Jill Stein Sweeps Weekend Contests in South Carolina, Connecticut

The Green Party's Jill Stein

Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein picked-up 15 delegates to her party’s national convention over the weekend, winning contests at state conventions in South Carolina and Connecticut.

Unofficial delegate counts now give Stein 77 delegates to 12 for comedienne Roseanne Barr. To claim the nomination, a candidate must secure 201 delegates, which suggests that Stein’s strong lead is nearly insurmountable and essentially casts Barr as the Newt Gingrich of the Green Party race.

In Connecticut, convention attendees committed 8 of their state’s 10 delegates to vote for Stein, while 2 more were tagged as uncommitted.

South Carolina’s convention featured personal addresses from Jill Stein and Minnesota’s Farheen Hakeem, a rising star within the party, who was there to promote Roseanne Barr’s candidacy. In the end, the state’s eight delegates were split 7-to-1 in favor of Stein.

At least a half-dozen additional state conventions are coming up in the next three weeks, but the Barr campaign is rapidly running out of rope. Without a major turn of fortune, the former sitcom star seems headed for certain defeat at the Green Party’s July convention. Without the Green nomination, it’s not currently clear if Barr would attempt to continue her campaign as an independent or perhaps seek the nomination of another left-wing party.

An effort to “draft” Roseanne for the Americans Elect nomination failed to gather any steam.

The Peace and Freedom Party, which currently possesses ballot access in California and has made rumblings about expanding nationally, could be the most logical vehicle for Barr if she wishes to continue her bid beyond the Green convention.  Former Salt Lake City mayor Rocky Anderson seems to be the current front-runner for the PFP’s nomination.  Some have also speculated that the party, which has a strong feminist element, might also seek to nominate well known anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan to a spot on the ticket.  A combined Barr/Sheehan ticket, it could be arranged, would likely obtain ballot access in at least 15-20 states and draw significant national attention to the party.

Meanwhile, the Jill Stein campaign appears to be well on their way towards qualifying for Federal Matching Funds.  The Green Party continues their petitioning efforts and is on track to secure spots on at least 40 state ballot lines.