Jill Stein | |
|---|---|
 Stein in 2024 | |
| Member of theLexingtonTown Meeting from the 2nd Precinct | |
| In office 2005–2010 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Jill Ellen Stein (1950-05-14)May 14, 1950 (age 75) Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Party | Green (2002–present) |
| Other political affiliations | Democratic (1968–2002) |
| Spouse | Richard Rohrer |
| Children | 2 |
| Education | Harvard University (BA,MD) |
| Signature |  |
| Website | Campaign website |
Jill Ellen Stein (born May 14, 1950) is an American physician and activist, who was theGreen Party's nominee forPresident of the United States in the2012,2016, and2024 elections. She was theGreen-Rainbow Party's candidate forGovernor of Massachusetts in2002 and2010.
As a practicing physician, Stein advocated for improvingair quality standards forcoal plants. She ran her first political campaign as the Green-Rainbow candidate for governor of Massachusetts in2002, losing toRepublicanMitt Romney. She ran for the same position in2010, losing to the then-incumbent Massachusetts governor,DemocratDeval Patrick.
Stein first ran for President of the United States in2012, selectingCheri Honkala as her running mate. They lost to the Democratic ticket of incumbent presidentBarack Obama and incumbent vice presidentJoe Biden. She ran for the second time for president in2016 with running mateAjamu Baraka against Democratic candidateHillary Clinton and Republican candidateDonald Trump, the latter of whom won the election. In 2017, Stein's presidential campaign was investigated by theSenate Intelligence Committee for possible collusion with the Russian government but was ultimately cleared of any wrongdoing.
She ran a third time in the2024 election against former president Trump and Democratic candidate Vice PresidentKamala Harris on a campaign focused on an anti-war stance,universal healthcare,free public education, aneco-socialist "realGreen New Deal", and strongworker rights. Her vice presidential running mate wasButch Ware. Stein is among the list ofseveral women who have run for president of the United States and also one of the few who received more than a million votes in the general election, behindHillary Clinton,Jo Jorgensen, andKamala Harris.
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Political party affiliations Massachusetts campaigns Presidential campaigns | ||
Jill Ellen Stein was born on May 14, 1950,[1] inChicago, Illinois, and raised in nearbyHighland Park, Illinois.[2] Her father Joseph was an attorney while her mother Gladys was astay-at-home mom.[3] Stein was raised in aReform Jewish household, attending Chicago'sNorth Shore Congregation Israel.[2]
In 1973, Stein graduatedmagna cum laude fromHarvard College, where she studied psychology, sociology, and anthropology. She then attendedHarvard Medical School and graduated in 1979. Stein practiced medicine in the Boston area for 25 years. She also served as an instructor ininternal medicine at Harvard Medical School.[2][4]
As a physician, Stein became increasingly concerned about the connection between people's health and the quality of their local environment. She subsequently turned to activism. In 1998, she began protesting the "Filthy Five" coal plants inMassachusetts.[5][6]
The Clean Election Law provided public funding for candidates not receiving large private donations, and was eventually repealed in 2003 by the Democratic party controlled state legislature.[7] Stein has said that she left the Democratic Party and joined the Green Party when "the Democratic Party killed campaign finance reform in my state".[5]
In a 2024 interview withHaaretz, Stein said theGreen Party was an alternative to the "rigid two-party system [in which] both parties are widely regarded as sponsored by and serving the economic elites, and share their core interests. They're both parties of war and of Wall Street. They may differ on social issues, but on core policies they're very much the same".[8]
On January 20, Stein spoke at rally in New York, convened byThe People's Forum,Palestinian Youth Movement, andA.N.S.W.E.R. as a part of the We Fight Back Inauguration Day Protests.[9] Stein delivered a speech encouraging protesting against the "American Empire" andIsrael, and celebrated thepro-Palestine student protest movement.Spectrum News characterized the rally as very left-wing, noting that the activists carried signs hostile to the Democratic party.[10]
Stein participated in a protest organized by theA.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition againstPrime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu visiting Washington DC to deliver a speech at ajoint session of the United States Congress.[11]
Stein launched her campaign in October 2011. In December 2011, Ben Manski, a Wisconsin Green Party leader, was announced as Stein's campaign manager.[12] Her major primary opponents were actressRoseanne Barr and activist Kent Mesplay.[13] Stein proposed theGreen New Deal, a government spending plan intended to put 25 million people to work.[13] Mesplay called that unrealistic, saying, "This will take time to implement, and lacks legislative support."[13] Stein became the presumptive Green Party nominee after winning two-thirds ofCalifornia's delegates in June 2012.[14][15] On July 1, 2012, the Stein campaign reported it had received enough contributions to qualify for primary season federalmatching funds. This made Stein the first Green Party presidential candidate ever to have qualified for federal matching funds.[16][17] On July 11, Stein selectedCheri Honkala, an anti-poverty activist, as hervice-presidential running mate.[18][19] On July 14, she officially received the Green Party's nomination at itsconvention inBaltimore.[20][21]
On August 1, Stein, Honkala and three others were arrested during asit-in at aPhiladelphia bank to protest housing foreclosures on behalf of several city residents struggling to keep their homes.[22] On October 16, Stein and Honkala were arrested after they tried to enter the site of the presidential debate atHofstra University while protesting the exclusion of smaller political parties, such as the Green Party, from the debates.[23] Stein likened her arrest to the persecution of dissidentSergei Udaltsov in Russia.[24] On October 31, Stein was arrested in Texas for criminal trespass, after trying to deliver food and supplies to environmental activists ofTar Sands Blockade camped out in trees protesting the construction of theKeystone XL pipeline.[25][26]
TheFree & Equal Elections Foundation hosted a third-party debate with Stein and three other candidates on October 19, followed by a debate between Stein andGary Johnson held on November 5.[27][28]
On February 6, 2015, Stein announced the formation of anexploratory committee in preparation for a potential campaign for the Green Party's presidential nomination in2016.[29] On June 22, she formally announced her candidacy in a live interview withAmy Goodman onDemocracy Now![30] After former Ohio state senatorNina Turner reportedly declined to be her running mate,[31] Stein chose human rights activistAjamu Baraka on August 1, 2016.[32]
Stein stated during the 2016 campaign that the Democratic and Republican parties are "two corporate parties" that have converged into one.[33] Concerned by the rise ofneofascism internationally and the rise ofneoliberalism within the Democratic Party, she has said, "The answer to neofascism is stopping neoliberalism. Putting another Clinton in the White House will fan the flames of this right-wing extremism. We have known that for a long time, ever since Nazi Germany."[34][35] In August 2016, Stein released the first two pages of her 2015 tax return on her website.[36][37]
Stein's financial disclosure, filed in March 2016, indicated that she maintained investments of as much as $8.5 million, includingmutual orindex funds that included holdings in industries that she had previously criticized, such as energy, financial, pharmaceutical, tobacco, and defense contractors.[38] In response to questions about her finances, Stein said in part: "Sadly, most of these broad investments are as compromised as the American economy—degraded as it is by the fossil fuel, defense and finance industries",[38] and later characterized the article as a "smear attack" against her.[39]
On September 7, 2016, aNorth Dakota judge issued a warrant for Stein's arrest for spray-painting a bulldozer during a protest of theDakota Access Pipeline. Stein was charged inMorton County withmisdemeanor counts of criminal trespass and criminal mischief. Her running mate, Ajamu Baraka, received the same charges.[40] After the warrant was issued, Stein said that she would cooperate with the North Dakota authorities and arrange a court date. She defended her actions, saying that it would have been "inappropriate for me not to have done my small part" to support theStanding Rock Sioux.[41] In August 2017, she pleaded guilty to misdemeanor criminal mischief and was placed on probation for six months.[42]
Stein said in an interview withPolitico that: "Donald Trump, I think, will have a lot of trouble moving things through Congress. Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, won't ... Hillary has the potential to do a whole lot more damage, get us into more wars, faster to pass her fracking disastrous climate program, much more easily than Donald Trump could do his."[43]
In the same interview, Stein said regarding Trump's business dealings and refusal to release his tax returns: "At least with Clinton, you know, there was some degree of transparency, but what's going on with Trump, you can't even get at, and what he said was that even to clarify 15 out of these 500 deals, these are just like the most frightening mafiosos around the world. He's like—he's a magnet for crime and extortion."[44]
Stein's highest polling average in four candidate polls was in late June 2016, when she polled at 4.8% nationally before ending at 1.9% nationally on the eve ofelection day.[45] Her polling numbers gradually slipped throughout the campaign, consistent with historical trends for minor party candidates.[46][47]
Stein played a significant role in several crucialbattleground states, drawing a vote total in three of them—Wisconsin,Michigan andPennsylvania—that exceeded the margin between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.[48]
In November 2016, a group of computer scientists and election lawyers includingJ. Alex Halderman andJohn Bonifaz (founder of theNational Voting Rights Institute) expressed concerns about the integrity of the presidential election results. They wanted a full audit or recount of the presidential election votes in three states key toDonald Trump's electoral college win—Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania—but needed a candidate on the presidential ballot to file the petition to state authorities. After unsuccessfully lobbyingHillary Clinton and her team, the group approached Stein and she agreed to spearhead the recount effort.[49]
Acrowdfunding campaign launched on November 24, 2016, to support the costs of the recount, raised more than $2.5 million in under 24 hours,[50] and $6.7 million in nearly a week.[51] On November 25, 2016, with 90 minutes remaining on the deadline to petition for a recount toWisconsin's electoral body, Stein filed for a recount of its presidential election results. She signaled she intended to file for similar recounts in the subsequent days inMichigan andPennsylvania.[52] President-elect Donald Trump issued a statement denouncing the recount request saying, "The people have spoken and the election is over." Trump further commented that the recount "is a scam by the Green Party for an election that has already been conceded."[53]
On December 2, 2016,Michigan Attorney GeneralBill Schuette filed a lawsuit to stop Stein's recount.[54] On the same day inWisconsin a U.S. District Judge denied an emergency halt to the recount, allowing it to continue until a December 9, 2016, hearing.[55] On December 3, 2016, Stein dropped the state recount case inPennsylvania, citing "the barriers to verifying the vote inPennsylvania are so pervasive and that the state court system is so ill-equipped to address this problem that we must seek federal court intervention."[56]
Shortly after midnight on December 5, 2016,U.S. District JudgeMark A. Goldsmith orderedMichigan election officials to hand-recount 4.8 million ballots, rejecting all concerns for the cost of the recount. Goldsmith wrote in his order: "As emphasized earlier, budgetary concerns are not sufficiently significant to risk the disenfranchisement ofMichigan's nearly 5 million voters".[57] Meanwhile, however, theMichigan Court of Appeals ruled that Stein, who placed fourth, had no chance of winning and was not an "aggrieved candidate" and ordered theMichigan election board to reject her petition for a recount.[58] On December 7, 2016, Judge Goldsmith halted theMichigan recount.[59] Stein filed an appeal with theMichigan Supreme Court, losing her appeal in a 3–2 decision on December 9, 2016.[60]
On December 12, 2016,U.S. District JudgePaul S. Diamond rejected Stein's request for aPennsylvania recount.[61]
In May 2018,The Daily Beast reported that approximately $1 million of the original $7.3 million had yet to be spent and that there remained uncertainty about what precisely the money had been spent on.[62]
On December 18, 2017,The Washington Post reported that theSenate Intelligence Committee was looking at Stein's presidential campaign for potential "collusion with the Russians."[63] The Stein campaign released a statement stating it would work with investigators.[64] The Committee cleared Stein of any collusion with Russia.[65]
In December 2018, two reports commissioned by theSenate Intelligence Committee found that the Russian-linkedInternet Research Agency boosted and promoted Stein's candidacy through social media posts, targeting African-American voters in particular.[66][67][68][69] After consulting the two reports,NBC News reporter Robert Windrem said that nothing suggested Stein knew about the operation.[70] It also highlighted several independent analyses that "add to the growing body of evidence that the Russians worked to boost the Stein campaign as part of the effort to siphon support away from Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and tilt the election to Trump."[66] Stein was also criticized for sitting at the same table as Russian presidentVladimir Putin at theRT 10th anniversary gala in Moscow. Stein said she had attended the event in the hope of speaking to Putin about his policy in Syria, climate change and other issues.[71][72] Stein, who has regularly appeared on RT andSputnik during her 2012 and 2016 campaigns, announced her decision to form an exploratory committee to run in 2016 during the U.S.-based RT program "Redacted Tonight" in February 2015.[66] NBC said there was no evidence in the reports to indicate that Stein was aware any influence operation. NBC stated that Stein had been criticised for "her support of international policies that mirror Russian foreign policy goals."[70] Stein regularly appeared on RT.[73][71][74]
In an official statement, Stein called one of the reports, the one authored byNew Knowledge, "dangerous new McCarthyism" and asked the Senate Committee to retract it, saying the firm was "sponsored by partisan Democratic funders" and had itself been shown to have been "directly involved in election interference" in the2017 US Senate election in Alabama.[75]
By July 31, 2018, Stein had spent slightly under $100,000 of the recount money on legal representation linked to the Senate probe into election interference.[76] In March 2019, Stein's spokesmanDavid Cobb said she had "fully cooperated with the Senate inquiry."[77]
Stein originally supported activist and scholarCornel West's 2024 presidential campaign under the Green Party and became hiscampaign manager.[78] After West withdrew his bid for the Green presidential nomination in order to instead continue his run for the presidency as anindependent, Stein retracted her endorsement for West and said the Green Party would find a nominee elsewhere. She also hinted at a possible bid of her own.[79][excessive detail?][non-primary source needed]
On November 9, 2023, Stein announced her third bid for president.[80] Having also run in 2016, Stein was described by Robert Tait as having the potential to erode Joe Biden's support in the general election among left-wing voters.[81][82]
When announcing her candidacy, Stein described the two-party political system as "broken." She called for prioritizing a "pro-worker, anti-war, climate emergency agenda" in the upcoming election, aiming to bring these issues to the forefront of national discourse.[83]
Stein has also been an outspoken critic of U.S. foreign policy, particularly regarding theIsraeli–Palestinian conflict. Following theOctober 7 attacks on Israel, she condemned Israel's military actions in the Gaza Strip and criticized President Joe Biden for what she described as a failure to intervene against what she termed Israel's "genocidal rampage."[83] Jill Stein's campaign platform advocates for what they describe as a comprehensive approach to addressing social and economic inequality through the establishment of an Economic Bill of Rights. This includes the rights to a living wage, housing, healthcare, childcare, education, retirement, healthy food, and clean water.[84]
The 2024 campaign, like Stein's2016 campaign, was described by some as a possiblespoiler campaign, which may benefitDonald Trump.[85][86][87] Stein said "Candidates have to earn your vote, they don't own your vote."[88]
In September 2024, CongresswomanAlexandra Ocasio Cortez criticized Stein saying, "'All you do is show up once every four years to speak to people who are justifiably pissed off, but you're just showing up once every four years to do that, you're not serious.'" Stein responded that Green candidates had won "1400 elections" and that the Democratic Party had worked to exclude third-party candidates from ballots and presidential debates.[89][90] She also criticized AOC for her attempt at entryism into the Democratic party and backing Kamala Harris despite her position on Israel.[91] Ware responded by nicknamingOcasio-Cortez "AOC-Pelosi." and decrying the decision of the DNC not to include a Palestinian speaker at the2024 Democratic National Convention.[92][non-primary source needed]
Peter Rothpletz inThe New Republic criticized Stein for the decline in Green party membership from 319,000 in 2004 to 234,000 in 2024, and for arguing in a 2016 interview thatHillary Clinton was a greater threat thanDonald Trump. Rothpletz also referred to criticism of Stein by members of the Democratic Party that she defended members of theAfrican People's Socialist Party, who were indicted for being part of a "malign influence campaign" on behalf of the Russian government, and that she did not know how many members were in the House of Representatives.[89]
In her 2024 presidential campaign announcement video, Stein proposed an "economic bill of rights" that regard employment, health care, housing, food and education as rights.[84]
In 2015, Stein was critical of official employment numbers, saying that unemployment figures were "designed to essentially cover up unemployment," and that the real unemployment rate for that year was around 12–13%.[93][94]
Stein called theWall Street bailout wasteful.[95] In 2012, Stein opposed the raising of thedebt ceiling, saying that the U.S. should instead raise taxes on the wealthy and make military spending cuts to offset the debt.[96][additional citation(s) needed]
In 2016, Stein said that she supported a new 0.5%financial transactions tax on the sale ofstocks,bonds, andderivatives, and an increase in theestate tax to "at least" 55% on inheritances over $3 million.[97]
During her 2012 and 2016 presidential runs, Stein called for "nationalizing" and "democratiz[ing]" theFederal Reserve, placing it under a Federal Monetary Authority in the Treasury Department and endingits independence.[98][99]
She supported the creation of nonprofit publicly owned banks, pledging to create such entities at the federal and state levels.[97]
Stein opposescharter schools and has been critical of theCommon Core, saying that teachers rather than "corporate contractors" should be responsible for education.[100][additional citation(s) needed]
Stein favors canceling all student loan debt, saying that it could be done usingquantitative easing, similar to theWall Street bailout, without raising taxes. In this plan, theFederal Reserve could buy up student loans and agree not to collect the debt, thereby effectively canceling it.[101]
Stein is critical of thetwo-party system, and argues forranked-choice voting as a favorable alternative to "lesser evilism".[102][103] Stein has advocated for campaign finance reform.[104][7] She participated in the 2012 and 2024Free & Equal Elections Foundation's presidential debates. In a 2024 interview withDemocracy Now!, Stein argued against the two-party system, saying "The American people are begging for other options. They are entitled to know who those options are."[105]
Stein says that climate change is a "national emergency" and calling it "a threat greater than World War II."[106]
Fossil fuels
Stein supports a national ban onfracking on the grounds that "cutting-edge science now suggests fracking is every bit as bad as coal".[107][108]
Nuclear power
Stein has spoken againstnuclear energy, saying it "is dirty, dangerous and expensive, and should be precluded on all of those counts."[108][additional citation(s) needed]
Implications
In 2016, Stein has argued that the cost of transitioning to 100% renewable energy by 2030 would in part be recouped by healthcare savings, citing studies that predict 200,000 fewer premature deaths as well as less illness. She has noted that when Cuba lost Soviet oil subsidies it experienced plummetingdiabetes (down 50%),CVD (down 30%) and all-cause (down 18%) death rates.[107]
At a rally in 2016, she criticized the United States' "expanding wars", saying that the United States had "already" been bombing seven countries.[109]
In 2012, Stein favored maintaining current levels ofinternational aid spending.[110][additional citation(s) needed]
Stein is a long-time supporter ofPalestine.[111] Her 2012 presidential campaign opposed theoccupation of the West Bank by Israel and called for a boycott of Israel, which it described as an apartheid state.[8] She is in favor of theBoycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. In 2016, she said the US should stop providing aid to Israel, which she said was committing war crimes and human rights violations.[2]
Stein said that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in the 2024Gaza war and that both Democrats and Republicans are enabling the genocide by providing military aid to Israel while de-funding theUNRWA.[8]
When asked in September 2016 whether she had a "position on whether a two-state solution is a better solution than a one-state solution", Stein answered by describing limitations of a two-state solution, specifically calling out the geographical fragmentation of Palestine, but that she is "not committing one way or the other at this point."[107]
Stein wishes to cut U.S. military spending by at least 50%.[112][additional citation(s) needed]
Stein wants to removeU.S. nuclear weapons from foreign countries.[113] Stein has been sharply critical of the use of drones, calling them a human rights violation and an "illegal assassination program" saying that they are "off target nine times out of ten."[114]
According to Stein, the United States shoulduse force only when there is "good evidence that we are under imminent threat of actual attack".[107] When asked by theLos Angeles Times editorial board whether that standard would have prevented US involvement in World War II, Stein answered, "I don't want to revisit history or try to reinterpret it, you know, but starting from where we are now, given the experience that we've had in the last, you know, since 2001, which has been an utter disaster, I don't think it's benefited us."[107] Stein criticized the2003 invasion of Iraq, U.S.-ledWar in Afghanistan and U.S. involvement in theSaudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen, stating: "We are party to the war crimes that are being committed bySaudi Arabia, who's using cluster bombs made by us. And we've supplied $100 billion worth of weapons to the Saudis in the last decade...It's against our own laws. TheLeahy bill requires that we not sell weapons to human rights abusers."[115]
When asked whether the US should withdraw from all of its mutual defense treaties, Stein answered that the treaties need to "be looked at one by one", mentioningNATO in particular.[107]
Stein accused NATO memberTurkey of supportingIslamic State of Iraq and the Levant, saying that "we need to convince Turkey, our ally in theory, to close its border to the movement of jihadi militias across its border to reinforce ISIS."[115]
In a July 2015 interview, Stein said that NATO "pursued a policy of basically encircling Russia—including the threat of nukes and drones and so on." She was asked whether the US should aid the Ukrainian government following the2014 revolution, to which she responded by advocating for "establishing a neutral Ukraine that would allow Russia to not feel under attack". She said that the US "helped foment a coup against a democratically-elected government", contending that the post-revolution government contained "ultra-nationalists and ex-Nazis".[116][additional citation(s) needed]
In October 2016, Stein characterized the conflict as "the Cuban Missile Crisis in reverse, on steroids". She said that Russia had been "surrounded" with NATO assets.[115]
In a 2024 interview byMehdi Hasan, Stein was asked whether she considers Vladimir Putin a "war criminal who should be on trial".[117][118] Hasan juxtaposed her past remarks regarding Putin, Bashar al-Assad and Benjamin Netanyahu, repeatedly asking Stein why there had been no remarks from her characterizing Putin or Assad as a war criminal. She referred toJohn F. Kennedy, responding, "if you want to be an effective world leader, you don't start by name-calling and hurling epithets." She then claimed that there had been no decision by theInternational Criminal Court regarding Putin.[118] Three days later in response to the interview, Stein's Twitter account posted a statement describing Putin as a war criminal.[119]
On the eve of the 15-year anniversary of theSeptember 11 attacks, Stein called for "a comprehensive and independent inquiry into the attacks," saying that the9/11 Commission Report contained many "omissions and distortions."[120] The next day, she said: "I think I would not haveassassinated Osama bin Laden but would have captured him and brought him to trial."[121]
Stein told CNN that she attended the conference to advocate for a ceasefire in the Middle East and to tell Russia to stop its military incursion inSyria.[122]
East Asia
Stein does not think the U.S. should become involved interritorial disputes in the South China Sea.[116][additional citation(s) needed]
Brexit
Immediately after the UK voted to leave theEuropean Union in June 2016, Stein came out in support ofBrexit. Stein posted a celebratory statement on her website, saying the vote was "a victory for those who believe in the right of self-determination and who reject the pro-corporate, austerity policies of the political elites in the EU ... [and] a rejection of the European political elite and their contempt for ordinary people."[123][124] She later changed the statement (without indicating so), removing words like "victory" and adding the line, "Before theBrexit vote I agreed withJeremy Corbyn,Caroline Lucas and theUK Greens who supported staying in the EU but working to fix it."[123][124][125]
Cuba
After the death of Cuban former communist leaderFidel Castro, Stein tweeted that "Fidel Castro was a symbol of the struggle for justice in the shadow of empire."[126]
Stein is in favor of replacing theAffordable Care Act (Obamacare) with a "Medicare for All" healthcare system[110][additional citation(s) needed] and has said that it is an "illusion" that the former is a "step in the right direction" towardsingle-payer healthcare.[127][additional citation(s) needed]
Stein has been critical of subsidizing unhealthy food products and of "agri-business" for its advertisements encouraging unhealthy eating. She has said that due to agri-business, Greeks no longer have the healthy diets they once did.[95][additional citation(s) needed]
GMOs and pesticides
Stein supportsGMO labeling, a moratorium on new GMOs, and the phasing out of existing GMO foods, unless independent research "shows decisively that GMOs are not harmful to human health or ecosystems".[128] Speaking of the health effects of foods derived from GM crops, she has said: "And I can tell you as a physician with special interest and long history in environmental health, the quality of studies that we have are not what you need. We should have a moratorium until they are proven safe, and they have not been proven safe in the way that they are used."[128]
Commentators have criticized Stein's statements about GMOs, writing that they contradict thescientific consensus, which is that existing GM foods are no less safe than foods made from conventional crops.[129] Among the critics was Jordan Weissmann,Slate's business and economics editor, who wrote in July 2016: "Never mind that scientists have studied GMOs extensively and found no signs of danger to human health—Stein would like medical researchers to prove a negative."[94]
Vaccinations and regulations
In response to a Twitter question about whether vaccines causeautism, Stein first answered, "there is no evidence that autism is caused by vaccines," then revised her tweet to "I'm not aware of evidence linking autism with vaccines."[130]
Dan Kahan, a professor atYale who has studied public perception of science, says that it is dangerous for candidates to equivocate on vaccines, "Because the attitudes about vaccines are pretty much uniform across the political spectrum, it doesn't seem like a great idea for any candidate to be anti-vaccine. The modal view is leave the freaking system alone."[131]Emily Willingham, scientist and contributor atForbes, described Stein's statements on vaccines as "using dog whistle terms and equivocations bound to appeal to the 'antivaccine' constituency".[132]
In an interview withThe Washington Post, Stein stated that "vaccines have been absolutely critical in ridding us of the scourge of many diseases," and said that "[t]here were concerns among physicians about what the vaccination schedule meant, the toxic substances likemercury which used to be rampant in vaccines. There were real questions that needed to be addressed. I think some of them at least have been addressed. I don't know if all of them have been addressed."[133][134]
In July 2018Washington Post interview, Stein said that vaccines should be approved by a board that people can trust, and "people do not trust a Food and Drug Administration," or Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "where corporate influence and the pharmaceutical industry has a lot of influence." According toThe Guardian, eleven members of the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee are medical doctors who work at hospitals and universities, and two work at pharmaceutical companies,GlaxoSmithKline andSanofi Pasteur US. In response, Stein said that "Monsanto lobbyists help run the day in those agencies and are in charge of approving what food isn't safe".[133][134]
In a question-and-answer session, Stein voiced concern aboutwireless internet (Wi-Fi) in schools, saying, "We should not be subjecting kids' brains especially to that ... We don't follow that issue in this country, but in Europe, where they do, they have good precautions around wireless, maybe not good enough." Stein later said, "we should listen to what scientific experts are saying and take precautions about how much we expose young children to WiFi and cellphones until we know more about the long-term health effects of this type of low-level radiation."
In an interview with theLos Angeles Times editorial board, Stein clarified that her statements on Wi-Fi were "not a policy statement" and that attention to her statement on Wi-Fi was "a sign of a gotcha political system".
Black Americans
Stein has deplored what she and others identify as thestructural racism of the U.S. judicial and prison system. OnJuneteenth in 2016, Stein called forreparations for slavery.[135] In 2024, her campaign platform featured reparations as an important issue, with her website reading, "There are other policies essential to the overall Black Agenda, as slavery was not the only historic crime against the Black community in America. We recognize both historic and existing racism in America, while has been addressed in legislation such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, to this day an end to systemic racism has never been realized."[136]
Stein has advocated for theAfrican People's Socialist Party amidst their 2023 federal indictment on accusations of being a Russian front, warning of democratic backsliding due to the crackdown on the group.[137]
Native Americans
Stein has supported theGreat Sioux Nation's opposition to theDakota Access Pipeline, and in September 2016 joined protesters in North Dakota. In 2016, both Stein and her running mate,Ajamu Baraka, faced misdemeanor criminal charges for spray-painting bulldozers at the construction site of the pipeline with "I approve this message" and "decolonization" respectively.[138][139]
In 2012, Vote Smart reported that Stein wanted to "slightly decrease" spending on space exploration. She favored maintaining current levels of spending on scientific and medical research. In 2016, Stein said NASA funding should be increased, arguing that by halving the military budget, more money could be directed towards "exploring space instead of destroying planet Earth."[110][additional citation(s) needed]
In her 2016 acceptance speech for the Green Party nomination, she called for "end[ing] the war on whistleblowers, and free[ing] the political prisoners ...Leonard Peltier,Mumia Abu Jamal,Chelsea Manning,Julian Assange,Edward Snowden,Jeffrey Sterling, andEdward Pinkney".[140][better source needed] She said that she would have Snowden in herCabinet if elected.[141] In an op-ed on the subject ofWikiLeaks, Stein argued that Assange was doing what other journalists should be doing but are not, and added that whistleblowers have been increasingly subject to "character assassination" and prosecution during the Obama administration.[142]
In 2004, Stein ran for state representative for the 9th Middlesex District, which included portions of Waltham and Lexington. She received 3,911 votes (21.3%) in a three-way race, ahead of the Republican candidate but far behind Democratic incumbentThomas M. Stanley.[143]
In 2005, Stein set her sights locally, running for the LexingtonTown Meeting, arepresentative town meeting, the local legislative body inLexington, Massachusetts. Stein was elected to one of seven seats in Precinct 2.[144] She finished first of 16 candidates, receiving 539 votes (20.6%). Stein was reelected in 2008, finishing second of 13 vying for eight seats.[145] Stein resigned during her second term to again run for governor.[146]
Stein ran as theGreen-Rainbow Party candidate in the2002 Massachusetts gubernatorial election with Tony Lorenzen as running mate. She obtained 76,530 votes (3.5%).[147]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Mitt Romney | 1,091,988 | 49.18% |  0.8% | |
| Democratic | Shannon O'Brien | 985,981 | 44.40% | 2.2% | |
| Green-Rainbow | Jill Stein | 76,530 | 3.44% |  3.44 | |
| Libertarian | Carla Howell | 23,044 | 1.04% | 0.64 | |
| Independent | Barbara Johnson | 15,335 | 0.69% | 0.70 | |
| Write-in | 1,301 | 0.07% | 0.05 | ||
| Blank | 26,122 | 1.17% | |||
| Total votes | 2,220,301 | 100.00 | + 4.04 | ||
At theGreen-Rainbow Party stateconvention on March 4, 2006, Stein was nominated forSecretary of the Commonwealth. In a two-way race with the three-term incumbent, DemocratBill Galvin, she received 353,551 votes (17.7%).[149]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | William Francis Galvin | 1,638,594 | 82.0% | ||
| Green | Jill Stein | 353,551 | 17.7% | ||
| Total votes | 2,243,835 | 100.00 | |||
On February 8, 2010, Stein announced her secondcandidacy for governor.[151] Her running mate wasRichard P. Purcell, a surgery clerk and ergonomics assessor.[152] In the November 2 general election, Stein finished fourth, receiving 32,895 votes (1.4%), again far behind the incumbent, DemocratDeval Patrick.[153]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Deval Patrick (incumbent) | 1,112,283 | 48.42 | 7.21 | |
| Republican | Charlie Baker | 964,866 | 42.00 | 6.67 | |
| Independent | Tim Cahill | 184,395 | 8.03 | 1.06 | |
| Green-Rainbow | Jill Stein | 32,895 | 1.43 | 0.51 | |
| Write-in | All others | 2,600 | 0.11 | 0.01 | |
| Total votes | 2,297,039 | ||||
Stein received 469,015 votes (0.36%), the largest number of votes any woman presidential candidate had received up to that point.[155][156] She received 1% or more of the vote in three states: Maine (1.1%), Oregon (1.1%), and Alaska (1.0%).
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Barack Obama /Joe Biden (inc.) | 65,915,795 | 51.1% | |
| Republican | Mitt Romney /Paul Ryan | 60,933,504 | 47.2% | |
| Libertarian | Gary Johnson /Jim Gray | 1,275,971 | 1.0% | |
| Green | Jill Stein /Cheri Honkala | 469,627 | 0.4% | |
| Constitution | Virgil Goode / James Clymer | 122,389 | 0.1% | |
| Peace and Freedom | Roseanne Barr /Cindy Sheehan | 67,326 | 0.1% | |
| Justice | Rocky Anderson /Luis J. Rodriguez | 43,018 | nil | |
| American Independent | Tom Hoefling / J.D. Ellis | 40,628 | nil | |
| Reform | Andre Barnett / Kenneth Cross | 956 | nil | |
| N/A | Other | 216,196 | 0.2% | |
| Total votes | 129,085,410 | 100% | ||
Stein received 1% of the national popular vote in the election.[158] She finished in 4th place with over 1,457,216 votes (more than the previous three Green tickets combined) and 1.07% of the popular vote.
| Party | Candidate | Popular votes | % | Electoral votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Donald Trump /Mike Pence | 62,985,828 | 46.09% | 304 | |
| Democratic | Hillary Clinton /Tim Kaine | 65,853,514 | 48.18% | 227 | |
| Libertarian | Gary Johnson /Bill Weld | 4,489,233 | 3.28% | 0 | |
| Green | Jill Stein /Ajamu Baraka | 1,457,222 | 1.07% | 0 | |
| Independent | Evan McMullin /Mindy Finn | 731,788 | 0.54% | 0 | |
| Others | 1,152,671 | 0.84% | 0 | ||
| Total | 136,669,237 | 100% | 538 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Popular votes | % | Electoral votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Donald Trump /J.D. Vance | 77,302,580 | 49.80 | 312 | |
| Democratic | Kamala Harris /Tim Walz | 75,017,613 | 48.32 | 226 | |
| Green | Jill Stein /Butch Ware[160] | 862,049 | 0.56 | 0 | |
| Independent | Robert Kennedy Jr. /Nicole Shanahan | 756,393 | 0.49 | 0 | |
| Others | 649,541 | 0.42 | 0 | ||
| Total | 155,238,302 | 100 | |||
Stein is married to Richard Rohrer, who is also a physician. They live inLexington, Massachusetts, and have two sons.[161][162][163]
In the 1990s, Stein sang in afolk rock duo called Somebody's Sister, alongside Ken Selcer. They released three albums:Somebody's Sister in 1995,Green Skies in 1997 andCircuits to the Sun in 1999.[164][165][166]
Since 1968, all of the major third-party candidates have seen their polling averages decline closer to the election. ... Jill Stein, the Green Party's presumptive nominee ... is polling in the low-single digits and is a long shot to make the debates.
Third-party candidates tend to poll better before Election Day than they actually perform on Election Day. ... If history is any guide (and it has not always been one this election cycle), support for Johnson and Stein will ebb over the next three months.
She was criticized for attending a 2015 dinner in Moscow sponsored by Russian television network RT and sitting at the same table as Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose country has invaded neighboring Ukraine.
The candidate also wants to nationalize the Federal Reserve banks and place them under a Federal Monetary Authority within the Treasury Department.
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