Steven Schmidt

Steven J. Schmidt is an American media entrepreneur and a political and environmental activist.

For persons of a similar name, see Steve Schmidt (disambiguation).
Steven J. Schmidt

Biography

Steven Schmidt was the lieutenant governor nominee of the Green Party in New Mexico in 1994,[1] receiving 10.4 percent of the vote, an unusually high percent of the vote for third party candidates.[2] As a result of the vote, the New Mexico Green Party became the first independent political party in the state’s history to qualify as a major party with ballot-access under state election law.[3]

After the campaign, Schmidt was nominated for a constitutional position on the New Mexico State Board of Education and confirmed by the Legislature.[4] As "constitutional officers" the Board members were responsible for policy, management and oversight of over 50 percent of the state budget.[5]

Schmidt was an adviser to the Center for Voting and Democracy[6] and from 1993-2003 collaborated with Green party advocates to build a major third-party. After the 1994 New Mexico election, Schmidt put forward a Green model for organizing a platform-based national campaign.[7] Schmidt became the key drafter of the founding platform of the Green Party of the United States[7] as chairperson of the Platform committee from 1995–2001 and became a principal figure in the formation of the national Green Party.[8][9]

In the international arena, Steve Schmidt created a first-of-its-kind 1999 "Blue-Green" initiative bringing labor groups and environmentalists together for sustainable jobs and conservation; proposed and co-drafted the initial "Common Ground Platform" aligning U.S. Greens and thirty two European Green parties; participated in the subsequent proposal and drafting of the first international "Global Greens Charter" and in 2004 attended the founding meeting of the European Green Party in Rome, Italy.

In 1998, Senator Paul Wellstone, who reviewed campaign finance and voting reform proposals with Schmidt from 1990 on, met in Albuquerque with Schmidt to discuss his writing for the Senator’s exploratory committee for President. Schmidt agreed and worked with him until his decision in 1999 to abandon the campaign due to health issues. In 2004, Schmidt co-established the Green Institute/Green Policy360 with Dean Myerson and co-authored with Roger Morris its first strategic policy paper, "Strategic Demands of the 21st Century: A New Vision for a New World".[10] He co-established the Green Policy wiki site (initially at greenpolicy.us) in 2004 to "compete with the Republican’s Legislative Exchange, ALEC strategy." A writer on security and peace issues, Schmidt co-organized the 2006 "Surviving Victory" conference in Washington, DC.

References
  1. "Green Party to be on New Mexico ballot". Associated Press. August 13, 1994. Retrieved October 10, 2011.
  2. Stephanie Gonzales. "Secretary of State Vote Canvass. Returns of General Election in New Mexico held on November 8, 1994" (PDF). State of New Mexico. Archived (PDF) from the original on February 21, 2014. Retrieved October 10, 2011.
  3. "Ballot Status History, Green Party of New Mexico". Green Party of New Mexico. Archived from the original on October 23, 2011. Retrieved October 10, 2011.
  4. "Out Takes". Santa Fe Reporter. November 22, 1995. p. 14. Retrieved October 10, 2011.
  5. "Green Officeholder Report: Steven Schmidt, NM Board of Education". Green Pages. Fall 1997. Archived from the original on January 20, 2012. Retrieved October 14, 2011.
  6. "Directors and Advisors, Center for Voting and Democracy". Archived from the original on November 22, 2011. Retrieved October 19, 2011.
  7. "Green Party Platform focuses on Political Reform, Environment". The Argus-Press. June 25, 2000. Retrieved October 10, 2011.
  8. "The Green Party gets serious. Intent on becoming a viable third party, the Greens are supplementing their grassroots efforts with a dose of political savvy". Providence Phoenix. June 29, 2000. Archived from the original on September 5, 2013. Retrieved June 1, 2014.
  9. "Greens tout Nader, build base in bay area". St. Petersburg Times. October 1, 2000. Archived from the original on March 17, 2013. Retrieved October 19, 2011.
  10. "Roger Morris - Steven Schmidt". www.counterpunch.org. Archived from the original on 2017-02-04. Retrieved 2017-02-03.
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