As we put the November 2025 election behind us and plan our goals for next year, here is a summary of Kansas Green Party activities from August-November.

Statewide Convention

The Kansas Green Party held our annual statewide convention meeting this year on October 23. During the convention we made some minor updates to our bylaws, held officer elections, passed some new resolutions and finalized items for next year’s action agenda. Here are the big key changes:

• Party Membership Dues: Starting next year we are now asking a small contribution of $10 annually (given at any time during the year) to maintain full status as a Kansas Green Party member. Collecting dues will help us be able to fund future party activities and outreach projects. We will send out an email to registered members next year with more information about this process.
• Generative AI Ban: The Kansas Green Party has now prohibited the use of generative AI in the creation of any official party business or promotional materials, citing the environmental harms of ChatGPT and similar technology. See the full resolution here.
• Pledge to Move Away From Google: We are currently in the process of migrating to Proton for all KSGP email & organizing needs, planning to end our use of all Google Workspace apps by 2026 due to the company’s complicity in genocide and fascism. We similarly intend to end our use of PayPal and are currently looking into other platforms to use for fundraising. For now, you can always reach us by email at info@kansasgreenparty.org.

2025 Election

Our only Green candidate this year was Kiel Corkran, running for city council in Fairway, Kansas. Unfortunately Kiel did not win his election, but he ran a strong campaign, capturing over 20% of the vote in his district and raising important issues in his city he plans to continue organizing his community to solve.

We are currently seeking new candidates to run for office in 2026. If you are interested in running in a local election and would like the help and support of the Green Party, please reach out to us at info@kansasgreenparty.org!

Community Building & Education

Environment

On October 8 at the Future Forward Energy Conference in Topeka, our co-chair Kent Rowe gave a presentation about going off-grid during peak demand. You can read his opening speech here.

Tenant Rights

Our new co-chair Nick Blessing hosted multiple Know-Your-Rights workshops for Kansas tenants in November, and we are planning to make the issue of renters rights and housing affordability a continued priority next year. You can view a recording of a previous presentation on YouTube here. And please email tenants@kansasgreeenparty.org if you are interested in organizing tenants in your area!

Anti War

We hope to continue collaborating with other organizations in the future for activist, educational, & mutual aid projects across the state. Please follow us on social media to stay updated on future activities and volunteer opportunities!

• Instagram
• Facebook
• Twitter
• YouTube
• Discord

Kansas Greens have been busy this year continuing to advocate for change in our communities. Here is a summary of Kansas Green Party activities from April through July and ways to get more involved!

Housing / Tenant Rights

The issue of housing is a prominent concern here in Kansas. From the Aspen Place apartments crisis in Gardner to the criminalization of homelessness in Wichita and Trump’s new executive order making the problem exponentially worse, people are suffering due to the ever-increasing cost of living and dwindling access to resources and the lack of accountability by corrupt landlords and government officials.

The Kansas Green Party has been working with other organizations to encourage the formation of local tenant unions and educate renters about their rights. In June we held a free community education workshop about tenants’ rights which you can watch the recording of on our YouTube channel or on Facebook.

Our very own Nick Blessing, public interest attorney and tenant advocate, will be hosting public “office hours” in the future to answer questions and provide resources to renters in the Kansas City area at no cost so stay tuned for more information!

As homelessness continues to rise throughout the state, Kansas Greens are in the process of starting an assistance fund to provide direct grants to unhoused members of our community. If you would like to help us with this project and future fundraising efforts please email ksgreenparty@gmail.com!

Environment

The fight for clean, affordable energy in Kansas is an ongoing struggle, with energy monopoly Evergy planning construction on two new fossil gas turbines in Reno and Sumner County and burdening Kansas customers with repeated rate increases despite their record profits.

Immigration

To stay updated with the situation in Leavenworth you can follow the CoreCivic Opposition Group on social media and view other important info and sign the petition via their linktree: https://linktr.ee/stopcorecivicLV

To further help immigrants in Kansas please follow AIRR (Advocates for Immigrant Rights and Reconciliation) and donate to their emergency fund, and keep an eye out for upcoming Know Your Rights and Community Defense workshops they will be hosting primarily in the KC area.

Anti-War / Organizing

We will continue to work toward strengthening coalitions with other local organizations and socialist movements. A strong organizational structure is necessary to resist fascism which is why the Kansas Green Party is also in full support of the General Strike movement. We joined many other state and local Green chapters in endorsing the open letter declaring our support for a general strike and we will continue to work on mutual aid efforts in our state to make such collective action possible.

Outreach

We have increased our online presence and social media outreach over the summer, and as the heat subsides and the 2025 election approaches we are going to resume more in-person meetings and outreach events to fundraise and welcome newcomers into the Green Party.

Kansas Greens in Fairway are doing weekly canvassing for Kiel Corkran’s campaign (if you would like to volunteer please contact info@kiel4fairway.com) and will be holding a community gathering/candidate town hall in September.

Later this fall Greens will be doing more outreach at universities across the state as well as the Future Forward energy conference in Topeka. We are hoping to increase our presence in the Lawrence/Topeka area and western Kansas as right now our main two activity hubs are in the Wichita and KC areas. If you are interested in starting a local chapter in your city please contact us at ksgreenparty@gmail.com or fill out the form on the website.

Make sure to follow us on social media to stay updated with new events and action items. Thank you for helping us grow this movement!

• Instagram
• Facebook
• Twitter
• YouTube

Two weeks ago, residents at Aspen Place Apartments in Gardner, Kansas were given a mere 48 hours’ notice by the City of Gardner to vacate their homes due to unsafe conditions at the complex. The city finally made the decision to condemn the property after its private roadway crumbled under a firetruck that was responding to an emergency at the property. Directly below the road was the property’s 70-year-old outdated plumbing system which was irreparably damaged by the firetruck.

The condemnation was necessary, but its consequence is clear: 600 to 700 people have now been displaced. Thankfully, it appears that many of the displaced residents have secured temporary shelter either provided by family or charities. However, we must resist the temptation to accept these temporary band-aid solutions. Charitable donations will not last forever and families can rarely support additional household members for long without significant strain. It is admirable to see the Gardner community come together to temporarily help these families. But it is not enough.

It is not enough to just provide temporary support until these families find permanent housing. This should never have happened. Now is the time to fight to make sure it never happens again. We must recognize that this displacement of hundreds of Kansans was inevitable under our current system of housing. Particularly, the treatment of housing as a for-profit commodity, real estate as an investment, and lax code enforcement by cities, including the City of Gardner, are to blame.

City officials failed the former residents of Aspen Place a long time ago by failing to properly enforce the law while they were abundantly aware of the issues at Aspen Place. This did not begin when the street crumbled under the firetruck. In December 2023, residents at the complex had no running water for days, including during the Christmas holiday. The City had responded to issues with the property’s plumbing multiple times on other occasions, yet never took action to hold KDR Group accountable.

To be clear, the situation at Aspen Place is not unique. This is not the first time tenants in Kansas have been displaced and it won’t be the last unless we do something about it. Throughout Kansas and throughout the United States, it is commonplace for landlords to allow rental properties to fall into unsafe and uninhabitable conditions while cities either fail completely to enforce the law, or enforce it by punishing the tenants, as happened at Aspen Place. Such lax enforcement of habitability requirements leaves tenants to fend for themselves. The only legal recourse for tenants is to sue the landlord, which is not a realistic option for many tenants lacking time and resources to file and prosecute such a lawsuit.

We must call out the bad actors and demand new protections for tenants including but not limited to rent control, mandatory and robust code enforcement, harsher penalties for noncompliance by landlords, and guaranteed shelter for all Kansans with a simple approval process!

The Kansas Green Party will be hosting a community education presentation on tenant rights at the Merriam Plaza Library on June 8th at 3pm. We encourage tenants in Kansas to attend, learn their rights, and organize to win these reforms!

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Kansas Green Party. Email: ksgreenparty@gmail.com

Social Media: @KSGreenParty; Website: kansasgreenparty.org

Next month the Kansas Green Party will be hosting a free educational workshop for renters in Kansas to learn how to protect themselves legally when facing issues with their lease or landlord.

The in-person event will take place in the Kansas City area where the housing crisis is hitting especially hard but the presentation will cover all topics statewide and be livestreamed on Zoom for people to watch from anywhere. Please visit our event page to learn more and RSVP!

The general election may be over but the need to organize in our community is stronger than ever. Here is a summary of some of the Kansas Green Party’s activities from November-March and what we are planning for the rest of this year!

Social Media & Communication

The Kansas Green Party is now back on Instagram! We are looking forward to connecting with more Greens and other organizations through this platform. It is probably the easiest and most direct way to reach us on social media so please give us a follow! [@ksgreenparty on insta]

We have also tentatively started a Discord server to allow members statewide to communicate and organize in between regular Zoom meetings. The server is still under construction but please feel free to join and leave suggestions so we can get things up and running! [https://discord.com/invite/nDF6S4dNXV]

We will also be committing to increasing communication with statewide party members via our email list and regular newsletter updates such as this.

Tabling & Outreach

Direct Actions

At WEALTH Day, Kansas Greens joined the Climate & Energy Project in their call to action against corporate monopoly Evergy and their plan to construct two new fossil gas plants here in Kansas and make customers pay for it. Kansas Greens submitted their video and written testimony to the Kansas Corporation Commission recording their opposition and we encourage others to do the same. (Public comments close on April 7 so hurry and tell the KCC to oppose Evergy’s request!)

Members of our Kansas City chapter also joined with the Kansas City Missouri Green Party and Workers Strike Back in March to defend union rights and call for the release of Mahmoud Khalil and all other student activists and residents illegally detained by ICE.

Mutual Aid

Going forward, mutual aid is going to be one of our biggest areas of focus outside of politics.

We look forward to increasing direct mutual aid efforts in the future as well as other community outreach projects.

Upcoming Projects

As the party continues to grow, the next big issues we are looking to focus on politically are the housing crisis and minimum wage. Across the state prices are rising, landlords are subjecting renters to predatory & unfair housing practices, property taxes are increasing so much that even homeowners can’t afford their homes, and yet the statewide minimum wage is still locked at $7.25/hr. This is unlivable for any Kansan and we need to make a change.

This election year Kansas Green Kiel Corkran announced his candidacy for city council in Fairway, KS and he will be running on a platform supporting fair housing and a living wage in his city. We are still seeking other candidates for local offices and encourage anyone with an interest in running to contact us so we can support your campaign!

Johnson and Wyandotte County Greens plan to hold a free community education workshop about tenants’ rights this summer (stay tuned for official announcement).

Greens in Lawrence, KS are in talks to organize in-person meetings again in their area and we are continuing to build the party in other key cities around Kansas. Please email ksgreenparty@gmail.com or contact us through the form on the website if you are interested in joining the Lawrence meetings or starting your own local chapter!

We will be increasing local direct action efforts, however as it is no longer election season our statewide Zoom meetings will soon be returning to a biweekly schedule instead of weekly. Stay tuned for an updated schedule and event calendar.

Thank you for growing this movement with us!

The Kansas Green Party and the Wichita Green Party condemn the Wichita City Council’s decision on December 17, 2024 to pass a city ordinance which amends Chapter 5.20 of the Wichita City Code relating to camping on public property without a permit. The ordinance not only retains excessive fines for individuals who are found to have violated the law by being homeless, but it also eliminates an exception which previously allowed homeless individuals to camp on public property without a permit and adds several new sections to the code.

These new sections include a mandate that a homeless individual be given a mere 48 hours notice to remove their personal property before it will be seized and impounded by the city. While 48 hours certainly is not a reasonable amount of time for anyone to move everything that they own, the new law actually allows for immediate removal without notice of a homeless individual’s possessions if the camp is located in an area “which pose[s] health and safety concerns or where Camping directly adversely affects the economic development of such area,” or if the “Personal Property poses an immediate threat to the health and safety of the public.”

The new law is misguided, short-sighted, ill-conceived, and ignorant in its purported justifications. It fails to recognize the causes of homelessness in Wichita and fails to provide any semblance of due process for the people who will be affected by it.

The City Council should instead look to the unregulated housing market with its increasing housing insecurity, skyrocketing rents, and license for cruel landlords to evict families from their homes. Poverty and homelessness among families has meant that many children depend on school lunch for their only meal of the day and that the lack of a stable home erodes the ability of children to learn. The new law will only add to that instability.

Instead of tackling the exploitative housing policies which have led us to this homelessness crisis, the City Council would prefer to sweep away the blight of homeless encampments, so the public does not see it. Hide the symptoms without addressing their cause. Any purported justification by the City Council or by Mayor Wu that this new law is meant to help those experiencing homelessness is made even more tone deaf when one recognizes that one of the justifications in the law for “immediate removal” is when “Camping directly adversely affects the economic development” of an area.

The law is also short-sighted and lacks consideration for how it will affect homeless individuals because it fails to provide due process. The law provides circumstances where the 48-hour notice is not required, but what protection exists to ensure that the arbitrary circumstances which allow for this exception will be strictly adhered to? What will prevent a police officer or other city employee enforcing the law to simply find the immediate removal exception exists in all circumstances? If a homeless individual’s belongings are illegally removed without notice, what is their recourse? Suing the City after losing all of their earthly possessions?

The Kansas Green Party and the Wichita Green Party believe all people have a right to a home and to be secure in their tenancy and demand economic security and the promise of prosperity for all people in the US, instead of economic power and affluence for the privileged few. We demand that the City Council reconsider the new law and vote to reverse their previous vote.

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Kansas Green Party. Email: ksgreenparty@gmail.com

Twitter/X: @KSGreenParty; Website: kansasgreenparty.org

Attaining ballot access is likely the most important thing we can do to grow the Green Party in Kansas. Once we have ballot access, the Kansas Green Party can nominate candidates for ANY PARTISAN OFFICE and registered Kansas voters will be able to register as Greens.

To attain ballot access, we must collect signatures for an Official Party Recognition Petition. The required number of signatures must be collected within 180 days and submitted to the Secretary of State.

Kansas Green Party Petition Drive 2021

We will begin collecting signatures on April 22, 2021 and will continue until October 18, 2021. 

Only registered Kansas voters can sign the petition.

Signatures must be collected in person.

Fill out the form linked below to schedule a time to have your signature collected:

We are also looking for volunteers to collect petition signatures. Click below to download the petition and affidavit forms!

On January 16, 2021, the Kansas Green Party held its annual convention. At the convention, an amendment to the party’s bylaws was proposed and was passed unanimously. This new article of the bylaws provides rules for future presidential primaries.

ARITICLE X – PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARIES

The Kansas Green Party may hold a vote among its members to determine how to proportionally allocate its delegates to the Presidential Nominating Convention among presidential candidates. 

Section 1. Notice:

The date of the Kansas Green Party’s presidential primary or the time period in which votes will be accepted shall be announced by the Kansas Green Party Council no later than February 1st of the year in which the general election is to be held. Such announcement shall be made by an email to members of the Kansas Green Party. Additionally, the Kansas Green Party Council shall make some form of public notice of the primary. Such public notice may consist of an email to non-members, a social media post, an ad in a Kansas newspaper, notification to the Steering Committee of the Green Party of the United States or other relevant committee, or a message to any candidates for the Green Party presidential nomination of whom the Kansas Green Party is aware. If the Kansas Green Party Council chooses to notify candidates as part of an effort to raise public awareness of the upcoming primary, the Council must make a good faith effort to identify all candidates seeking the Green Party nomination.

 All interested persons, whether or not they are members of the Green Party, are hereby on notice that if an announcement of a Kansas Green Party presidential primary does not occur in compliance with this section, the Kansas Green Party is prohibited from holding a presidential primary for that election year and thus shall not submit any delegates representing the party to the Presidential Nominating Convention (PNC) unless said delegates are designated as uncommitted.

Section 2. Voting Procedure:

The Kansas Green Party Council has the authority and discretion to determine the procedure for voting or to delegate that authority to another committee. The voting procedure shall put a minimal burden on voters while also ensuring their anonymity and a reliable final result. Such procedure must be finalized before the primary is officially announced.

Section 3. Time Period for Voting

The date of the primary or the first day in which votes may be cast must take place at least five weeks after the primary is announced, but no later than April 15th of the general election year. If the Kansas Green Party Council adopts a procedure which allows remote voting by mail, email, or third-party software, participants shall be given at least one week to cast their votes.

Section 4. Transparency and Recounts:

All ballots shall be kept and stored in a reliable location until after the election as the final official record of the vote. The results of the election shall be finalized and made public no later than ten days after voting has concluded. Each candidate whose name appeared on the primary ballot shall be given access to copies of all ballots that were received, as well as any other information used to count the ballots. 

Each candidate whose name appeared on the primary ballot shall also have the privilege to request one recount of the ballots if he or she can point to a possible discrepancy in the administration of the election. Each candidate may exercise this privilege on their own behalf or on the behalf of a write-in candidate who received at least one vote. A recount request shall not be accepted later than ten days after election results are finalized and made public. There will only be one recount. All candidates or their representatives to the election shall be invited to take part in this recount.

Section 5. Eligibility of Candidates:

Any natural person who meets the minimum qualifications to serve as president and has filed a statement of candidacy with the Federal Election Commission may submit a letter by mail or email requesting to be included in the primary. The letter must briefly explain why the prospective candidate is a good national representative of the party. It must be sent to the Kansas Green Party at least two weeks before the date of the primary or two weeks before the first day of the voting period. In addition to the letter, any candidate wishing to participate must also submit a $5 filing fee. 

In addition to the eligible candidates, voters shall also have the option to write in the name of a candidate who did not appear on the ballot or choose “none of the above.” 

Section 6. Eligibility of Voters:

All voters participating in the presidential primary must be registered voters in Kansas. If the Kansas Green Party is a recognized political party in Kansas at the time of the primary, a voter must be registered as a Green in order to participate. If the Kansas Green Party is not a recognized party at the time of the primary, a voter must not be affiliated with another political party and must otherwise be a member of the Kansas Green Party in order to participate.

Section 7. Impartiality:

The Kansas Green Party Council shall strive to treat all candidates fairly and equally. To the best of the Council’s ability, required notifications to all candidates must be given at approximately the same time to allow each candidate a similar period of time to respond. 

Members of the Kansas Green Party Council and other members of the Kansas Green Party taking part in the formulation of the voting procedure or the administration of the election are permitted to volunteer with the campaign of their favored candidate. However, no such member is permitted to allow any favoritism to interfere with their duty to impartially administer the election. Any party member who is employed with a campaign shall recuse themselves from any participation beyond casting a vote in the election. If any member’s bias appears to have an effect on the integrity of the election, the Kansas Green Party Council may vote by a simple majority to determine bias and compel the recusal of the biased member or take other necessary remedial action.

Section 8. Selection of Delegates to the PNC:

The Kansas Green Party Council has the authority and discretion to determine the procedure for the selection of Delegates to the PNC. Such procedure must be finalized before the date of the primary or the first day in which votes may be cast.

Below is the bylaws amendment proposed by the Kansas Green Party Council. The amendment provides rules and guidelines for future presidential primaries. On Monday, October 12, the below text was provided to all current members of the Kansas Green Party as of that date. Members have been given until Monday October 26 to comment on the proposal. A vote will be held for the adoption of the proposal at a statewide meeting this Winter.

AMENDMENT I – PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY 

The Kansas Green Party may hold a vote among its members to determine how to proportionally allocate its delegates to the Presidential Nominating Convention among presidential candidates. 

Section 1. Notice:

The date of the Kansas Green Party’s presidential primary or the time period in which votes will be accepted shall be announced by the Kansas Green Party Council no later than February 1^st of the year in which the general election is to be held. Such announcement shall be made by an email to members of the Kansas Green Party. Additionally, the Kansas Green Party Council shall make some form of public notice of the primary. Such public notice may consist of an email to non-members, a social media post, an ad in a Kansas newspaper, notification to the Steering Committee of the Green Party of the United States or other relevant committee, or a message to any candidates for the Green Party presidential nomination of whom the Kansas Green Party is aware. If the Kansas Green Party Council chooses to notify candidates as part of an effort to raise public awareness of the upcoming primary, the Council must make a good faith effort to identify all candidates seeking the Green Party nomination. 

All interested persons, whether or not they are members of the Green Party, are hereby on notice that if an announcement of a Kansas Green Party presidential primary does not occur in compliance with this section, the Kansas Green Party is prohibited from holding a presidential primary for that election year and thus shall not submit any delegates representing the party to the Presidential Nominating Convention (PNC) unless said delegates are designated as uncommitted. 

Section 2. Voting Procedure:

The Kansas Green Party Council has the authority and discretion to determine the procedure for voting or to delegate that authority to another committee. The voting procedure shall put a minimal burden on voters while also ensuring their anonymity and a reliable final result. Such procedure must be finalized before the primary is officially announced.

Section 3. Time Period for Voting:

The date of the primary or the first day in which votes may be cast must take place at least 5 weeks after the primary is announced, but no later than April 15^th of the general election year. If the Kansas Green Party Council adopts a procedure which allows remote voting by mail, email, or third-party software, participants shall be given at least one week to cast their votes. 

Section 4. Transparency and Recounts:

All ballots shall be kept and stored in a reliable location until after the election as the final official record of the vote. The official vote count shall be finalized and made public no later than 10 days after the primary election date or the last day of the voting period. Each candidate whose name appeared on the primary ballot shall be given access to copies of all ballots that were received, as well as any other information used to count the ballots. 

Each candidate whose name appeared on the primary ballot shall also have the privilege to request one recount of the ballots if he or she can point to a possible discrepancy in the administration of the election. Each candidate may exercise this privilege on their own behalf or on the behalf of a write-in candidate who received at least one vote. A recount request shall not be accepted later than 10 days after the election results are finalized and made public. 

There will only be one recount. All candidates or their representatives to the election shall be invited to take part in this recount

Section 5. Eligibility of Candidates:

Any natural person who meets the minimum qualifications to serve as president may submit a letter by mail or email stating his or her intention to be included in the primary and a brief explanation as to how the candidate is a good national representative of the party. The letter must be sent to the Kansas Green Party at least 2 weeks before the date of the primary or the first day of the voting period. In addition to the letter, any candidate wishing to participate must also submit a $5 filing fee. 

In addition to the eligible candidates, voters shall also have the option to write in the name of a candidate who did not appear on the ballot or choose “none of the above.” 

Section 6. Eligibility of Voters:

All voters participating in the presidential primary must be registered voters in Kansas. If the Kansas Green Party is a recognized political party in Kansas at the time of the primary, a voter must be registered as a Green in order to participate. If the Kansas Green Party is not a recognized party at the time of the primary, a voter must not be affiliated with another political party and must otherwise be a member of the Kansas Green Party in order to participate.

Section 7. Impartiality:

The Kansas Green Party Council shall strive to treat all candidates fairly and equally. To the best of the Council’s ability, required notifications to all candidates must be given at approximately the same time to allow each candidate a similar period of time to respond. 

Members of the Kansas Green Party Council and other members of the Kansas Green Party taking part in the formulation of the voting procedure or the administration of the election are permitted to volunteer with the campaign of their favored candidate. However, no such member is permitted to allow any favoritism to interfere with their duty to impartially administer the election. Any party member who is employed with a campaign shall recuse themselves from any participation beyond casting a vote in the election. If any member’s bias appears to have an effect on the integrity of the election, the Kansas Green Party Council may vote by a simple majority to determine bias and compel the recusal of the biased member or take other necessary remedial action.

Section 8. Selection of Delegates to the PNC:

The Kansas Green Party Council has the authority and discretion to determine the procedure for the selection of Delegates to the PNC. Such procedure must be finalized before the date of the primary or the first day in which votes may be cast.

From September 27 to October 5th, the 65 current members of the Kansas Green Party were given the opportunity to vote in favor of Kent Rowe being elected as Co-Chair of the Kansas Green Party. At a Kansas Green Party Council Meeting on September 27, Teresa Wilke (Co-Chair), Paul Krumm (Treasurer), Nick Blessing (Secretary), and Kent Rowe (Interim Co-Chair) all voted in favor of officially electing Rowe to the position. An email was sent out to all other members on September 28 to inform them that they could vote to express their support for Rowe’s election. Three additional Kansas Green Party members voted for Rowe via email.

Prior to this voting period, the Kansas Green Party Council was accepting nominations for the Co-Chair positions from Kansas Green Party members during the month of August.

Only two individuals were nominated, but Rowe was the only one who accepted.