Green-Rainbow Party candidates for governor and lieutenant governor, Grace Ross and Wendy Van Horne, officially launched their campaign Tuesday by touring the Commonwealth with stops in Pittsfield, Chicopee, Worcester, and Boston, highlighting local issues and projects. The candidates’ attitudes were positive, coming off the latest Suffolk University / WHDH poll with 2% of the vote before even announcing.

Grace Ross and Wendy Van Horne, 2006 Green-Rainbow candidates for Governor and Lieutenant Governor of the Commonwealth. [campaign photo]

Rising early in Pittsfield at the Froio Senior Center, the candidates met with the local elders before moving on to Bagels Too for the send-off to the future site of the Chicopee Women’s Jail. Ross and Van Horne joined local activists fighting to prevent the construction of the proposed facility. Ross and Van Horne emphasized the failures behind adding more prisons instead of addressing the root social issues behind crime and rehabilitation, as well as treating substance abuse as a health issue instead of a criminal one.

Ross explained the tour’s purpose and focus; “Today, we’re visiting sites across the Commonwealth to show local expressions of larger problems- problems that people are told are too big and that there’s nothing we can do about it. But folks across the Commonwealth are reminding us that everything that’s wrong has homegrown roots, and they’re showing what we can do about it- that change comes from local people at the local level.”

Tuesday also marked the 38th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Ross tied the day’s events to the somber anniversary, “On today’s anniversary, we will continue to carry and rekindle the Dream with each action we take. This campaign is a reminder that regular people have the power to make change, and no matter how big or awesome we’re told a problem is, we’re the only ones that have ever made change in the world.”

Wendy Van Horne expressed her sense of obligation with the tour, “I feel it is the duty of every candidate to know what our state’s residents are concerned about. We are no longer truly represented in this state, people in office now have no idea that most of us struggle with day to day. As a candidate from the Green-Rainbow Party, it is my job and my privilege to represent those who have not had representation. To actually meet with our fellow residents and listen to their concerns should be the number one job description of our government.”

Moving on from Chicopee, the candidates traveled to Boston to join candidates from other parties and independents at the Gubernatorial Forum hosted by the MIRA Coalition. The forum centered on the hotly debated issue of immigration. Ross and Van Horne laid out a progressive agenda on immigration, including expanding voting rights to all residents of the Commonwealth, regardless of citizenship or immigration status.

In the afternoon, the candidates visited Worcester’s YouthGROW community farm, operated by the Regional Environmental Council. The stop served as an example of a great solution to many problems and disconnects people feel in the urban environment. A rally commenced to highlight the work of the community gardeners and to bring attention to the project.

Late afternoon came as the candidates arrived at their final stop, the future site of the controversial biolab in Boston’s South End, currently being built in part by Boston University. Boston City Councilor Chuck Turner and Safety Net Organizer Klare Allen joined Ross and Van Horne at the final announcement event. Boston Mayor Menino has touted the lab, saying it will be a boost to the local economy. But the biolab has been a point of concern to many residents and community activists as extremely risky, as the lab will house diseases with no known cure, such as the Ebola Virus. Ross and Van Horne vowed to stand with residents opposing the lab and planned to continue their focus on grassroots issues such as the lab, for the duration of their campaign.

PRESS RELEASE: Friends of Grace Ross for Governor Committee to Elect Wendy Van Horne Green-Rainbow Party – www.green-rainbow.org Massachusetts Affiliate of the Green Party of the United States – www.gp.org