The Four Lakes Green Party has announced a slate of candidate endorsements for Madison Common Council in the April 2023 election. The Four Lakes Greens chose John W. Duncan (District 1), Juliana Bennett (District 2), Marsha Rummel (District 6), MGR Govindarajan (District 8), Nikki Conklin (District 9), and Michelle Ellinger Linley (District 18) as the best candidates to advance Green values of grassroots democracy, social justice, and ecological sustainability on the Madison Common Council.

Please contribute to the Wisconsin Green Party Local Candidates Support Fund to help Wisconsin Greens elect local candidates who stand for people and planet over profit! 

While the slate of candidates endorsed by the Green Party is diverse, these candidates share a common background of community engagement and activism.  They also align with Green Party values on vital issues such as affordable housing, environmental stewardship, social equity, and more.

Affordable housing remains a prevailing concern in Madison, especially amid the ongoing pandemic and economic issues affecting working-class individuals and families.   According to the city’s 2022 Housing Snapshot Report, almost half (46.9%) of Madison renters and nearly one-fifth (17.6%) of homeowners are cost-burdened.  Nearly a quarter of renters (24.3%)  are severely cost-burdened, spending more than half of their income on rent. Green-endorsed candidates share a commitment to affordable housing as a human right. They align with the Greens’ vision of development that is environmentally and socially sustainable, human-centered, and supports small businesses, cooperatives, and transportation alternatives.

Environmental justice continues to be an ongoing critical issue as well.  The planned siting of F-35 fighter jets at Truax Field threatens our city with deafening noise, cancer-causing pollution, and increased CO2 emissions. Green-endorsed candidates are ready to resist this disastrous top-down decision and insist that our community not be turned into a sacrifice zone for the military-industrial complex.  In addition, Green-endorsed candidates recognize that PFAS contamination of our water is an urgent issue that requires decisive action for the well-being of our community and the environment.

The larger issue of racial justice cannot merely be given lip service in one of the most segregated cities of the most segregated state in the country. Green-endorsed candidates share a commitment to taking tangible steps to ending systemic racism. This includes expanding community control of the police, reinvesting resources from policing and incarceration into mental health and other community needs, and addressing the roots of crime such as poverty and inequality.

Local elections in Madison are among the few elections in the United States where community organizers running grassroots campaigns can compete with candidates backed by big money corporate interests and political bosses. Local residents can make a difference by volunteering, donating, and getting involved with local campaigns and local democracy. The Four Lakes Greens encourage all Madison voters to support Green-endorsed candidates for a local government that puts people and planet over profit.

The Wisconsin Green Party has a decades-long track record of helping elect some of the most progressive local officials in the country. All our candidates pledge not to take a cent of corporate campaign money. Together we've shown that people-powered campaigns can take on big money and win.

Please give what you can to our Local Candidates Support Fund today to help elect more Green-endorsed candidates in Wisconsin!