Dan Hamburg, LeAlan Jones, and Jill Stein are running three races that are very important to the Green Party this year.  In California, Hamburg is a former Democratic Congressman hoping to be elected as a Green to Mendocino County Supervisor.  In Illinois, Jones is the only African American in the Senate race and has polled as high as 14%, in a state where the Green candidate for governor got over 10% in 2006.  In Massachusetts, Stein is less than $1,000 away from qualifying for the rest of the debates, and about $38,000 away from qualifying for matching funds.

I’ll make this as simple as possible.  Here’s what each one needs from you:

1.  Dan Hamburg.  He is an incredible candidate, and really represents the future of the Green Party.  He came in first in a primary which included ALL candidates in the race, but an ultra-conservative candidate came in a close second.  With a great background and the local SEIU’s endorsement, Hamburg is both qualified for office and running a strong enough campaign to win.  However, he needs help financially – that’s where you come in.

In the words of Greechange.org, “[When] he wins, Dan Hamburg will show that the Green movement is ready to lead with fresh ideas for reviving our economy and protecting our ecosystem.”  The netroots has shown before that it has great skill at fundraising – just a bit of that can be stretched a long way in a local race like this.  So please donate whatever you can afford.

2.  But don’t give all your money away!  Save some for LeAlan Jones.  And even if you don’t donate to Jones, there is something else extremely important that you can do.  Call Meet the Press (202-885-4598 ) and let them know that they shouldn’t exclude Jones from their Senate debate.  When the Florida Libertarians did this for their Senate candidate, they got the Meet the Press debate cancelled – let’s one up them and get a Green on national television!

From the Jones campaign:

Plus, we are asking YOU to call NBC’s Meet The Press at 202-885-4598 and tell them to “Let LeAlan debate!” NBC decided to shut out the only African-American candidate running for this historically African-American Senate seat. It’s time to stand up to this media BLACKout. More details in my letter to the president of NBC News

Tell them you’d like to talk to Meet the Press.  Let’s do this!

3.  Jill Stein.  She needs to raise $100,000 by October 1 in order to qualify for the gubernatorial debates, which is really the best way for her to gain support.  She is less than $1,000 from that goal, so every dollar counts!

Since the state government uses a different fundraising standard, she is about $38,000 away from raising the needed $125,000 to get matching public funds.  If she can do this, her campaign will be one of the best tools in the nation for building the Green Party, and she will have a shot at winning in Massachusett’s 4-way race (that means only 25%+1 to win).

She needs to raise this money by September 24, and we can do it! Last week alone, Stein raised $25,000, a quarter of the total her campaign has brought in this year.  It’s up to us.

(For the next $350 or so donated at DemocracyDays.com, a fundraising site for Stein, another donor will match that donation.)

Let’s do this!  Together, we can build an alternative to the corrupt, destructive two party system.