While Democrats are celebrating their ability to deny a ballot spot to a Green Party candidate in Pennsylvania's U.S. Senate race, there are still plenty of other Greens who are on the ballot and may have some impact on national races.
Pennyslvania Democrats once again challenged the legitmacy of a third-party candidate's signatures to deny Carl Romanelli a ballot line, limiting the voters to only two choices. Democrats claim that Romanelli's petition drive was fueled by Republican backers of U.S. Senator Rick Santorum. A judge ruled last week that Romanelli's campaign was 8,931 short of the valid total of 67,070 needed for a third party candidate to make the ballot. Romanelli still hopes to make the ballot, appealing the decision because of the very high threshold needed for third party candidates.
All Democrats or Republicans need are 1,000 to 2,000 votes in their primary election to be placed on the ballot in Pennsylvania. Democrats in Pennsylvania used the same tactic in 2004 to keep Ralph Nader off the ballot.
But Romanelli isn't the only story. There are 15 Greens running for the U.S. Senate this year and 45 Greens running for the U.S. House of Representatives. Some of those are in swing states or districts.
The Maryland U.S. Senate seat is up for grabs, with Republican Michael Steele expected to be that party's best candidate in years. He is African American and running against the Democratic Party's all-white, top-of-the-slate candidates. Still, it's an uphill battle in a reliable Blue state. His opponent is current Congressman Ben Cardin.
Enter Kevin Zeese, who worked on Ralph Nader's presidential campaign in 2004 and has united all of Maryland's third parties (Green, Libertarian and Progressive) to back his independent bid. Zeese is calling himself independent, but he has in the past voted at statewide Green Party meetings.
Zeese has long been an advocate against the nation's drug laws, having worked for National Organization to Reform Marijuana Laws and has lately been advocating against electronic vote machines that do not provide a paper trail.
It has been announced that he will be allowed to join Steele and Cardin in the televised debates, giving him a real chance at having an impact in the race.
Other Greens running in battleground states include Ralph A. Ferrucci in Connecticut; Lydia Lewis in Missouri; Chris Lugo in Tennessee.
In House races, the Greens were honored when Michael Berg, whose son Nick was beheaded in Iraq, chose to run for Congress on the Green ticket in Delaware.
Berg is challenging Republican incumbent Mike Castle, who recently suffered a minor stroke that forced him to miss the closing days of the recent session of Congress and will sideline him for most of the campaign. The Democratic challenger is Dennis Spivack.
The full list of Greens running for Congress follows:
U.S. Senate: Michael Cavlan (Minnesota); Todd Chretien (California); Aaron Dixon (Washington); Ferrucci (Connecticut); Julian Hatch (Utah); Howie Hawkins (New York); Craig Hill (Vermont); Lewis (Missouri); Lugo (Tennessee); Brian Moore (Florida); Joyce Robinson-Paul (District of Columbia -- shadow position); Romanelli (Pennsylvania); David Sole (Michigan); Rae Vogeler (Wisconsin); Zeese (Maryland).
U.S. House: Matthew Abel (MI-9); Paul Aranas (OR-5); Dave Baker (PA-2); Berg (DE-AL); Carol Brouillet (CA-14); Jim Brown (NY-3); Greta Browne (PA-15); Joe Calhoun (CO-2); Candace Ruth Caveny (MI-10); Dave Chandler (CO-7); Katey Culver (TN-7); Byron De Lear (CA-28); Richard Duffee (CT-4); Jim Dunn (SC-1); Pamela Elizondo (CA-1); Gerard Giblin (MD-8); Roger William Gurk (MI-3); William Hastings (MO-9); Eva Ince (AK-AL); Melinda Ivey (MO-4); Kristine Keefer (CA-8); Tom Kelly (CO-1); Robert Kozak (MD-6); Jeff Kravitz (CA-5); Bob Levis (WI-5); Derf Maitland (PA-19); Bruce Marshall (VT-AL); Ken Mathenia (MI-5); Mike Miles (WI-7); John Miller (CA-21); Art Myatt (MI-12); David Newland (MI-1); Titus North (PA-14); William M. Paparian (CA-29); Jay Pond (MN-5); David Sladky (MO-3); Aimee Smith (MI-15); Robert Smith (TN-1); Aaron Stuttman (MI-8); Daniel Sumrall (CT-3); C. Faye Walters (SC-4); Keith Ware (DC-shadow position); Steve Warner (MD-5); Antonio Williams (SC-6); and Shirley Yurkonis (MO-6).