Wisconsin Green Party
Encyclopedia
The Wisconsin Green Party (WIGP) is an active member of the Green Party of the United States. In 2006, the party helped place antiwar initiatives on the ballots in 32 towns (24 of which passed those propositions). WIGP member Ben Manski
is a former co-chair of the Green National Committee.
The WIGP emerged in the late 1980s when several independent local Green groups combined. Walter Bresette
and Frank Koehn
of the Lake Superior
Greens were instrumental figures in the early years of the party's development. Koehn's election to the Bayfield County board in 1986 was the first time a Green Party candidate had ever been elected to an office in the United States. Dennis Boyer, Richard Latker, Joyce Melville and others established a large chapter in Madison that brought together veteran activists (many of them former members of the Labor-Farm Party, which disintegrated in 1987 after Greens and Marxists in the party failed to agree on a platform) and student activists affiliated with the UW-Madison Greens.
In the spring of 2006, nine of 13 Green Party candidates won races in which they ran. John Hardin (Barron County), Ben Farrell (Winnebago County), Bob Ryan (Door County), Barbara Vedder (Dane County), John Hendrick (Dane County), and Kyle Richmond (Dane County) all won re-election to their respective county board seats. Vedder had been appointed to an open seat a few months before the election.
Jeff Peterson (Polk County) and Ashok Kumar (Dane County) took their seats as county board officials for the first time, as did Eric Krszjzaniek (Portage County) who won a recount of write-in votes with an original 5-7 loss turning into a 8-3 win.
On April 3, 2007 a further seven out of 14 Green Party candidates running for office won their elections throughout Wisconsin. This brought the total number of elected Greens in Wisconsin
to twenty-two.
The Wisconsin Green Party's headquarters are in Madison along with most of the other political parties in the state.
Coordinating Council
Delegates to the Green Party of the United States National Committee
Ben Manski
Ben Manski is an American attorney, organizer, activist with the Green Party, Executive Director of the Liberty Tree Foundation for the Democratic Revolution and editor of the Liberty Tree Journal. As a member of the Wisconsin Green Party, he served as co-chair of the Green Party of the United...
is a former co-chair of the Green National Committee.
The WIGP emerged in the late 1980s when several independent local Green groups combined. Walter Bresette
Walter Bresette
Walter Bresette was a prominent Ojibwe activist, politician, and author most notable for work on environmental issues and Ojibwe treaty rights in Northern Wisconsin and the Lake Superior region...
and Frank Koehn
Frank Koehn
Francis K. Koehn is a prominent activist and politician in Northern Wisconsin. He is most notable for being the first Green Party candidate to be elected to office in the United States when he was elected Bayfield County supervisor on the Lake Superior Greens ticket in 1986...
of the Lake Superior
Lake Superior
Lake Superior is the largest of the five traditionally-demarcated Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded to the north by the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. state of Minnesota, and to the south by the U.S. states of Wisconsin and Michigan. It is the largest freshwater lake in the...
Greens were instrumental figures in the early years of the party's development. Koehn's election to the Bayfield County board in 1986 was the first time a Green Party candidate had ever been elected to an office in the United States. Dennis Boyer, Richard Latker, Joyce Melville and others established a large chapter in Madison that brought together veteran activists (many of them former members of the Labor-Farm Party, which disintegrated in 1987 after Greens and Marxists in the party failed to agree on a platform) and student activists affiliated with the UW-Madison Greens.
In the spring of 2006, nine of 13 Green Party candidates won races in which they ran. John Hardin (Barron County), Ben Farrell (Winnebago County), Bob Ryan (Door County), Barbara Vedder (Dane County), John Hendrick (Dane County), and Kyle Richmond (Dane County) all won re-election to their respective county board seats. Vedder had been appointed to an open seat a few months before the election.
Jeff Peterson (Polk County) and Ashok Kumar (Dane County) took their seats as county board officials for the first time, as did Eric Krszjzaniek (Portage County) who won a recount of write-in votes with an original 5-7 loss turning into a 8-3 win.
On April 3, 2007 a further seven out of 14 Green Party candidates running for office won their elections throughout Wisconsin. This brought the total number of elected Greens in Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
to twenty-two.
The Wisconsin Green Party's headquarters are in Madison along with most of the other political parties in the state.
Officeholders
Officers- Bruce Hinkforth, Co-Chair
- Cynthia Stimmler, Elections Treasurer
- Ron Hardy, Operations Treasurer
- Claude VanderVeen, Recording Secretary
- Jeff Schiffman, Correspondence Secretary
Coordinating Council
- CD1: Pete Karas, Racine
- CD1: Open
- CD2: Larry Dooley, Madison
- CD2: Open
- CD3: Monte LeTourneau, Necedah
- CD3: Dennis Boyer, Dodgeville
- CD4: Tommy King, Milwaukee
- CD4: Leon Todd, Milwaukee
- CD5: Mike McCallister, Milwaukee
- CD5: Open
- CD6: Dean Katahira, Ripon
- CD6: Fred Depies, Chilton
- CD7: James Spychalla, Antigo
- CD7: Open
- CD8: Jill Bussiere, Kewaunee
- CD8: Open
- Diversity Caucus: Open
- Women's Caucus: Open
- Lavender Caucus: Dennis Bergren, Madison
- Youth Caucus: Open
Delegates to the Green Party of the United States National Committee
Green National Convention
The Green National Convention is the Presidential nominating convention of the Green Party of the United States . Though the Green National Committee meets annually in a "national meeting", the convention is convened by the GNC once every four years in order to nominate an official candidate in...
- Jill Bussiere, Kewaunee
- Monte LeTourneau, Necedah
- Ron Hardy, Oshkosh
- Bruce Hinkforth, Oconomowoc
- Tommy King, Milwaukee