow and develop. Our Green ideals and values will be needed more than ever as we move, collectively, into a social milieu which will be dominated by issues of health, climate and social justice.

Please consider casting a vote for me.

Regards,  ~Margaret Elisabeth  (They/Them)


NINA MANUEL — CANDIDATE FOR ALTERNATE TO GPUS AND PNC DELEGATE/ALTERNATE

I am very passionate about the Green Party platform, the four pillars, and the ten key values. I see these as the way forward in all political contexts. I first learned of the party when we moved to Humboldt County and my Dad voted for Nader. Being in Humboldt I was introduced to the Green Party local, the Arcata Greens in California. Where at the time we had the benefit of experiencing a Green Mayor, and a local government supportive of worker-owned Cooperative based business. From that experience I felt that there is a lot we can do to more effectively improve things from the local level, so when a local opened up in our Washington Counties I jumped on board.

I would like to learn more and work to do more for growing the Green Party further, in supporting the opportunity for growing Green representation locally, and in getting our values and solutions out in a more fluid way. I feel this would be a good way to increase my personal participation, and to absorb more knowledge and experience, as well.

Nina Manuel of the Green Party of the Mid-Columbia, Yakima, WA (she/her)


NOAH MARTIN — CANDIDATE FOR COORDINATING COUNCIL – AT-LARGE; DELEGATE TO GPUS; AND PNC DELEGATE/ALTERNATE

Noah Martin has been a community activist from a young age, when he would accompany his mother to Iraq War protests and “helped” sample frog populations and survey birds to protect local wetlands. After receiving his B.A. from Oberlin College in Politics and Latin American Studies, Noah has worked managing an in-school mentoring program for at-risk youth, as a counselor in a Seattle homeless shelter, as a landscaper, as a caregiver, and even as a geoducker. Today, he works in Olympia as a policy analyst and legislative advocate for Quaker Voice, a faith-based, grassroots organization that advocates for bold ecological action, criminal justice reform, and economic justice. He has worked with a range of organizations in Olympia, including Thurston County Progressives, Just Housing, Olympia IWW, Olympia Assembly, Olympia DSA, and as a founding member of Tenants of the South Sound.

Noah decided to vote for Jill Stein in 2012, his first vote ever cast for president. Noah has been a bonafide member of the Green Party since 2016, serving as the membership coordinator for the South Sound Green Party, as its delegate to the GPWA CC, and as one of GPWA’s delegates to the NC. He has served on the Green Party’s International Committee, and is its newest Youth Delegate to the Federation of Green Parties of the Americas. He also served as volunteer coordinator and field organizer for Renata Rollins’s successful 2017 campaign to put a Green on Olympia City Council.

Noah believes that the Green Party must be built from the ground up as a revolutionary, anti-capitalist alternative to the Democratic-Republican Party, engaging in mutual aid and direct action in addition to electoral politics. He is particularly interested in seeing the national party support these local efforts. If elected, his priorities will be continuing to champion and enforce LGBTQ rights in the party, restructuring the party to better track membership and coordinate nationwide actions, and revising the platform to better match the immediate needs of youth.


PHOENIX WENDT – CANDIDATE FOR PNC DELEGATE/ALTERNATE

My name is Phoenix Wendt. I am an Ambassador and Advocate for OUR Houseless Family. I am also a Chaplain. I was born in Shelton, Washington but made Olympia, Washington my Home since 2000. I was a Sex and Work Slave for a White Supremacist, went through much Child Abuse, through the Failing of DCFS by them allowing most of my Children to be sold (1 in Heaven and 1 stolen and got adopted at least), been thru Beatings, Broken Bones, Domestic Violence, etc.

I’ve come from such a torn up past that in 2013, I ran from it all and Chose to Recreate MY LIFE! I Thank All of You who surrounded me as a Community to pull me into where I am Today. That kind of Community is Needed for so Many. Solidarity and Community are Critical for Many who have Trauma! That Purpose is Underwriting much of who I am and what I have become. I am Fighting so that Your Mother, Sister, Dad, Brother, They, etc. Family Members won’t Go or ARE Going Thru Attenuation, Persecution, Criminalization, etc.

My experience with the Green Party has had so many fronts. So many stories. Such Solidarity in this Thurston County Community and Beyond! They have Exhibited: Honor, Loyalty, Aide, Have Kept Their Word, Love, Unity, Etc! My Experience is Multiple. But here’s Two stories…

1: During the first stages of the Development of The Lawsuit against the UnConstitutional Codes that are Criminalizing OUR Houseless Family! -Patricia Delaney- was with ME/US as WE went and Established the Lawsuit in Front of the Judge and Won the First Step to be Heard! (Still much more to do. Including WE are Heading to the Washington State Supreme Court… And are Requesting for help Politically and but much more right now WE Need Attorneys)

2: During Pride of one year. I with several others had a Tent up in Support of Our houseless LGBT Family. To explain the Facts of the Persecution and Attenuation… WE got hassled by the Cops to take down the tent and since WE didn’t have a “Permit ” just verbal permission which was supposedly revoked. Being hassled to move on. -Noah Martin – reached over very determinedly and pulled the tent over and put it under the SS Green Party Booth and said, “We’ve got a permit. OUR Tent, OUR Family!” Then invited the rest of US to bring OUR Materials to display… The Cops had no choice, but to leave US Alone!

The Bannerhead of the Green Party has me honored to be part of such a Great Party. During these difficult times, WE should be careful, wise, and watching OUR Government and who WE put into place. As WE Rebuild a Hurting Nation, Individual States, with ALL Citizens, WE Need to Lose OUR Former Differences, Set Aside Wounds, Remove Barriers, Remove Laws that are not Constitutionally Just, etc. WE Need Unity and Right Respect of Family, People, Individuals, etc.

The Environment is such an issue for me as well. – the Green New Deal. In which the Green Party are Champions! The Green Party is like a Boat – Caretaking its members, but also keeping the Environment safe, and planting Trees along the way. One that I hope to have more Stories with for a long time! Our Eco System, People, and the Government are a Symbiosis, a handshake. Thus management of All levels is needed for US and OUR Future Generations!

So with Future and Present in mind. I/WE are currently Working on a Non-Profit Cooperative for the Houseless. A Self – Sustaining Community with Barter, HOUSING, and Safety! Hopefully WE can Great Assistance in Creating Such a Needful Cooperative for Our Families…

I was asked to do a Bio. My Bio is that I am Nothing Without the Father, OUR Houseless Family, but also Each of You! Yes, I am Phoenix, Risen from the Ashes and Determined. The Father has placed so many protections on His Most Vulnerable. (Please Read James Chapter 2.) Thus, I also Obey the Will of Him, Who has Sent Me. I am also Honored to have gotten to know each of the Community and South Sound Green Party… And More To Come!


RICHARD REDICK — CANDIDATE FOR COORDINATING COUNCIL – AT-LARGE AND PNC DELEGATE/ALTERNATE

Richard Redick joined the Green Party of the Mid-Columbia and the Green Party of Washington in January 2018 after spending roughly equal portions of his adult life as a Republican and as a Democrat. The events of the 2016 election cycle impelled Richard, as a matter of conscience, to permanently leave the 2-party system. With a degree in economics, and 21 years working for major corporations, he is convinced that, until Big Money is barred from influencing politics, the desires of the people will take a back seat with policy makers.

Deeply concerned, yet optimistic regarding the future, Richard sees a definite role for technology in both developing livable communities, and in linking them together in meaningful ways that are socially and ecologically healthy. He sees the Green Party platform oriented toward that constructive and hopeful end, and he is invigorated by it! Richard resides in Kennewick, Washington; presently sharing his home with 3 of his young adult children, and one playful, tabby cat.


SCOTT THOMPSON — CANDIDATE FOR COORDINATING COUNCIL – TREASURER

Scott grew up in Los Angeles but was very happy to move his family to Northwest Washington in 1993 to raise his kids in a more rural environment. Married over 38 years, he lives in a beautiful and peaceful place a bit up Sumas Mountain (in Whatcom County) enjoying time with his three grandkids. His bachelor’s degree is in Psychology with a Business minor. He worked as a Control Systems Engineer since moving to Washington, then took an early retirement in hopes of reducing his biological footprint. In 2001 he founded the Whatcom County Bicycle-Pedestrian Advisory Committee and now facilitates the local Green Party.

Scott admires all the Green Party 10 Key Values. However, he believes that Non-violence is clearly the most urgent… “Most US citizens have been manipulated into redirecting our country’s resources into unconstitutional wars that benefit international corporations and an imperialist agenda, but only harm the other 99%. If we could stop the wasteful practices of the military-industrial-intelligence complex, then we could easily implement the remaining 10 Key Values in our country. Let’s reject the fear-based narrative imposed on us from 9/11 by those that have benefited and work on awakening our fellow citizens to a brighter, sustainable future.”