Cheri Lynn Honkala, January 12, 1963 (Minneapolis, Minn.) -
VP candidate for Green Party of the United States (aka DC Statehood-Green Party aka Mountain Party aka Green-Rainbow Party aka Independent aka Pacific Green Party aka Green Independent Party) (2012)
Running mate with nominee: Jill Ellen Stein (b. 1950)
Popular vote: 431,741 (0.33%)
Electoral vote: 0/538
The campaign:
The 2012 Green Party Presidential nomination was won by Massachusetts physician Jill Stein, a perennial Green Party candidate for various offices in the Bay State during the previous decade. From 2005-2011 she had been twice elected to the Lexington, Mass. town council, her only public office prior to running for the White House.
The cornerstone of Stein's campaign was the Green New Deal, a phrase that goes back to the early 21st century, was picked up and expanded on by the Green Party, and then later co-opted by progressive Democrats. The Party's 2012 Green New Deal not only called for assertive environmental measures but also included several social issues such as full employment, strict tariffs, support labor unions, upgrade the nation's infrastructure, tuition-free education, a moratorium on foreclosures and evictions, phase out dependence on oil-coal-nuclear power, repeal the Patriot Act, Statehood for DC, legalize marijuana.
Although Stein might have appeared radical to mainstream voters, she looked totally moderate when compared to her running-mate, controversial Philadelphia-based activist Cheri Honkala. The Green Party VP had a Dickens style hardluck upbringing and later survived as a homeless single mother living in her car. In her struggle she evolved into an unorthodox and in-your-face advocate on behalf of those living on the margins of society. Her method of operation was confrontational, probably giving her the record among 2012 nominees for number of arrests related to civil disobedience. Honkala's efforts worked in terms of generating attention for her cause. Back when magazines had more clout than they do today, Ms. Magazine named Honkala "Woman of the Year" in 2001, and Mother Jones bestowed the "Hellraiser of the Month" honor to her in April 2005.
Stein and Honkala were arrested more than once during the campaign in the course of protesting issues like foreclosures and being excluded from the Obama-Romney debates. For them, incarceration was considered just part of the election process.
Their 4th place result of nearly half a million votes was the best showing for the Green Party since 2000. On the ballot in 35 states + DC and write-ins in 5, there were no states where they could be accused, as they were in 2000, of being a spoiler. The Stein/Honkala ticket finished strongest in Maine (1.14%), Oregon (1.18%), Alaska (0.97%), Arkansas (0.87%), District of Columbia (0.84%, where they placed third), Hawaii (0.73%), Washington and Idaho (0.67% each), West Virginia and California (0.66% each), Massachusetts (0.65%).
In Wisconsin Stein's running-mate was Ben Manski, in Illinois it was Howie Hawkins.
Stein would run again in 2016 where she had morphed into a different kind of candidate who would have more of an impact on the outcome of the election. I'll get to that later.
Election history:
2011 - Sheriff of Philadelphia, Penn. (Green Party of the United States) - defeated
2017 - Pennsylvania House of Representatives (Green Party of the United States) - defeated
Other occupations: activist for homeless, co-founder of the Kensington Welfare Rights Union, co-founder National Coordinator of the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign
Notes:
Honkala's son is the actor Mark Webber, best known to me as "The Kid" at the end of one of Bill Murray's best films, Broken Flowers (2005). Murray imparts the following wisdom, "Well, the past is gone, I know that. The future, isn't here yet, whatever it's going to be. So, all there is, is, is this. The present. That's it."
