The North Carolina Green Party (NCGP) looks to run candidates to run for all levels of office. The NCGP is a ballot-qualified political party, which means that as of 2018, the NCGP can nominate and run candidates as Greens with the "Green Party" designation beside their name on ballots for partisan races. We can also run candidates with a Green Party endorsement for nonpartisan and partisan races. If you're interested in running for office with the Green Party, whether endorsement or nomination, read our requirements and FAQs on this page.

For the 2018 elections, the NCGP will nominate its candidates via a convention of registered Green voters and NCGP members. There will be no Green primary in 2018. After 2018, the NCGP will nominate its candidates via primary or via convention, depending on state laws governing the particular race.

Question 1: What types of candidates and campaigns are the North Carolina Green Party interested in running?

Answer: We want to run candidates who understand that electoral campaigns are one aspect of building political power to create the world we need and want. A Green campaign is not an end in itself but one component of building political power in the hands of regular people. Our ideal candidates come from the ranks of NCGP members and are rooted in their communities' struggles for justice around a host of issues outlined in the Green Party platform. All prospective candidates are encouraged to become dues-paying members of the North Carolina Green Party.

Question 2: What kinds of ideas should prospective Green candidates hold?

Answer: See the North Carolina Green Party platform and the Green Party of the United States platform. Candidates should agree with our key principles and agree to support our platform positions. The North Carolina Green Party is an anti-racist, feminist political party that rejects capitalism in favor of a democratically run economy that responds to the needs of community and planet. We believe it's imperative to build political power outside the capitalist two-party system. We are a membership-based, dues-paying party and are fundamentally and structurally different from the two major parties—we’re funded by individual working-class members, not corporate interests and the ruling elite. The word "Green" means more than just the environment; Green means "ecology"—examining current systems and then doing what's necessary and what’s right to foster healthy ones, whether it’s transforming the organization of our society towards a democratic and worker-run economy, ensuring a safe and clean environment, fighting for social and racial justice, or ending imperialistic US foreign policy. Prospective candidates who disagree with these fundamental principles of the North Carolina Green Party are discouraged from seeking our nomination or endorsement.

Question 3: I am a candidate nominated by the Democratic, Republican, Libertarian, or Constitution Party. I know North Carolina Green Party cannot legally nominate me, of course, but will you endorse my candidacy?

Answer: We won't. The North Carolina Green Party and its local/regional chapters do not endorse candidates designated by the Democratic, Republican, Libertarian, or Constitution Party. Nor do we endorse independent candidates who are closely aligned with or who are registered to vote with those parties.

Question 4: I am a member of another left/socialist party and want to run for office. Will the North Carolina Green Party endorse me? Will it nominate me?

Answer: We encourage you to inquire with our Endorsement Committee. The North Carolina Green Party's bylaws do allow it to endorse independent/unaffiliated candidates who are members of other left/socialist parties and organizations whose platforms closely align with our own. However, such candidates cannot be registered to vote with the Democratic, Republican, Libertarian, or Constitution Party. Unaffiliated left candidates who wish to seek NCGP's endorsement only, please email candidates@ncgreenparty.org. To become eligible to be a Green Party nominee, however, candidates who are members of other left/socialist parties and organizations would need to become registered Green Party voters. All such candidates are encouraged to become dues-paying members of the North Carolina Green Party.

Question 5. What's the difference between a nomination and an endorsement?

Answer: A nomination is a legal/official, state-recognized association between the party and the candidate; an endorsement is an unofficial association between the candidate and the party and is not recognized by the state. In part, this means that a candidate who receives a Green nomination will have the "Green Party" designation printed beside their name on ballots, and candidates who receive Green Party endorsement but not a nomination will not have the "Green Party" designation printed beside their name on the ballot. For nonpartisan races, there are no nominations, only endorsements. For the 2018 election cycle, a nomination is when North Carolina Green Party members and registered Green voters choose, via a convention, which candidates we'd like to run in the general election. For future cycles, these nominations will occur on ballots via the state's primary system—i.e., Green nominees will be chosen by registered Green voters via primary. Endorsement is when the state Green Party or its affiliated regional/local chapters choose democratically to support a candidate, and this can happen at any point in the election.

Question 6. Why is running Green important? Why not run as a Democrat? Or, since there are a lot of independent voters out there, why not just run as an independent candidate?

Answer: We believe it's imperative to build political power independent of the capitalist Democratic Party. That means building a party with its own resources, sustained by its own members. This model is unlike the Republican and Democratic Parties, who are sustained by corporations and elite donors, and it is unlike a one-off independent campaign for a lone candidate. Our North Carolina Green Party co-chairs speak about this and answer additional questions in a Q&A with the NC Policy Watch blog.