Green Party Candidate Registers Voters

Surrounded by campaign staffers sporting colorful costumes, a recent Harvard graduate running for state representative held an event in Harvard Square on Sunday to round up more supporters before tomorrow’s voter registration deadline.

Carolina S. Johnson ’04, a member of the Green-Rainbow Party, is challenging Democratic incumbent Alice K. Wolf in the 25th Middlesex District, which includes Harvard Square.

Johnson said she agrees with many of Wolf’s positions, but believes it is time for Wolf to face a challenger, since she has run unopposed in the general election since she first took office in 1996.

“She’s been better than most,” Johnson said, but added, “with the kind of support she’s had, she should have been able to get more done.”

Johnson said this is part of a larger problem in state politics, as more than 70 percent of Massachusetts elections were uncontested in 2002. One of her main campaign issues is public funding of elections, which she said would increase the number of contested races and generate more voter interest.

In addition to helping voters register before tomorrow’s deadline, Johnson said she organized Sunday’s event in the Pit to draw attention to specific bills that have died in the Massachusetts legislature.

She cited a proposed law that would have created a bill of rights for sexual assault victims and a bill that would require the sale of safer cigarettes.

Johnson was accompanied by members of her campaign staff dressed as corrupt legislators, wearing suits and masks and carrying signs reading, “Speaker: Show Me the (Special Interest) $.”

The event drew mixed reactions from onlookers, as tourists snapped photographs and children in strollers stared at the costumes.

Michael McLeod, a resident of Nevada who plans to vote by absentee ballot, questioned whether the registration drive would make a difference.

“Most people already want to vote,” he said. “If they don’t want to, this isn’t going to change their mind.”

But Sheila Richards and Kaye Backlund, who just moved to West Roxbury, appreciated the opportunity to register to vote locally.

Although both women said they found some of the campaign staffers’ theatrics a bit over the top, Richards said, “I think it could get people interested in the issues.”

Backlund said small parties like Johnson’s Green-Rainbow Party face an uphill battle against candidates from the major parties.

“You can’t just give up,” she said. “Slowly but surely, something will happen.”

Steve Milder ’04, Johnson’s campaign manager, said the campaign has organized several events to woo Harvard students, including a meal at Mather House Sunday and another dinner at Pforzheimer House tomorrow.

Milder, who co-founded the Harvard Greens with Johnson in 2002, said that some issues on the campaign platform target students, including a proposal to increase funding for public transportation.

But he added that persuading out-of-state voters—especially students from swing states—to register in Massachusetts has been difficult.

“People want to vote at home because their vote will actually count in the presidential race,” he said.