Texas Green Party claims 1 elected official, but he's voting Libertarian Party struggles in Texas as national convention convenes in Houston

Laredo city council member George Altgelt, whom the national Green Party's website claims as its sole elected official in Texas, is skipping the Greens' national convention. He said he's voting Libertarian in November. (Courtesy City of Laredo) less Laredo city council member George Altgelt, whom the national Green Party's website claims as its sole elected official in Texas, is skipping the Greens' national convention. He said he's voting Libertarian in ... more Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Texas Green Party claims 1 elected official, but he's voting Libertarian 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

The Green Party, better known for fielding presidential candidates like Ralph Nader who get a few percentage points of the popular vote, does have some elected officials on the state and local levels. However, the one elected Texan that the national party's website claims said Thursday that he is no longer a Green.

"Last year," the party website says, "Green George Altgelt was elected to the city council in Laredo, a city of 250,000."

But Altgelt says he's voting Libertarian in November, and he's skipping the Greens' national convention that kicks off Thursday in Houston.

Altgelt, a defense attorney, ran in 2014 as a Green for the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the state's highest criminal court. He attracted 8.6 percent of the vote.

He then ran for a council position in the nonpartisan March 2015 race. He won an April runoff election with 60 percent of the 1,600 votes. His first term ends in November.

"Of course, in Texas, the Green Party isn't the winning party, unfortunately," Altgelt said, "because third parties just haven't gotten traction."

He sees the two-party system as broken. Both Democrats and Republicans enact policies that favor the elite, lead to war and ignore the planet's long-term health.

Altgelt said culture-war topics like abortion and gay rights are used to distract from the big issues. "They've got us all chasing our tails," he said.

He encouraged people to vote their conscience in November.

"Voting for a lesser of two evils has gotten us this far, which is nowhere," Altgelt said. "Neither of these two individuals (Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton) are really viable choices. One of them's nuts, and one of them's establishment -- and the establishment is nuts."

He said his coming vote for the Libertarian presidential candidate, former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson, is not a waster or a spoiler. "In Texas it doesn't matter who you vote for. Trump is going to win. And that's the other thing: The whole electoral system is a sham. It's such a crock of s***."

Altgelt touts Laredo's moves for sustainability, such as transitioning to LED streetlamps and getting the city to use native plants for landscaping, thus saving water. The city just converted 2.7 acres of public land to an urban farm, he said.