While Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump may have taken up most of Detroit’s attention on Saturday, another candidate was trying to shore up votes for Election Day.
Green Party candidate Dr. Jill Stein held a rally in the Eastern Marketplace with her running mate Ajamu Baraka. This was their first joint appearance since the Green Party convention in August.
Between musical acts Green Party candidates and speakers stressed that they are the alternative and that the Democrats and Republicans do not own any votes. One of their slogans is “Vote for the greater good. Not the lesser evil.”
One of their slogans is "Vote for the greater good. Not the lesser evil."
“We are not limited to just two deadly choices,” Stein said during her speech. “We are also the alternative that many Trump supporters are actually looking for.” Stein continued saying that many Trump supporters are just afraid of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
The candidates stressed national issues like climate change and the global economy. But they also touched on the emergency manager takeovers of Michigan cities and schools, and the Flint water crisis.
Speaking to a crowd before the rally began, Stein said, “I think the experience of the public schools here tells you all you need to know. As the experience of Flint, Michigan told us all we needed to know of what happens when you essentially destroy democracy.”
Baraka called Michigan a battleground state and said he will be back to the state before Election Day.
“It is a state in which millions of people still don’t have voice,” he said. “And we want to offer an alternative, an option, to these two elite parties.”
Thirty-two Green Party members are running for everything from U.S. House District seats to State Board of Education to Ypsilanti Township Park Commissioner.
Many of those Green Party candidates were in Detroit Saturday including Democrat and Bernie Sanders supporter turned Green Party candidate Benjamin Nofs. Nofs is running for U.S. House of Representatives in the 10th District.
Nofs says he is a Green Party candidate because, “I am a working class citizen. I support the people. I’m not a millionaire, and I’m not a corporate establishment politician. I want to work for the people, not corporations.”
