| Election Name: | 2008 Green Party presidential primaries |
| Country: | United States |
| Type: | primary |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Party Name: | no |
| Previous Election: | 2004 Green Party presidential primaries |
| Previous Year: | 2004 |
| Election Date: | February 5 – June 27, 2008 |
| Next Election: | 2012 Green Party presidential primaries |
| Next Year: | 2012 |
| Votes For Election: | 836 delegates to the Green National Convention[1] [2] [3] |
| Needed Votes: | 419 delegates |
| Candidate1: | Cynthia McKinney |
| Home State1: | Georgia |
| Delegate Count1: | 304½ |
| States Carried1: | 22 |
| Map Size: | 350px |
| Green nominee | |
| Before Election: | David Cobb |
| After Election: | Cynthia McKinney |
| Color1: | 008000 |
| Candidate2: | Ralph Nader |
| Color2: | 000080 |
| Delegate Count2: | 139 |
| Home State2: | Washington D. C. |
| States Carried2: | 3 |
| Candidate4: | Uncommitted |
| Color4: | 808080 |
| Home State4: | N/A |
| States Carried4: | 2 |
| Delegate Count4: | 50 |
| Candidate5: | Jesse Johnson |
| Color5: | FFA500 |
| Home State5: | West Virginia |
| States Carried5: | 1 |
| Delegate Count5: | 27 |
The Green Party of the United States held primaries in several states in 2008. Cynthia McKinney won most of the primaries and was formally nominated as the party's nominee during the 2008 Green National Convention.
| Candidate | Most recent position | Campaign | Delegates | Delegations with plurality | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cynthia McKinney of California | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1993–2003, 2005–2007) | (Campaign • Website) | data-sort-value="304.5" | (36.42%) | data-sort-value="22" | 22 AZ, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, IA, IL, IN, MD, ME, MI, MN, PA, NC, NE, NY, OR, RI, TN, WA, WI | ||
| data-sort-value="Mesplay, Kent" | Kent Mesplay of California | Inspector at the Air Pollution Control District of San Diego County (2001–2015) | (Website) | data-sort-value="029.5" | (3.52%) | data-sort-value="00" | None | |
| data-sort-value="Johnson, Jesse" | Jesse Johnson of West Virginia | 2006 Senate candidate and 2004 gubernatorial candidate for the Mountain Party | data-sort-value="027" | (3.23%) | data-sort-value="01" | |||
Kat Swift of Texas | Activist, Bookkeeper | (Website) | data-sort-value="024" | (2.87%) | data-sort-value="00" | None | ||
| data-sort-value="Ball, Jared" | Jared Ball of Maryland | Professor and journalist | data-sort-value="0011" | (1.32%) | data-sort-value="00" | None | ||
| data-sort-value="Brown, Elaine" | Elaine Brown of California | Black Panther Party chairwoman 1974-1977 | data-sort-value="009" | (1.08%) | data-sort-value="00" | None | ||
| data-sort-value="Hawkins, Howie" | Howie Hawkins of California | Activist | data-sort-value="008" | (0.96%) | data-sort-value="00" | None | ||
Ralph Nader of Connecticut | Independent Presidential Candidate (2004) | (Campaign • Website) | data-sort-value="139" | (16.6%) | data-sort-value="03" | 3 MA, CA, VA | ||
| data-sort-value="No preference/ Other/ Uncommitted" | No preference/ Other/ Uncommitted | N/A | data-sort-value="050" | (5.90%) | data-sort-value="01" | 1 AR | ||
| Winning | Projected delegates[4] | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | State | Candidate | Percent | Total[5] [6] | |||||||||||
| February 1 | Cynthia McKinney | - | - | - | - | - | - | 11 | 1 | 2 | 1 | - | 16 | ||
| Uncommitted | 438 | 56% | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 8 | |||
| Ralph Nader | 21,726 | 61% | 3 | 7 | - | 3 | 45 | 3 | 102 | 5 | - | 168 | |||
| Cynthia McKinney | 1,513 | 57% | 5 | - | 8 | - | 25 | 6 | - | - | - | 44 | |||
| Ralph Nader | 744 | 40% | 1 | 1 | - | - | 9 | 1 | 15 | 1 | 4 | 32 | |||
| February 10 | Cynthia McKinney | 36 | 81.81% | 1 | - | - | 4 | 16 | 1 | - | 1 | - | - | ||
| Cynthia McKinney | 214 | 41% | 1 | - | - | - | 7 | - | 1 | 1 | 6 | 16 | |||
| March 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8 | ||
| Cynthia McKinney | - | - | - | - | - | 2 | 5 | 1 | - | - | - | 8 | |||
| March 4-April 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 12 | ||
| March 3 | Minnesota (caucus) | Cynthia McKinney | 187 | 60.91% | colspan=10 | ||||||||||
| March 11 | Ralph Nader | - | - | - | - | 1 | 2 | - | 3 | 1 | 1 | 8 | |||
| March 25 | Cynthia McKinney | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | 6 | 1 | - | - | - | 8 | ||
| March 29 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 12 | ||
| Cynthia McKinney | 77 | 79% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 24 | |||
| March 31 | Cynthia McKinney | - | - | - | - | - | 10 | 1 | - | 1 | - | 12 | |||
| April 7 | Cynthia McKinney | 27 | 75% | - | - | - | 2 | 6 | - | - | - | - | 8 | ||
| April 9 | Cynthia McKinney | - | - | - | - | 7.5 | 0.5 | - | - | - | - | - | 8 | ||
| April 13 - May 10 | Cynthia McKinney | - | 53% | - | - | - | 3 | 17 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 32 | ||
| May 10 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8 | ||
| April 26 | Cynthia McKinney | 33 | 66% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 1 | 2 | - | 3 | 20 | ||
| April 27 | Jesse Johnson | - | - | - | - | - | 6 | 2 | - | - | - | - | 8 | ||
| May 3 | Uncommitted | - | - | - | 1 | - | - | 2 | - | - | - | 9 | 12 | ||
| Georgia | Cynthia McKinney | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7 | - | - | 1 | - | 8 | ||
| Cynthia McKinney | - | - | - | - | - | 4 | 6 | 3 | - | 3 | - | 16 | |||
| South Carolina | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8 | ||
| Tennessee | Cynthia McKinney | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5 | 1 | - | 1 | 1 | 8 | ||
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8 | |||
| May 13 | Cynthia McKinney | 40 | 58% | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8 | ||
| May 17 | Cynthia McKinney | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8 | - | - | - | - | 8 | ||
| Cynthia McKinney | - | - | - | - | 1 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | 3 | 8 | |||
| May 31 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8 | ||
| New York (state) | Cynthia McKinney | - | - | - | - | - | - | 23 | 3 | 3 | - | 2 | 24 | ||
| June 7 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8 | ||
| Cynthia McKinney | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | 23 | - | - | - | - | 24 | |||
| June 8 | Minnesota (convention) | Cynthia McKinney | colspan=2 | - | - | - | - | 11 | - | - | - | 1 | 12 | ||
| New York City | Cynthia McKinney | - | - | - | - | - | 2 | 9 | 1 | - | - | - | 12 | ||
| June 14 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 12 | ||
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8 | |||
| June 26–27 | Cynthia McKinney | - | - | - | - | - | - | 13 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 24 | ||
| - | Delegates not awarded by contests | 112 | |||||||||||||
| Total | United States | 11 | 9 | 8 | 27 | 304½ | 29½ | 24 | 139 | 50 | 836 | ||||
The Green Party held a mail-in primary in Florida on February 1.[5]
| Cynthia McKinney | - | - | 11 | |
| Ralph Nader | - | - | 2 | |
| Kent Mesplay | - | - | 1 | |
| Kat Swift | - | - | 1 | |
| Total | - | 100% | 16 |
| Uncommitted | 438 | 55.94% | 4 | |
| Cynthia McKinney | 157 | 20.05% | 2 | |
| Jared A. Ball | 81 | 10.34% | 1 | |
| Kent Mesplay | 61 | 7.79% | 1 | |
| Kat Swift | 46 | 5.87% | 0 | |
| Total | 783 | 100% | 8 |
The California primary took place on February 5. Ralph Nader won, despite not running for the nomination of the party.
| Ralph Nader | 21,726 | 60.61% | 102 | |
| Cynthia McKinney | 9,534 | 26.60% | 45 | |
| Elaine Brown | 1,598 | 4.46% | 7 | |
| Kat Swift | 1,084 | 3.02% | 5 | |
| Kent Mesplay | 727 | 2.03% | 3 | |
| Jesse Johnson | 619 | 1.73% | 3 | |
| Jared Ball | 556 | 1.55% | 3 | |
| Total | 35,844 | 100% | 168 |
The Illinois primary took place on February 5.
| Cynthia McKinney | 1513 | 56.62% | 25 | |
| Howie Hawkins | 464 | 17.37% | 8 | |
| Kent Mesplay | 384 | 14.37% | 6 | |
| Jared A. Ball | 311 | 11.64% | 5 | |
| Total | 2,672 | 100% | 44 |
The Massachusetts primary took place on February 5. Six candidates appeared on the ballot. Ralph Nader won, despite not running for the nomination of the party.
| Ralph Nader | 744 | 39.91% | 32 | |
| Cynthia McKinney | 474 | 25.43% | - | |
| Kat Swift | 60 | 3.22% | - | |
| Jared Ball | 42 | 2.25% | - | |
| Kent Mesplay | 39 | 2.09% | - | |
| Elaine Brown | 38 | 2.04% | - | |
| Others | 273 | 25.1% | - | |
| No preference | 194 | 10.41% | - | |
| Blank votes (not tallied) | ||||
| Total | 1,941 | 100% | 32 |
| Cynthia McKinney | 36 | 81.81% | 16 | |
| Jesse Johnson | 4 | 9.09% | 2 | |
| Kent Mesplay | 1 | 2.27% | 1 | |
| Kat Swift | 3 | 6.81% | 1 | |
| None of the above | 3 | 6.81% | - | |
| Total | 44 | 100% | - |
The District of Columbia primary took place on February 12.
| Cynthia McKinney | 214 | 41.07% | - | |
| Write-ins (scattered) | 145 | 27.83% | - | |
| No Candidate | 56 | 10.75% | - | |
| Howie Hawkins | 34 | 6.53% | - | |
| Kat Swift | 21 | 4.03% | - | |
| Jared A. Ball | 19 | 3.65% | - | |
| Kent Mesplay | 17 | 3.26% | - | |
| Jesse Johnson | 15 | 2.88% | - | |
| Total | 521 | 100% | 16 |
Mississippi held caucuses on March 1.[5]
Mississippi held their vote on March 1.[5]
The party also held a caucus and mail-in vote on March 4.[4]
The delegates were assigned by a vote at the state convention on June 8.[17]
| Cynthia McKinney | 114 | 60.96% | |
| Undecided/No Candidate/None of the Above | 33 | 17.65% | |
| Ralph Nader | 19 | 10.16% | |
| Kent Mesplay | 10 | 5.35% | |
| Kat Swift | 9 | 4.81% | |
| Jesse Johnson | 1 | 0.53% | |
| Write-in | 1 | 0.53% | |
| Total | 187 | 100% |
Wisconsin selected their delegates at the "Wisconsin Green Party Spring Gathering and Presidential Preference Convention" on March 29. While only McKinney and Mesplay were on the ballot, several other candidates received votes as write-ins.[3]
| Cynthia McKinney | 77 | 79% | 19 | |
| Kent Mesplay | - | 10% | 2 | |
| Ralph Nader | - | 5% | 1 | |
| Kat Swift | - | 2% | 1 | |
| Uncommitted | - | 2% | 1 | |
| Jesse Johnson | - | 1% | 0 | |
| Total | 100% | 24 |
Ohio held a vote-by-mail primary from March 4 through April 4.[19]
| Cynthia McKinney | 27 | 75% | 6 | |
| Jesse Johnson | 9 | 25% | 2 | |
| Total | 36 | 100% | 8 |
The Indiana caucuses were party-run rather than state-organized.
| Cynthia McKinney | - | - | 7.5 | |
| Kent Mesplay | - | - | 0.5 | |
| Total | - | - | 8 |
The Green Party of Connecticut assigned their delegates based upon a vote held at their annual meeting on April 26, 2008.[22]
| Cynthia McKinney | 33 | 66% | 13 | |
| Ralph Nader (write-in) | 6 | 12% | 2 | |
| Kat Swift | 3 | 6% | 1 | |
| Kent Mesplay | 2 | 4% | 1 | |
| Jesse Johnson | 2 | 4% | 1 | |
| Noam Chomsky (write-in) | 1 | 2% | - | |
| Mike DeRosa (write-in) | 1 | 2% | - | |
| Al Gore (write-in) | 1 | 2% | - | |
| Barack Obama (write-in) | 1 | 2% | - | |
| Total | 50 | 100% | 20 |
Maryland held a primary where voters could either mail-in their ballots before April 30 or vote in-person at the Maryland Green Party Annual Assembly on May 3.[23]
| Cynthia McKinney | 6 | |||
| Jesse Johnson | 4 | |||
| Kat Swift | 3 | |||
| Kent Mesplay | 3 | |||
| Total | - | 100% | 16 |
South Carolina held a party convention on May 3.[24]
Missouri held a state convention on May 10.[5]
The Green Party of Pennsylvania's presidential caucuses were held April 13-May 10. These caucuses were party-sponsored rather than state-run.
| Cynthia McKinney | - | 52.76% | 17 | |
| None of the above | - | 14.17% | 5 | |
| Uncommitted | - | 4.72% | ||
| Ralph Nader | - | 11.02% | 4 | |
| Jesse Johnson | 8.66% | 3 | ||
| Kent Mesplay | - | 4.72% | 1 | |
| Kat Swift | - | 2.36% | 1 | |
| Total | - | 100% | 32 |
The Nebraska primary took place on May 13.[5]
| Cynthia McKinney | 40 | 57.97% | - | |
| Jesse Johnson | 13 | 18.84% | - | |
| Kat Swift | 8 | 11.59% | - | |
| Kent Mesplay | 8 | 11.9% | - | |
| Total | 69 | 100% | 8 |
The Iowa convention took place on May 17.
| Cynthia McKinney | - | - | 3 | |
| Kat Swift | - | - | 2 | |
| Jesse Johnson | - | - | 1 | |
| Kent Mesplay | - | - | 1 | |
| Uncommitted | - | - | 1 | |
| Total | - | - | 8 |
Montana appointed their eight delegates at a state convention on May 31.[27]
The New York Green Party ballots were publicly counted on May 31. The primary was a party-run mail-in primary.
This primary awarded 28 of New York's 40 delegates. New York City held a separate primary to award the remaining 12 delegates.[28]
| Cynthia McKinney | - | - | 21 | |
| Kent Mesplay | - | - | 3 | |
| Ralph Nader | - | 3 | ||
| Jesse Johnson | - | - | 0 | |
| Uncommitted | - | 2 | ||
| Total | - | - | 28 |
The Minnesota party previously held a caucus and mail-in vote on March 4.[4] The delegates, however, were assigned by a vote at the state convention on June 8.[17]
| Cynthia McKinney | - | - | 11 | |
| Undecided/No Candidate/None of the Above | - | - | 1 | |
| Ralph Nader | - | - | 0 | |
| Kent Mesplay | - | - | 0 | |
| Kat Swift | - | - | 0 | |
| Jesse Johnson | - | - | 0 | |
| Write-in | - | - | N/A | |
| Total | - | 100% | 12 |
The New Mexico Green Party held its vote on June 8. A total of seventeen votes were cast, with 11 going to McKinney, 4 votes going to "none of the above", and 1 vote each going to Kat Swift, Kent Mesplay, and Jesse Johnson.[30]
| Cynthia McKinney | 11 | 64.7% | - | |
| Kat Swift | 1 | 5.9% | - | |
| Kent Mesplay | 1 | 5.9% | - | |
| Jesse Johnson | 1 | 5.9% | - | |
| None of the above | 4 | 23.5% | - | |
| Total | 17 | 100% | - |
A second vote awarding New York's remaining 12 delegates was held on June 8 in New York City to appoint a remaining 12 of New York's delegates.[28]
| Cynthia McKinney | - | - | 9 | |
| Jesse Johnson | - | - | 2 | |
| Kent Mesplay | - | - | 1 | |
| Total | - | - | 12 |
The selection of Texas' delegation took place on June 14 at the state Green convention, held at S.H.A.P.E.'s Harambee Center in Houston.[31]
The Michigan convention took place June 26–27 at the Franke Center for the Arts in Marshall, Michigan.[32]
| Cynthia McKinney | - | 64% | 13 | |
| Ralph Nader | - | 17% | 3 | |
| Kat Swift | - | - | 1 | |
| Kent Mesplay | - | - | 1 | |
| Total | - | - | 19 |