10-15-07, 9:38 am

(APN) ATLANTA – Former US Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-GA) appears as a candidate for President in the State of California’s Primary Election for 2008, Atlanta Progressive News has confirm. McKinney is listed as a Green Party candidate, according to a list of qualified candidates appearing on the California Secretary of State’s website.

Other Green candidates on the ballot in California include Kent Mesplay of California, Jared Ball of Maryland, Jesse Johnson of West Virginia, Kat Swift of Texas, Ralph Nader of New York, and Elaine Brown of Georgia.

One source familiar with the matter also told Atlanta Progressive News that McKinney is also working on getting her PhD at University of California, Berkeley. This was also reported in Ballot Access News, a newsletter which covers ballot access of third parties across the US.


McKinney did not respond to a press inquiry from Atlanta Progressive News in time for publication.

McKinney has been considering the idea of running as a Green Party President Candidate in the 2008 Election for some time, and had been doing so in 2004 as well, as Atlanta Progressive News has reported in depth.

However, McKinney issued a statement on September 10, 2007, stating that she has declined to run 'due to the political conditions facing our nation, the level of development within the Party, my own readiness to take on such a daunting task, and my own long postponed personal priorities.'

McKinney would have had to have asked the California Secretary of State to remove her name from the ballot; so she either declined to ask the Secretary to do that, or voters were able to keep her on the ballot anyway as a 'generally recognized candidate.'

In the past few days, several unconfirmed reports have appeared, stating McKinney would indeed again decide to run after all.

One video of an impeachment protest on YouTube shows activist, and Congressional candidate Cindy Sheehan saying that McKinney 'is going to run for President.' The video is from a 'Beach Impeach' protest held in Berkeley, California, on October 07, 2007.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper’s website reported on October 08, 2007, 'According to a reliable source, former U.S. Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney (D-Ga) will officially announce her candidacy for U.S. president as early as next week.'

In regards to her appearing on the ballot in California, McKinney writes on her website that Secretary of State Bowen included her name 'based on a filing by Jane Rands, the California Green Party's Liaison to her office, who was acting on instructions from the California Green Party's September 8th General Assembly in Riverside California.'

This is quite a passive way to describe one’s candidacy for President.

Just as passively, McKinney has been posting several reports that she may be running for President on her website, while neither confirming for denying the reports.

From Atlanta Progressive News

--About the author: Matthew Cardinale is News Editor for The Atlanta Progressive News and may be reached at