Laura Wells
Encyclopedia
Laura Wells is a Green Party candidate for the 2010 Governor’s race
in the State of California
. Wells is a former financial and business analyst, and political activist in Oakland California. She supports making significant changes to Proposition 13
and to the current super-majority voting rule in the Sacramento legislature. In 2002 she garnered nearly a half million votes in her run for California State Controller. At the last 2010 Gubernatorial debate in California, which excluded all third party candidates, Wells was arrested upon attempting to enter the building to watch the debate.
. She earned her BA from Wayne State University
in Detroit in 1969, where she was a scholarship student, majored in foreign languages, and was elected to the Phi Beta Kappa society
. Wells earned a Masters of Education at Antioch University
, and later worked in finance, business analysis and computer programming.
Wells has resided in California for more than 30 years. She has one daughter, Natalia, born in Oakland, now a 23-year-old musician and graduate of the University of California at Santa Cruz. Wells is engaged to Charles Goodwin, a former probation counselor in the juvenile division.
In 2006, Wells served on the executive committee of the "IRV for Oakland" (Instant Runoff Voting) campaign while running for State Controller. IRV is a voting system in which voters rank candidates in order of preference, rather than selecting only one candidate, a method which eliminates the so-called spoiler effect
in elections. Wells helped garner support for IRV from Oakland Congressional Representative Barbara Lee
and other local representatives of most political parties in Oakland, including Greens, Libertarians, Peace and Freedom, Republicans, and Democrats. In November 2006, IRV achieved 69% voter approval. And on January 5, 2010, The Oakland City Council voted to adopt IRV for its mayoral and council elections.
In 2002 and 2006, Wells ran campaigns for State Controller, receiving 419,873 votes in 2002, the most ever for a Green Party candidate in a statewide partisan race in California. In 2009, and says, "I may run until we win!" Wells appeared on the Fox News program “Your World” several times to discuss tax fairness in California.
Wells has also participated in five international delegations to Canada
and South America
to study innovations in participatory democracy
and new constitution
s, and has broadly worked in a range of volunteer and professional capacities for community and labor organizations, including Pesticide Action Network (North America), Women’s Economic Agenda Project, and SEIU United Healthcare Workers (West). she co-founded Green Focus, a party newspaper.
Wells’ campaign emphasizes the California budget and tax issues, particularly Proposition 13
, passed during Jerry Brown
's tenure as governor, which she says must be changed, in part because it primarily benefits corporations over individuals. In a position paper on Proposition 13, Wells wrote:
Wells also favors lowering the margin needed to pass a budget and raise taxes in the state from two-thirds to a simple majority
. She supports increasing funding for education, and the use of a ‘split-roll tax’ to keep cap residential property taxes while allowing higher property taxes for businesses. In a January 2010 interview with The Sacramento Bee discussing her views on taxes and the budget in California, Wells stated:
Wells has also addressed the difficulty that third parties have in running candidates for state elections:
Wells supports a Single Payer Universal Health Care
solution for California, and if given the opportunity, says that she would gladly sign SB 840 (the Single Payer bill introduced by State Senator Sheila Kuehl) into law. Wells also supports the use of clean, sustainable, local energy, including publicly-owned utilities, Community Choice Aggregation
(CCA) and localized (distributed) electricity generation, instead of nuclear power or carbon sequestration. Wells also opposes government bailouts of large corporations and banks and proposes the creation of a State Bank for California which could partner with local banks and credit unions, and potentially improve their ability to lend. Other Green Party candidates, such as the 2010 Illinois gubernatorial candidate Rich Whitney
, also support a State Bank proposal.
Wells has been endorsed by San Francisco for Democracy
and numerous elected officials, described at her campaign website.
California gubernatorial election, 2010
The 2010 California gubernatorial election was held November 2, 2010 to elect the Governor of California. The primary elections were held on June 8, 2010. Because constitutional office holders in California are prohibited from serving more than two terms in the same office since 1990, incumbent...
in the State of California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. Wells is a former financial and business analyst, and political activist in Oakland California. She supports making significant changes to Proposition 13
California Proposition 13 (1978)
Proposition 13 was an amendment of the Constitution of California enacted during 1978, by means of the initiative process. It was approved by California voters on June 6, 1978. It was declared constitutional by the United States Supreme Court in the case of Nordlinger v. Hahn,...
and to the current super-majority voting rule in the Sacramento legislature. In 2002 she garnered nearly a half million votes in her run for California State Controller. At the last 2010 Gubernatorial debate in California, which excluded all third party candidates, Wells was arrested upon attempting to enter the building to watch the debate.
Background and education
Laura Wells was born and raised in Traverse City, MichiganMichigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
. She earned her BA from Wayne State University
Wayne State University
Wayne State University is a public research university located in Detroit, Michigan, United States, in the city's Midtown Cultural Center Historic District. Founded in 1868, WSU consists of 13 schools and colleges offering more than 400 major subject areas to over 32,000 graduate and...
in Detroit in 1969, where she was a scholarship student, majored in foreign languages, and was elected to the Phi Beta Kappa society
Phi Beta Kappa Society
The Phi Beta Kappa Society is an academic honor society. Its mission is to "celebrate and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences"; and induct "the most outstanding students of arts and sciences at America’s leading colleges and universities." Founded at The College of William and...
. Wells earned a Masters of Education at Antioch University
Antioch University
Antioch University is an American university with five campuses located in four states. Campuses are located in Los Angeles, California; Santa Barbara, California; Keene, New Hampshire; Yellow Springs, Ohio; and Seattle, Washington. Additionally, Antioch University houses two institution-wide...
, and later worked in finance, business analysis and computer programming.
Wells has resided in California for more than 30 years. She has one daughter, Natalia, born in Oakland, now a 23-year-old musician and graduate of the University of California at Santa Cruz. Wells is engaged to Charles Goodwin, a former probation counselor in the juvenile division.
Politics and public service
Wells has served in numerous county and state-level leadership positions in the Green Party of California since she registered with the Green Party in 1992. She was a founding member of the Green Party County Council in Alameda County (1992–94; 2002–04) and co-founder and managing editor of the national Green Party newspaper, Green Focus (2002–2004).In 2006, Wells served on the executive committee of the "IRV for Oakland" (Instant Runoff Voting) campaign while running for State Controller. IRV is a voting system in which voters rank candidates in order of preference, rather than selecting only one candidate, a method which eliminates the so-called spoiler effect
Spoiler effect
The spoiler effect describes the effect a minor party candidate with little chance of winning has in a close election, when that candidate's presence in the election draws votes from a major candidate similar to them, thereby causing a candidate dissimilar to them to win the election...
in elections. Wells helped garner support for IRV from Oakland Congressional Representative Barbara Lee
Barbara Lee
Barbara Jean Lee is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1998. She is a member of the Democratic Party. She is the first woman to represent that district. Lee was the Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus and was the Co-Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus...
and other local representatives of most political parties in Oakland, including Greens, Libertarians, Peace and Freedom, Republicans, and Democrats. In November 2006, IRV achieved 69% voter approval. And on January 5, 2010, The Oakland City Council voted to adopt IRV for its mayoral and council elections.
In 2002 and 2006, Wells ran campaigns for State Controller, receiving 419,873 votes in 2002, the most ever for a Green Party candidate in a statewide partisan race in California. In 2009, and says, "I may run until we win!" Wells appeared on the Fox News program “Your World” several times to discuss tax fairness in California.
Wells has also participated in five international delegations to Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
to study innovations in participatory democracy
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
and new constitution
Constitution
A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is...
s, and has broadly worked in a range of volunteer and professional capacities for community and labor organizations, including Pesticide Action Network (North America), Women’s Economic Agenda Project, and SEIU United Healthcare Workers (West). she co-founded Green Focus, a party newspaper.
2010 Campaign for California Governor
In January 2010, Laura Wells announced her candidacy for governor of California in the 2010 election. Wells won the Green Party primary on June 8, 2010 with over 78% of the votes. If elected in November 2010, Wells would become both the first female and the first Green governor of California.Wells’ campaign emphasizes the California budget and tax issues, particularly Proposition 13
California Proposition 13 (1978)
Proposition 13 was an amendment of the Constitution of California enacted during 1978, by means of the initiative process. It was approved by California voters on June 6, 1978. It was declared constitutional by the United States Supreme Court in the case of Nordlinger v. Hahn,...
, passed during Jerry Brown
Jerry Brown
Edmund Gerald "Jerry" Brown, Jr. is an American politician. Brown served as the 34th Governor of California , and is currently serving as the 39th California Governor...
's tenure as governor, which she says must be changed, in part because it primarily benefits corporations over individuals. In a position paper on Proposition 13, Wells wrote:
”Prop. 13, in 1978, was promoted to California voters as a way to reduce taxes and to stop fixed-income seniors and others from losing their homes due to escalating property taxes. Since then, the bulk of the "tax relief" goes places the voters never intended--giant corporations. Corporate properties are rarely re-assessed since corporations don't die and seldom sell.”
Wells also favors lowering the margin needed to pass a budget and raise taxes in the state from two-thirds to a simple majority
Majority
A majority is a subset of a group consisting of more than half of its members. This can be compared to a plurality, which is a subset larger than any other subset; i.e. a plurality is not necessarily a majority as the largest subset may consist of less than half the group's population...
. She supports increasing funding for education, and the use of a ‘split-roll tax’ to keep cap residential property taxes while allowing higher property taxes for businesses. In a January 2010 interview with The Sacramento Bee discussing her views on taxes and the budget in California, Wells stated:
"The two parties, the Democrat and Republican parties, do not address the root causes of the problem," Wells said. "That's off the table for them. ... To get what we want and to have the revenue that pays for it we need to have a budget that makes sense."
Wells has also addressed the difficulty that third parties have in running candidates for state elections:
”. . . she says [the difficulty for third parties] is a result of the "locked-down" system the Democrats and Republicans have put in place. As a case in point, she said she had to pay $6,000 for a 300-word ballot statement when she ran for state controller in 2006, a fee she said blocks minor-party candidates from running.”
Wells supports a Single Payer Universal Health Care
Single-payer health care
Single-payer health care is medical care funded from a single insurance pool, run by the state. Under a single-payer system, universal health care for an entire population can be financed from a pool to which many parties employees, employers, and the state have contributed...
solution for California, and if given the opportunity, says that she would gladly sign SB 840 (the Single Payer bill introduced by State Senator Sheila Kuehl) into law. Wells also supports the use of clean, sustainable, local energy, including publicly-owned utilities, Community Choice Aggregation
Community Choice Aggregation
Community Choice Aggregation or CCA is a system adopted into law in the states of Massachusetts, Ohio, California, New Jersey and Rhode Island which allows cities and counties to aggregate the buying power of individual customers within a defined jurisdiction in order to secure alternative energy...
(CCA) and localized (distributed) electricity generation, instead of nuclear power or carbon sequestration. Wells also opposes government bailouts of large corporations and banks and proposes the creation of a State Bank for California which could partner with local banks and credit unions, and potentially improve their ability to lend. Other Green Party candidates, such as the 2010 Illinois gubernatorial candidate Rich Whitney
Rich Whitney
Rich Whitney is an Illinois politician and civil rights attorney who was the Illinois Green Party's nominee for Governor of Illinois in the elections of 2006 and 2010. During the 2006 campaign Whitney received endorsements from several newspapers, including the Rockford Register Star, Southwest...
, also support a State Bank proposal.
Wells has been endorsed by San Francisco for Democracy
and numerous elected officials, described at her campaign website.
Arrested at debates
On October 12, 2010, Laura Wells was given a ticket to watch the California gubernatorial debate at Dominican University in San Rafael by a friend of hers and used it to enter the building. Wells was initially allowed in, but upon being recognized as the Green Party gubernatorial candidate, she was approached by security and asked to surrender the ticket on the grounds that it was not issued to her, but to her friend. When she refused to surrender the ticket, she was handcuffed and taken from the building and put into a police car. She was later released. Wells stated:"Republicans and Democrats will go to any lengths, even arresting candidates, to keep the truth from California voters. There are solutions, but voters aren't being allowed to hear from independent candidates."
External links
- Laura Wells' Gubernatorial Campaign Website
- Green Party Candidate Excluded from California Governor’s Debate - video report by Democracy Now!Democracy Now!Democracy Now! and its staff have received several journalism awards, including the Gracie Award from American Women in Radio & Television; the George Polk Award for its 1998 radio documentary Drilling and Killing: Chevron and Nigeria's Oil Dictatorship, on the Chevron Corporation and the deaths of...