Secretary Susan Cleaver Vice Chair Travis Boothe | Chair Jesse Johnson Political position Centre-left | |
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Mountain party
The Mountain Party is a state-level political party in West Virginia. They are the affiliate of the United States Green Party in West Virginia. The party is headed by Jesse Johnson, State Chairman.
Contents
It is a progressive and environmentalist party that calls for an end to mountaintop removal coal mining. It also calls for timber regulation that reduces flooding, erosion and eliminates clear-cutting and destruction of old-growth forests. Other platform planks include an end to corporate welfare, and the establishment of small community schools, universal health care and campaign finance reform.
Elise keaton new chair of mountain party
Platform
The party, similar in its outlook to the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, was created partially in response to the perceived conservative tilt of the state's Democratic Party.
History
Under West Virginia ballot access laws, a party gains automatic ballot access for the subsequent election cycle by gaining one percent of the votes for Governor. Having obtained access by petition in 2000, the party achieved that one percent in that election and again in 2004 and won over 4% of votes in 2008.
The Mountain Party was born as a direct result of the Denise Giardina for Governor campaign in the year 2000 general election.
Gubernatorial candidate Jesse Johnson unsuccessfully sued to be included in debates between the major candidates in 2004 and again in 2008.
While the Mountain Party has never elected anyone to any statewide office, it has obtained good results in local elections. In 2004 Richwood elected party member and local poet Bob Henry Baber as its mayor, although this was in a non-partisan election.
As of October 2012, 1,345 West Virginians had registered as Mountain Party voters and were eligible to vote in party primaries, this accounted for .10% of party voter registration in West Virginia.
In 2016, the party ran former state legislator Charlotte Pritt for Governor of West Virginia. This led to growth for the party. She received 5.9% of the vote, the highest ever for a Mountain Party gubernatorial candidate.