The Green Party of Connecticut will be holding a convention Saturday to fill slots on the ballot in November.
Based on state law, the party has ballot lines for 2010 for attorney general, secretary of the state, comptroller, and treasurer. But since the party lacked the necessary 1 percent of the vote in the 2006 governor’s race, the party does not have an automatic ballot line for governor in 2010.
Cliff Thornton ran on the Green Party line in 2006 and captured 9,585 votes, which translates to 0.85 percent. He polled ahead of Joseph Zdonczyk of the Concerned Citizens Party, which received 0.50 percent of the vote. Republican M. Jodi Rell won the race with 63.2 percent, compared to 35.42 percent for Democrat John DeStefano of New Haven.
Tim McKee, a Green Party spokesman, says the party hopes to have 12 to 20 candidates for the state legislature, as well as Congressional races. The party has ballot lines in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Congressional districts because they have reached the necessary voting levels for ballot access. The Green Party is not on the ballot in areas where the party has less strength – the 4th Congressional district in Fairfield County and the 5th Congressional district in Litchfield County.
The party’s meeting Saturday will be held at the Portland Senior Center at 7 Waverly Avenue in Portland, starting at 11 a.m.
Scott Deshefy, an attorney in Hartford, will be the party’s nominee in the 2nd Congressional District against U.S. Rep. Joseph Courtney, a former state legislator in Hartford who is now serving in Washington, D.C.
Ruthann “Rae” Johnson is already a candidate for the party in the 9th State Senate district, which covers Rocky Hill, Middletown, Wethersfield, Newington, and Cromwell. She would be running against incumbent Sen. Paul Doyle, a Democrat from Wethersfield.
Further details are at www,ctgreens.org