| Illinois Green Party | |
| Abbreviation: | ILGP |
| Leader1 Title: | Chairperson |
| Leader1 Name: | Zerlina Smith |
| Leader2 Title: | House Leader |
| Leader2 Name: | None |
| Leader3 Title: | Senate Leader |
| Leader3 Name: | None |
| Headquarters: | 213 S. Wheaton Ave, Wheaton, Illinois, 60189 |
| Student Wing: | Young Greens |
| Position: | Left-wing |
| Ideology: | Green politics |
| National: | Green Party of the United States |
| Seats1 Title: | Illinois Senate |
| Seats2 Title: | Illinois House of Representatives |
| Seats3 Title: | Statewide Officers |
| Seats4 Title: | Local offices |
| Seats4: | 4 (2022)[1] [2] |
| Colors: | Green |
| Website: | www.ilgp.org |
| State: | Illinois |
| Country: | United States |
The Illinois Green Party is a statewide political party in Illinois. The party is state affiliate of the Green Party of the United States.
The party ran its first statewide candidates in 2006, led by Rich Whitney, candidate for Illinois Governor, who received 361,336 votes, 10% of the total vote, making the Green Party one of only three legally established, statewide political parties in Illinois (in addition to the Democratic and Republican parties) until it lost that status in 2010.
There are currently 12 local chapters affiliated with the party,[3] and 2 members holding elected positions in local government in the state.[4]
Like the national party, the Illinois Green Party promotes the "Ten Key Values" of the Green Party platform: ecological wisdom, social justice, grassroots democracy, nonviolence, decentralization, community-based economics, feminism, respect for diversity, personal and global responsibility, and a focus on the future.[5]
At the 2007 Green National Meeting the Illinois Green Party submitted a proposal to host the 2008 Green Party National Convention in Chicago, which was chosen by the party's national committee over submissions from four other cities.[6]
As an established party it was entitled to a presidential primary, if at least two candidates qualify for that primary. In 2007, Illinois law required all candidates in the presidential primary to submit 3,000 signatures by November.[7] On November 5, 2007 the deadline for candidate petitions to run in the Green presidential primary, four candidates filed: Cynthia McKinney, Kent Mesplay, Jared Ball and Howie Hawkins.[8] Illinois was one of only eight state affiliates of the Green Party to hold presidential primaries in 2008.
In 2008, 32 Green Party candidates filed petitions to run in the Illinois Green Party primary before the filing deadline.[9] The party also had the power to fill ballot vacancies in races where nobody was picked in the February 5 primary.[10] Following the primary and state party convention, the party fielded 60 candidates for the November general election.[11]
In 2010, Rich Whitney again ran for Governor of Illinois. LeAlan Jones, a journalist and activist from Chicago's South Side, ran for Senate. Both were uncontested in the June primary. Both Whitney and Jones were excluded from televised debates, despite the Green Party's 'Major Party' status. Whitney and Jones filed a lawsuit against Public Broadcasting Station member WTTW for excluding them.[12] A private vendor of ballots misspelled Rich Whitney's name as Rich 'Whitey' in 23 Chicago wards, about half of which were in predominantly African-American neighborhoods. There is no evidence this was intentional.[13] [14]
Jones was polling as high as 14% in a June 2010 poll, but ended up with 3.18% of the vote. In August 2010, Whitney polled 11% in a Public Policy Polling survey,[15] but finally received just 2.70% of the vote. As neither candidate received over 5% of the vote statewide, the Illinois Green Party lost its 'Major Party' status.
Scott Summers ran for governor and Sheldon Schafer ran for secretary of state as write-in candidates after being knocked off the statewide slate.[16]
In 2016, the Green Party ran Scott Summers for U.S. Senate and Tim Curtin for Illinois Comptroller.[17]
Dr. Jill Stein was the party's nominee for President.[18] [19]
In 2020, Howie Hawkins won the nomination over Dario Hunter. In the general election, Howie Hawkins received 30,494 votes, less than 1%.[20]