A Fourth Choice for November

Missourians will have a fourth choice of party in November’s elections. The Secretary of State says the Progressive Party has submitted enough petition signatures to get on the ballot. It’s fielding candidates for U-S Senate, state auditor, and in four of the nine congressional districts. Party co-chairman Dee Berry of Kansas City says the party wants to end the Iraq war now, get rid of the Patriot Act, start stopping global warming, set up an instant runoff elections system, and advocate for universal health care. Berry says the party name, “Progressive,” is just temporary. She says the group really is a Green Party, but cannot use that name because another group still has the rights to use it in local elections this year. She says the Progressives are an affiliate of the national Green Party. She says the party has two goals in November—to get enough votes to get ballot status in 2008…and to give voters an alternative to the major parties. The party’s candidates: Retired federal employee and union officer Lydia Lewis of Affton, running for U.S. Senate; Kansas City accountant Terry Butler, running for state auditor; and Congressional candidates David Sladky of Mehlville, a retired brewery worker in the third district; Computer programmer Melinda “Mel” Ivey of Kansas City in the fourth district; retired social worker Shirley Yurkonis of Savannah in the sixth district; and retired psychology professor Bill Hastings of Columbia, who is running in the ninth district.