The Ohio Green Party had its beginnings in the Green Party of Northeast Ohio in the early 1990’s. The Green Party of Northeast Ohio was a recognized local of the GPUSA, the only national Green organization at the time. The Greens became a statewide presence in the campaign to oppose then Governor Voinovich’s plan to place a low-level radioactive waste dump in the State. The Greens formed a coalition with other citizen groups and succeeded in that effort. The Northeast Ohio Greens continued as an active local, and other locals formed in other parts of the state including Central and Southwest Ohio. The Central Ohio Green Party joined a coalition to defeat a plan in Columbus to provide public funding for some sports facilities (these were later built with private funds).
In January, 2000, Paul Dumouchelle convened a meeting of 11 prominent Greens and formed the committee that successfully got Ralph Nader on the ballot in Ohio for President that year. Ohio sent four delegates to the Denver Convention that nominated Nader. We then had an active statewide Nader campaign and our electoral results were similar to the national level.
The Ohio Green Party has been active as well at the National level of the Party. Anita Rios of Toledo served as a Co-Chair of the GPUS. We conducted a state petitioning drive to put David Cobb on the Presidential ballot in 2004 and that drive unfortunately fell short but we gave David Cobb a legal leg to stand on in demanding the Ohio Recount of 2004. That recount was but one part of what led to the challenge of the 2004 Presidential Election in Congress in January. That challenge was significant – the first such challenge since the 1870’s.
In 2012, we continued our efforts, running three candidates for the US House of Representatives and other local offices. We also supported the Presidential Campaign of Dr. Jill Stein, being one of the first state parties to endorse her candidacy. Jill’s campaign received almost half a million votes nationwide, an outcome of which the Ohio Green Party is very proud to have assisted in.
Our efforts have continued into the present, with candidates running for various local offices in 2013 and the re-election of Cleveland City Councilman Brian Cummins, despite the endorsement by the Mayor of Cleveland and others of his Democratic opponent.
In 2014, the Republican dominated state legislature passed legislation making it harder for 3rd party candidates to gain ballot access. We were forced into the situation of having to conduct a write-in campaign to assure our Gubernatorial candidate, Anita Rios, a place on the November ballot. Despite the odds, we were successful. Joining Anita this years ballot are 2 Congressional candidates and 3 Ohio House candidates.
We of the Ohio Green Party have acted based upon our principles, and although the Republican/Democratic duopoly will continue to oppose us, we are confident our future success.