Green Party of New Jersey

Green Party of New Jersey
Green Party of New Jersey
Co-chairs	Jon Serrano; Ben Taylor
Founders	Nick Mellis; Steve Welzer
Founded	January 1997; 28 years ago
Youth wing	Young Ecosocialists Caucus
Membership (2021)	11,758
Ideology	Green politics
Political position	Left-wing
National affiliation	Green Party of the United States
Colors	Green
Seats in the US Senate	0 / 2
Seats in the US House	0 / 12
Seats in the NJ Senate	0 / 40
Seats in the NJ House	0 / 80
Local offices	2
Website
	gpnj.org
	Politics of New Jersey; Elections;

The Green Party of New Jersey is the state party organization for New Jersey of the Green Party of the United States. It was founded in January 1997 by Nick Mellis (chair from 2008 to 2009) and Steve Welzer.^[3]

Activity

The Green Party of New Jersey is an active Green Party of the U.S. state affiliate, having nominated over 150 candidates for office since it began in 1997. The party experienced its first non-partisan electoral victory in 1999 when Gary Novosielski was elected to the Board of Education of the Rutherford School District.^[4]

In January 2003, Matt Ahearn, a New Jersey state legislator who had been elected to the New Jersey General Assembly as a Democrat in 2002, switched his registration to the Green Party, becoming the party's first state-level representative.^[5] Ahearn ran for re-election as a Green Party candidate in 2003 but lost to Robert M. Gordon, the Democratic candidate for office.^[6]

In 2012 2012, medical marijuana advocate Ken Wolski was the Green Party nominee for U.S. Senator. He finished fourth out of eleven candidates.

In May 2016, the Green Party of New Jersey saw a spike in registration with as many new voters in two months as it had in the past four years.^[7] By the end of 2016, there were 3,252 voters registered as Green.^[8]

In the 2016 election, Green Camden City Council candidate Gary Frazier received 6% of the vote, and Green Congressional candidates Raj Mailiah and Steve Welzer each received 0.7%.^[8]

The Green Party of New Jersey's 2017 gubernatorial candidate was Rev. Seth Kaper-Dale of Highland Park with Lisa R. Durden of Newark as his running mate.^[9] By November 2017, ten New Jersey counties had local affiliates recognized by the state party: Monmouth, Ocean, Atlantic, Gloucester, Essex, Camden, Bergen, Union, Mercer, and Morris.

Two candidates ran in the 2018 general election: professor and activist Madelyn Hoffman for U.S. Senate,^[10] and attorney and activist Diane Moxley for Congressional District 7.^[11] Hoffman received 25,150 votes and Moxley received 2,676 votes.^[12]

State party co-chair Craig Cayetano ran for Hawthorne Council in 2019 and 2020. Madelyn Hoffman ran for U.S. Senate again in the 2020 election, winning 38,288 votes and coming in third.^[13] Incumbent Jessica Clayton ran for a second term on the Brick, NJ school board and lost after a very close recount.

Green Party affiliate^[14] Dr. Corey Teague serves on the Paterson Board of Education after being elected in 2019 with the largest number of votes.^[15]

As of August 2021, there were 11,758 registered Greens in New Jersey. The party plans to run multiple candidates for state assembly and for statewide office, including governor, in future elections.

In preparation for the 2024 election, the Green Party of New Jersey has 13 candidates; Robin Brownfield (CD-01), Thomas Cannavo (CD-02), Steve Welzer (CD-03), Barry Bendar (CD-04), Beau Forte (CD-05), Herb Tarbous (CD-06), Andrew Black (CD-07), Christian Robins (CD-08), Benjamin Taylor (CD-09), Jon Serrano (CD-10), Lily Benavides (CD-11), and Kim Meudt (CD-12) and our Senatorial Candidate, Christina Khalil.

In July 2024, the Green Party of New Jersey held an event created to welcome Jill Stein as she introduced the so-called "Green 13" of New Jersey. She and the National Green Party have both endorsed the Green 13.

Officeholders

Current

Rev. Dr. Corey Teague, Commissioner, Board of Education, Paterson (2019–present)^[16]

Former

Gary Novosielski, Board of Education, Rutherford (member April 1999-December 2015, president January 2014-December 2015).^[17]
Jessica Clayton, Board of Education, Brick (2018-2020)^[18]

Endorsed candidates

In 2019, Green Party endorsed candidate Corey Teague, who won a seat on the Paterson School Board.^[15]

Election results

Governor

Year	Candidate	Votes^[9]
1997	Madelyn R. Hoffman	10,703 (0.44%)
2001	Jerry L. Coleman	6,238 (0.28%)
2005	Matthew Thieke	12,315 (0.54%)
2009	None	n/a
2013	Steve Welzer	8,295 (0.39%)
2017	Seth Kaper-Dale	10,053 (0.47%)
2021	Madelyn R. Hoffman	8,450 (0.32%)

U.S. House of Representatives

2024 General November Election
Candidate	Office	Votes	%
Robin Brownfield	Congressional District 1	5,771	1.6%
Thomas Cannavo	Congressional District 2	2,555	0.7%
Steven Welzer	Congressional District 3	3,478	0.9%
Barry Bendar	Congressional District 4	1,823	0.5%
Beau Forte	Congressional Distrist 5	3,428	.90%
Herb Tarbous	Congressional District 6	4,246	1.4%
Andrew Black	Congressional District 7	4,258	1.0%
Christian Robbins	Congressional District 8	5,465	2.8%
Benjamin Taylor	Congressional District 9	5,027	2.0%
Jon Carlos Serrano	Congressional District 10	3,198	1.3%
Lily Benavides	Congressional District 11	4,780	1.2%
Kim Meudt	Congressional District 12	4,652	1.4%

U.S. Senate

Year	Nominee	Votes^[19]	%
2018	Madelyn R. Hoffman	25,150	0.79
2020	Madelyn R. Hoffman	38,288	0.86
2024	Christina Khalil	26,934	0.90

Presidential nominee results

Year	Nominee	Votes^[20]
1996	Ralph Nader	32,465 (1.06%)
2000	Ralph Nader	94,554 (2.97%)
2004	David Cobb	1,807 (0.05%)
2008	Cynthia McKinney	3,636 (0.09%)
2012	Jill Stein	9,888 (0.27%)
2016	Jill Stein	37,772 (0.99%)
2020	Howie Hawkins	14,202 (0.31%)
2024	Jill Stein	42,090 (0.99%)

References

^ "Young Ecosocialists Caucus Officially Recognized By The Green Party of New Jersey As Its Youth Wing: A New Era in GPNJ Politics". Insider NJ. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
^ "Statewide Voter Registration Statistics Archive". Retrieved August 23, 2021.
^ Personal communication, Steve Welzer, 4/14/18.
^ "Greengram". gpnj.org. Green Party of New Jersey. May 1999. Retrieved 10 October 2007. Congratulations to longtime GPNJ member and outgoing Chair, Gary Novosielski, who was elected to the Rutherford, NJ Board of Education on April 20.
^ "GREEN ASSEMBLYMAN MATT AHEARN VOWS FIGHT FOR CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM" (Press release). The Green Party of New Jersey, updated 28 March 2003. 26 January 2003. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 27 July 2007. State Assemblyman Matthew Ahearn (G - Fair Lawn), who left the Democrats for the Green Party last week, vowed today to battle for campaign finance reform, a key Green issue, when he returns to the legislature
^ Kornacki, Steve (5 November 2003). "In huge win for McGreevey, Democrats win control of Senate, gain six Assembly seats". nownj.org. National Organization for Women, New Jersey. Archived from the original on 3 November 2005. Retrieved 27 July 2007. former Fair Lawn Mayor Robert Gordon and Fort Lee Councilwoman Joan Voss won the 38th districts seats of Heck and Green Party Assemblyman Matt Ahearn.
^ Symons, Michael (30 May 2016). "Thanks, Clinton & Trump: Huge boon for third parties in NJ". nj1015.com. Townsquare Entertainment News. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
^ ^a ^b "Statewide Voter Registration Summary" (PDF). nj.gov. State of New Jersey Department of State. 31 December 2016. Retrieved 30 January 2017.
^ ^a ^b "New Jersey Department of State - Division of Elections". nj.gov. State of New Jersey Department of State. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
^ Biryukov, Nikita (July 17, 2018). "20 years later, Hoffman again running with Green Party". New Jersey Globe. Retrieved August 7, 2018.
^ Stack, Liam (August 1, 2018). "Green Party, Eyeing the 2020 Presidential race, Prepares for the Midterms". The New York Times. Retrieved August 7, 2018.
^ "New Jersey Department of State Division of Elections". Retrieved December 30, 2018.
^ "Official General Election Results 2020". New Jersey Division of Elections. December 18, 2020. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
^ "Paterson: Corey Teague receives New Jersey Green Party endorsement in BOE race". Retrieved October 28, 2020.
^ ^a ^b "2019 School Board Results". Passaic County, NJ Election Results. Retrieved December 29, 2019.
^ "DR. COREY L. TEAGUE, COMMISSIONER ON PATERSON BOARD OF EDUCATION AND MADELYN HOFFMAN, GREEN PARTY OF NJ's CANDIDATE FOR U.S SENATE IN 2020 POINT OUT FLAWS IN " BABY BONDS" PROGRAM". InsiderNJ.com.
^ Gary Novosielski on LinkedIn
^ Mikle, Jean. "NJ Election: Here are your Ocean County results". Asbury Park Press.
^ "NJ DOS - Division of Elections - 2018 Election Results". www.state.nj.us. Retrieved 2020-05-23.
^ "New Jersey Department of State - Division of Elections". nj.gov. State of New Jersey Department of State. Retrieved 30 January 2017.