AZ-03 Green Party Congressional Candidate Leonard Clark Describes Sickening Conduct by Arizona Green Party at Today's Federal Court Hearing

Our fellow Green Party candidate for Congress in District 3, Leonard Clark - who was not named as a defendant in the flawed lawsuit by Arizona Green Party bosses against us and other outsider candidates - eloquently described the scene at today's hearing at the AZCentral website:

I have to tell you I felt sickened today by what I saw taking place in the federal court room in Phoenix, Arizona and no it wasn't the Tuna salad I had for lunch but instead it could have been "the rotten fish in Denmark" whose odor I was smelling wafting through the court room as the lawyers for the Green paty (of which I am a member) we're trying to subvert the rights in concert with the democrat party of the "Grandpa candidate, who has been in the news over the last month or so. I watched this hard working man harangued and insulted by the Green party lawyer over and over !
At the end of the hearing, I went up to Grandpa, the candidate and told him how much I disagreed with what the leadership of my party was doing and that in my opinion it was a subversion of his civil rights. Outside, I hugged Grandpa and told him: "Welcome to the Green party brother."
I have to say, that due to my being homeless in the past and having to work my a** off, I felt respect and sympathy for this older man called Grandpa and really infuriated at how his rights were being spat upon ! I was surprised to see Paul Charlton in court to represent him and I must say he did a good job showing what a despicable action our party leadership is taking in concert with the democrat party.

Folks, this is not the right message to be sending. We are a "Big Tent" party and should be welcoming and inclusive. In my opinion, this violates at least three tenets of our own party's ten key values: 1.) Grass Roots Democracy 2.) Decentralization and 3.) Social Justice and Equal Oppurtunity
For more information on these Ten Key Values and where our party stands please go to: azgp.org
I could also smell the stench of hypocricy coming from the lawyers for my Green party as I thought of how the Republicans stole the 2000 elections by judicial coup and how Gore tried to throw out the overseas ballots of my fellow American soldiers also in that 2000 contest.
Politics may be dirty but that doesn't mean we in the Green party have to constantly let the Republican and Democrat gangs make us copy their undemocratic subversion of votes and candidates who disagree with us and scare us !

I make this pledge to myself and to all of you now: If Grandpa is kicked off the ballot and therefore has his civil rights to vote and run for office arbitrarily taken away than I Leonard Clark, Arizona Endorsed candidate for the 3rd Congressional district will withdraw from this race because I will not stand by while one man is unfairly denied his civil rights by the democrat and leadership of the Green parties and I...am unfairly allowed to run as a write in for the Green Party of Arizona.
Leonard Clark
Arizona Endorsed Green party candidate Congressional district #3
9-9-10

We are very proud of our fellow Green Party congressional candidate, Leonard Clark - a real mensch.

Arizona Green Party Suing Some Write-In Candidates Who Won Primaries to Kick Them Off the Ballot While Trying to Keep Other Write-in Primary Winners

In response to being sued by the Arizona Green Party, which I joined in 2008, I wrote the following comment on the fine blog Random Musings:

I would like to know how the AZGP distinguishes between two write-in candidates, both of whom won congressional primaries with a handful of votes.

According to the state canvass, Leonard Clark won the CD-3 primary with five write-in votes and I won the CD-6 primary with six write-in votes.

Yet I'm among the large number of defendants in the suit filed by the Arizona Green Party but Mr. Clark is not:

Arizona Green Party et al v. Bennett et al

Plaintiffs: Arizona Green Party and Claudia Ellquist

Defendants: Ken Bennett , LeNora Johnson, Jim Claw, R John Lee, Tom White, Jr., Ryan Blackman, Richard Grayson, Christopher Campbell, Anthony Goshorn, Matthew Shusta, Clint Clement, Andrew Blischak, Michelle Lochmann, Thomas Meadows, Theodore Gomez, Benjamin Pearcy, Christine Rhodes, Patrick Call, Ann English, Richard Searle, Candace Owens, Elizabeth Archuleta, Lena Fowler, Mandy Metzger, Matt Ryan, Carl Taylor, Sadie Dalton, Shirley Dawson, Tommie Martin, Michael Pastor, Wendy John, Chip Davis, Greg Ferguson, Russell McCloud, Kathryn Prochaska, Marco Reyes, Carol Springer, Robyn Stallworth-Pouquette, Lenore Stuart, Thomas Thurman, Ana Wayman-Trujillo, Shelly Baker, Fulton Brock, John Drum, David Gomez, Mark Herrington, Holly Irwin, Drew John, Andrew Kunasek, Richard Lunt, Berta Manuz, James Palmer, Sandy Pierce, Helen Purcell, Hector Ruedas, Don Stapley, Mary Rose Wilcox, Max Wilson, Jerry Brownlow, J R DeSpain, Buster Johnson, Laurette Justman, Carol Meier, Jonathan Nez, Tom Sockwell, David Tenney, Jesse Thompson, Gary Watson, Sharon Bronson, Raymond Carroll, Ann Day, Laura Dean-Lytle, Richard Elias, F Ann Rodriguez, Ramon Valadez, Bryan Martyn, Pete Rios, Suzanne Sainz, David Snider, John Maynard, Jr., Rudy Molera and Manuel Ruiz

I fail to see how Mr. Clark and I are situated differently except that after an August 22 AZGP meeting - at which I was asked to vote on the endorsement of other candidates, including Mr. Clark, whom I supported - Mr. Clark was "endorsed" by the party but I was not.

If the AZGP were trying to kick off the ballot [by maintaining the write-in statute treating it differently from other parties violates equal protection] all the write-in candidates, it would be one thing, but the party is attempting to keep on the ballot write-in candidates they "endorsed."

This itself seems to violate equal protection. Parties cannot pick and choose which of their primary winners they will allow on the ballot, right?