What does the Green-Rainbow Party have planned for 2022?
Could the left-wing, pro-environment, and socially progressive party run some candidates for statewide office? Will the party run a candidate for state auditor with Democrat Suzanne Bump announcing that she won’t seek a fourth term?
Lois Gagnon, co-chair of the Green-Rainbow Party, told NewBostonPost that it’s a post that interests the party.
“We will be running candidates for statewide office next year,” Gagnon said in an email message. “I do not know at this time if we will have a candidate for auditor although with the incumbent not seeking re-election, we will certainly be very interested in finding someone to run for that position.”
The Green-Rainbow Party has run a candidate for auditor in each of the past three elections.
In 2010 the Green-Rainbow Party candidate Nathanael Alexander Fortune got 5.1 percent of the vote, while Bump won the election with 48.5 percent and Republican Mary Connaughton got 46.3 percent. Four years later, Green-Rainbow candidate M.K. Merelice finished third in the race with 4.1 percent of the vote. Meanwhile, Bump won it with 57.7 percent of the vote, while Republican Patricia Saint Aubin got 38.1 percent. And in 2018, Green-Rainbow candidate Edward Stamas got 2.6 percent of the vote and came in fourth place overall. Bump (62.1 percent) won the race while Republican Helen Brady (31.0 percent) finished second, and Libertarian Daniel Fishman (4.2 percent) came in third.
Auditor wasn’t the only statewide position that the Green-Rainbow Part ran a candidate for in 2018. Juan Sanchez was their candidate for Secretary of the Commonwealth. He got 3.8 percent of the vote, finishing behind incumbent Democrat Bill Galvin (70.8 percent) and Republican challenger Anthony Amore (25.3 percent). And Jamie Guerin was the party’s candidate for Treasurer. She got 3.5 percent as Democrat Deborah Goldberg got 67.6 percent of the vote and Republican Keiko Orrall got 28.8 percent.
The Green-Rainbow Party often gains official party status in Massachusetts by running candidates statewide in off-year elections. To obtain official party status in Massachusetts, a party must run a candidate statewide in the November general election and that candidate must receive at least 3.0 percent of the vote. Official parties’ candidates automatically qualify for the ballot for president. Plus, the parties get a statewide primary.
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