ALTON – While most people do not celebrate getting eight percent of the vote, Joshua Young, who ran for the Green Party in Madison County District 10 in yesterday's election is elated with the number.

Young placed third in the running, ultimately losing to Democrat Bruce Malone, but he said Wednesday his main goal was not to win – it was to give voters in Madison County another choice to what he believes to be a right-leaning dichotomy in Madison County politics. He said getting at least five percent of a vote in any election will allow a political party to build countywide infrastructure. Because he received eight percent, he said he is going to work through the county to establish the Green Party to the same position as Republicans and Democrats, both of whom, he said, do not represent the values of the majority of the county.

“Democrats used to hang and lynch black people and Republicans are working toward voter suppression for us,” Young said. “The green party is for everyone and always has been. We represent the Gen Xers and Generation Next and Millennials. Most of this right-leaning dichotomy – and in Madison County, both the Republicans and Democrats lean right – is for baby boomers. It's for the people 50-plus.”

If and when his party is established, Young said he would occupy the same position Marc Von Nida currently holds with Madison County Democrats. He would chair the party and have precinct committee people at different locations throughout the county. When asked if there would be a demand for such a political party, Young said he received more votes than he did when he was a write-in candidate for Alton Mayor in 2017 in a much smaller area – even defeating the Republican candidate in the area mistakenly referred to colloquially as “Mexico.”

Lawyers and volunteers with the Illinois Green Party are currently looking into how best to establish the party in Madison County, Young said, as he is the first such candidate to garner at least five percent of the vote. He said his party will represent those who feel forgotten or not included by the usual third party system.

“It's for the people,” he said. “It's grassroots, that's why it's the Green Party. We want to give people a new platform to represent the poor, the creatives, the minorities who feel they are forced to vote Democrat and the LGBTQIA people. We can work to bring more rail transit to Southern Illinois to increase and better our economic situation.”

He said Madison County's young people and marginalized deserve to be represented outside the “status quo,” adding “we want to have different colors. We want alternative energy, green agriculture and creativity.”

Young said coming in third place in a race of three men is a victory for him, because it now gives him the ability to establish the Green Party as a serious contender in Madison County. He said the point of his race was never to win, but to simply get at least five percent of the votes to establish such a party in the county in the future.

“I am extremely thankful and honored for the people,” he said. “Without that five percent, I could never even think about this. It's the people who gave me this win. We have some bright minds who need the freedom and liberty to progress with that passion.”

He said anyone wanting to help with the process can contact him on Facebook or register to volunteer through the Illinois Green Party.

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Reporter Cory Davenport can be reached via call or text at (618) 419-3046 or via email at [email protected].

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