GPCA Statement on Dr. Cornel West Seeking Green Party Nomination

June 19, 2023

Green Party of California Welcomes Dr. Cornel West Seeking Green Party Presidential Nomination and Urges Voters to Exercise their Electoral Rights

The Green Party of California welcomes Dr. Cornel West’s entry into the Green Party Presidential Nomination process. We believe his participation with a credible, legitimate and democratically structured political party, like the Green Party, will inspire many voters to claim their electoral power and exercise their democratic rights in the 2024 election.

On June 10, 2023, the Green Party of California (GPCA) General Assembly Delegates agreed by consensus to urge the Green Party of the United States (GPUS) and
Dr. Cornel West to work together towards Dr. West’s running in the Green Party primary elections, including California’s in March 2024. Shortly after that GPCA decision, Dr. West did announce that he will be seeking the Green Party presidential nomination.

Dr. West’s values of truth, justice and love and his platform centered on economic, social and environmental justice align with our own 10 Key Values and our Ecosocialist platform.
With a long history of speaking truth to power, Dr. West’s moral clarity is desperately needed in political discourse today. He has challenged many of the corporate-driven policies of the parties of War and Wall Street and has advocated for a more representative democracy through third party engagement and participation.

The Green Party’s institutional structure and strength currently surpasses any U.S. progressive party. Despite decades-long legal challenges by the Democratic Party to strip the Green Party’s ballot status in various states, in 2020, the Green Party presidential nominee appeared on 31 state ballots and was a write-in candidate in 16 other states. In 2016, Greens were on 45 ballots and had write-in status in 3 additional states.

The duopoly is designed to prevent our existence, yet we continue to get larger, stronger and better organized with each election cycle. Our ongoing organizing efforts are a testament to the commitment of Greens across the U.S. to building our collective electoral future. Progressive candidates not only deserve, but need, the electoral reach the Green Party can achieve through our ballot access.

The mainstream media narrative pushed by the two corporate parties has for years, painted a bleak picture of “lesser evilism” and “having no other choice” in electoral politics, aimed to silence and marginalize our dissenting voices. When those who speak truth to power step up to show otherwise, they energize the vision and hope that we so richly deserve and so desperately need.

The Green Party of California urges all people who want a just and sustainable world to claim their electoral power, register Green, exercise their democratic rights, and engage in local and state electoral politics.
We are proud and hopeful that many more progressives, socialists, and leftists candidates will choose to run for office at every level of the government, with the Party that aligns best with their values, the Green Party.