Howe brings green to ballot

With aptly named communities like Notrees, Levelland and Plainview, West Texas has long been noted for its lack of verdancy. Across the oil patch, the reliably conservative political landscape has proved even less fertile for third-party candidates running for office.

But that reality hasn’t stopped one Odessa man from sowing the seeds of a grassroots campaign to change the status quo in his own backyard. As a candidate of the Texas Green Party, Jim Howe, 57, has quietly thrown his hat in the ring to challenge Rep. Mike Conaway, R-Midland, for his District 11 seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Howe, a political unknown from Southern California, said he is excited to offer local voters an alternative when they go to the polls this November. Howe said he supports the Green Party platform and the Green New Deal, a series of proposals designed to curb global warming and economic crises.

“I feel very strongly that the parties that we have in power today will not solve our economic or ecological problems,” Howe said. “They’re tied too tightly to the corporations, and it’s not in their economic interest to solve the problems.”

Howe moved to Odessa about nine years ago and found work as a customer service representative for AT&T in Midland. He has never run for public office, though he said he has always been interested in history and politics. In 2008, Howe said he agreed to be an elector for Ralph Nader in his presidential bid.

District 11 — which encompasses a wide swath of counties from the New Mexico border to the outskirts of Austin — is considered one of the most Republican in the country. Conaway, an Odessa native, has enjoyed overwhelming support from the electorate since his first landslide victory in 2004. He also handily defeated two challengers this spring in the Republican primary.

Also challenging Conaway in the general election are Libertarian candidate James Powell and James Quillian, a self-proclaimed Blue Dog Democrat.

As of last week, Howe said he had not received a single contribution to his campaign.

Craig Goodman, an assistant professor of political science at Texas Tech University, said “there are always candidates who run in congressional elections who know that they don’t have much of a chance of winning.”

“The odds of a Green Party candidate succeeding in the Oil Patch are slim, especially since there is a Democratic candidate on the ballot for the first time in a couple of years,” Goodman added. “One of the biggest challenges that Mr. Howe faces is that the 11th District is so large — bigger than 12 states — that it will be hard to develop name recognition.  That problem could be lessened by television advertising, which would be relatively cheap, but a grassroots campaign of going door-to-door is not really feasible because of how big the district is.”

Despite the incumbent’s popularity, Howe said he wasn’t exactly green with fear at the prospect of running for office in a region sometimes dubbed “Conaway Country.” Rather, Howe said he is confident he can relate to blue-collar workers in the Permian Basin because he knows firsthand how difficult it can be to get by in this economy.

When Howe isn’t working the phones at AT&T, he delivers pizzas part-time so he and his wife can afford the house note. Howe said he devotes much of his free time to the Permian Basin Central Labor Union, where he serves as vice president.  If elected, Howe said he would push the Employee Free Choice Act and an increase in the minimum wage.

“I don’t think Mike Conaway has done anything for working people in this area or anywhere else,” Howe said. “I won’t deny that he’s probably done a lot of good for special interests and the banks, but as far as people that work for a living, I see no benefit.”

Conaway declined to respond to Howe’s remarks.

“At the end of the day, it is up to the people of District 11 whether or not the Congressman is sent back to Washington to keep doing the job he has been elected to do,” Richard Hudson, a Conaway campaign spokesman, said in an e-mail message. “If they think he is doing a good job, with their best interests in mind, they will continue to allow him to fight for them in Washington.”

If elected, Howe said he would propose legislation to research and subsidize clean energy in an effort to “wean” the country off its dependence on oil and natural gas.

“We’re for clean energy that’s not going to pollute the environment,” Howe said. “Even if you discount the idea of global warming, it’s clear that energy from coal and oil is a pollutant.”

Howe said he is against any expansion of radioactive waste storage in Andrews County.

Howe also said he would seek to decriminalize marijuana and release thousands of “nonviolent drug offenders” from prison.

“We have more people in prison than any country in the world, even more than China,” Howe said.

Christine Morshedi, co-chairwoman for the Green Party of Texas, said the party is “proud to have candidates on the ballot of the caliber of Jim Howe and all the others.”

“They bring depth and breadth of experience combined with a strong set of values that can change government, and therefore changes lives when we are successful in races,” Morshedi said in an e-mail.

This summer, Howe’s nascent candidacy appeared to be jeopardized after a judge in Travis County blocked the Green Party from fielding candidates in the upcoming election in response to a lawsuit filed by the Democratic Party. The lawsuit accused the Green Party of funding a petition drive with illegal corporate money.

The Texas Supreme Court later issued a stay in the matter, which allowed the party to certify its candidates on time. Morshedi said in her e-mail that Howe and other Green candidates will “definitely” be on the ballot in November,

“The lawsuit continues but appears to have no relevance to this year’s elections,” Morshedi said.