The Green Party of New Jersey (GPNJ) is the state-level chapter of the Green Party of the United States for New Jersey.

Background

The Green Party of New Jersey was established in January 1997 by 40 individuals led by James Mohn, a resident of Guttenberg, New Jersey who was involved in the New Jersey Draft Nader for President Committee. Mohn was also active in New Jersey Peace Action, Witness for Peace, the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee, and the Rainbow Coalition. ¹

Beliefs

The Green Party of New Jersey maintains support for four policy “pillars.” The GPNJ supports “peace,” a non-interventionist foreign policy; “ecology,” environmentalism, particularly an end to the use of fossil fuels and a government-assisted transition to weather-dependent energy sources; “social and economic justice,” including restrictions on the legal rights of businesses and financial institutions; and “grassroots democracy,” or to achieve political change through local democratic action to counter corporate and monied influences on the government. ²

The GPNJ also emphasizes support for government subsidizing of “green jobs,” or jobs associated with weather-dependent energy sources and technologies. ³

The GPNJ signed a petition supporting March on Washington for Gaza, a movement that supports an armistice in the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza. ⁴

The GPNJ has opposed the restriction of books with sexually controversial material in public libraries and schools. ⁵

Candidates

In 2023, the Green Party of New Jersey ran two candidates: Barry Bendar for the state Assembly and Craig Cayetano for the Hawthorne Town Council. Both candidates were defeated. ⁶

In 2018, Madelyn Hoffman ran for U.S. Senate and came in third behind the Republican and Democratic candidates. The victor, U.S. Senator Bob Menendez Sr. (D-NJ), has been an outspoken supporter of Israel, and after the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza in 2023, Sen. Menendez advocated that Israel “effectively wipe Hamas off the face of the Earth.” Hoffman and Green Party U.S. Senate candidate Christina Khalil issued a joint-statement criticizing Menendez for advocating for “[inflaming] tensions in the region and [implicating] the U.S. and the voices most loudly supporting Israel’s actions in a terrible and unforgivable genocide.” ^{7 8}

1. “Green Party of New Jersey v. Hartz Mountain Industries, Inc.” Justia US Law. Accessed January 25, 2024. https://law.justia.com/cases/new-jersey/supreme-court/2000/a-59-99-opn.html.
2. “The 4 Pillars.” Green Party of New Jersey. Accessed January 25, 2024. https://www.gpnj.org/gpnjwp/the-4-pillars/.
3. “The 4 Pillars.” Green Party of New Jersey. Accessed January 25, 2024. https://www.gpnj.org/gpnjwp/the-4-pillars/.
4. “Endorsers.” March on Washington for Gaza. Accessed January 25, 2024. https://march4gaza.org/endorsers/.
5. “Have We Learned Nothing from History?” Green Party of New Jersey. May 23, 2023. Accessed January 25, 2024. https://www.gpnj.org/gpnjwp/uncategorized/have-we-learned-nothing-from-history/.
6. “Green Party of NJ Candidates.” Green Party of New Jersey. Accessed January 25, 2024. https://www.gpnj.org/gpnjwp/candidates-2/.
7. ^[1] “STATEMENT from Madelyn Hoffman, regarding Senator Menendez.” Insider NJ. October 10, 2023. Accessed January 25, 2024. https://www.insidernj.com/press-release/statement-from-madelyn-hoffman-regarding-senator-menendez/.
8. Kiefer, Eric. “Israel-Palestine: NJ Green Party Candidates Blast Menendez’s Comments.” Green Party. November 7, 2023. Accessed January 25, 2024. https://www.gp.org/gpnj_candidates_blast_menendez.