HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein stopped by Shenanigans in Huntsville on Sunday for the final stop of a two-week tour. The presidential hopeful had two objectives with her visit: to share her vision for America, and to garner signatures to make it on Alabama's general election ballot in the Yellowhammer State.
"Once we're on the ballot," Stein told supporters, "that is a shot across the bow of the Empire: That we're here, we're organized, and we will be heard."
Presidential candidates not nominated by the Democratic or Republican parties have until August 15 to submit 5,000 signatures of Alabama residents in order to be on the ballot. Stein is intent on providing an alternative to the two party system.
"Alabama, like the rest of the nation, is really struggling for good jobs, for clean water, for healthcare as a human right, for sewage infrastructure, for all kinds of basic things that we need as Americans," she said. "Yet, half of our congressional budget is being spent on the endless war machine."
Local Green Party chapter president Joy Johnson says she hopes folks recognize the appeal of an alternative.
"To me, it's really just about democracy and having more choices," Johnson said. "It's really important for me to know that my politicians aren't bought and paid for by corporate interests."
Johnson said Stein has just under 1000 signatures so far as of Sunday's campaign stop. "The Green Party is grassroots, and I don't see any of the other candidates for president showing up in Huntsville at a local club to talk to constituents," she said.
"We are the ones we've been waiting for," said Stein. "That is, we the voters are the ones; we have to stand up and say what we demand from this political system and what we demand from our candidates."
Stein spoke on big-picture topics like the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, the climate crisis, and advocated for a $20-25 minimum wage, instituting Medicare for all, and making public higher education free.
"Huntsville is also really hungry for an option, and it feels to me that democracy is alive and well in Huntsville, and this makes me really excited about what the future holds for all of us," Stein said.
Coincidentally, Stein's appearance in Huntsville was on the same date - June 16 - as that of another presidential candidate just one year ago. Former Vice-President Mike Pence spoke at the Von Braun Center on this date in 2023. Pence would go on to drop out of the race in October.