Gateway Green Alliance/Green Party of St. Louis
Green Party of St. Louis/Gateway Green Alliance
P.O. Box 8094, St. Louis MO 63156
314-727-8554 E-mail: fitzdon@aol.com
For immediate release: July 25, 2000
Contact: Barbara Chicherio, 314-727-8554
Contact: Tim Barnhart, 314-351-4268
Green Party Delivers Double Required Petitions to put Ralph Nader on Presidential Ballot
July 25, 2000. St. Louis, Missouri. At 3:00 pm on July 24, over 50 Green Party supporters from St. Louis, Kansas City, Columbia, Springfield and Rolla gathered in Jefferson City to turn in 21,308 signatures to have Ralph Nader and Winona LaDuke's names appear on the Missouri ballot for President and Vice-President. This is over twice the 10,000 signatures required by Missouri law.
"We anticipate a challenge by the Democratic Party," said spokesperson Mary Auer. "So we went far over the legal requirements." Auer emphasized that "All signatures were gathered by volunteers, with no paid petitioners anywhere in the state."
Speakers at the rally insisted that Ralph Nader be included in televised debates between Al Gore and George Bush. The third debate is scheduled for St. Louis on October 17. According to St. Louis Green Party Coordinator Barbara Chicherio, "Nader is now at 6% to 9% in the polls, the same as Ross Perot was in 1992. It is outrageous that a committee made up of Democrats and Republicans would tell the American people that the only legitimate candidates are two indistinguishable appointees of big money."
Greens believe that if Nader were in the debates, his support would jump far above the 19% Perot received in 1992 and make him a potential winner. They base their hopes on Nader's 80% name recognition and the fact that he has lower negativity ratings than either Gore or Bush.
The author of 10 books on politics and the concentration of corporate power, Nader is best known for his critiques of business practices that compromise worker and consumer safety. The Green Party candidate claims that corporate money has grown so influential in current politics that reforms he helped spearhead 20 years ago would not get out of Congressional committees today. This focus is what inspired his nomination for President by Green Party activists which include consumer and social justice advocates as well as environmentalists.
Green Party Offers Black-Green Alliance to Missouri Voters
In addition to Nader and LaDuke, Missouri Greens are running for all 6 state-wide offices, 6 of 9 US Congressional Districts, a state senate seat and 5 state representative seats.
The Green slate is headed by Evaline Taylor (Kansas City) for U.S. Senator and Zaki Baruti (St. Louis) for Missouri Governor. Both are members of the Universal African Peoples Organization. Baruti told Greens at the state capitol, "It is a sham that the U.S. Senate has no Black members and that there are no Black Governors in the US. The Green Party is the only party taking racism seriously enough to nominate a Native American woman for Vice-President and Blacks for Senator and Governor in Missouri."
Spokesperson Don Fitz added, "We can expect to see the Democrats and Republicans nominate white men for almost all state-wide offices in Missouri. The Green slate includes 2 Blacks and 3 women for these 6 offices. While Greens are inviting Black candidates to be at the front of the bus, the Democrats and Republicans are saying, that as far as state-wide offices are concerned, there is not any place on the bus, neither a front seat nor a back seat, for people of color."
Green Party candidates also include:
Ben Kjelsus (Kansas City) for Lieutenant Governor,
Mary Ann McGivern (St. Louis) for Attorney General,
Paula Elias (Columbia) for Secretary of State,
Ray Vanlandingham (Springfield) for State Treasurer,
Ziah Reddick (St. Louis), 1st US Congressional District,
Michael Odell (St. Louis), 2nd US Congressional District,
Mary Maroney (St. Louis), 3rd US Congressional District,
Charles Reitz (Kansas City), 5th US Congressional District,
Tom Sager (Rolla), 8th US Congressional District,
Devin Scherubel (Columbia), 9th US Congressional District,
Mary Auer (St. Louis), State Senator, 3rd District,
Charles Winters (Kansas City), State Representative, 39th District,
Patricia Turek (St. Louis), State Representative, 66th District,
Jason Toon (St. Louis), State Representative, 67th District,
Peter Coogan (St. Louis), State Representative, 68th District,
Frank Eller (St. Louis), State Representative, 87th District,
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