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Ranked Choice Vote Details

Ranked Choice Vote ID1254
Ranked Choice Vote2025 Election - Steering Committee Co-chairs
TypeSecret Ballot Revealed at Close of Polls
Number of Seats4
Ranked Choice Vote AdministratorHolly Hart
PhaseClosed - 4 Elected
Discussion07-12-2025 - 07-25-2025
Voting07-26-2025 - 08-02-2025
Presens QuorumTwo Thirds of Active Accredited States/Caucuses
Candidates Craig Cayetano, New Jersey
Wissam Charaffedine, Michigan
Arshia Papari, Texas
Laura Potts, Florida
Tamar Yager, Virginia
NOC - No Other Candidate
 

Background

This ranked choice vote is to elect 4 Co-chairs to the Steering Committee. No write-ins are allowed. The choice of NOC (No Other Candidate) has been added at the time candidate bios are also added to this ballot.

Candidate bios and information are available below candidates' entries and at - https://www.gp.org/2025_sc_elections

More information may be posted to the national committee business ("votes") email list.

CANDIDATES
Craig Cayetano, NJ
Wissam Charaffedine, MI
Arshia Papari, TX
Laura Potts, FL
Tamar Yager, VA

About Steering Committee Elections:
http://gpus.org/bylaws/#06

MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE STEERING COMMITTEE
GPUS Bylaws, Article IV. The Steering Committee:
http://gpus.org/bylaws/#04

GPUS Rules & Procedures, Article II, Steering Committee Duties and Responsibilities:
http://gpus.org/rules-procedures/#02

Candidate Information

Craig Cayetano, New Jersey
My name is Craig Cayetano. I am currently a national co-chair and am Communications Chair for the Green Party of New Jersey. I am seeking your vote for national co-chair of the Green Party of the United States once again.

I have been a registered Green since 2016 and have volunteered for numerous campaigns in NJ; Kaper-Dale for Governor 2017, Hoffman for Senate 2018, Hoffman for Senate 2020, Hoffman for Governor 2021, Faison for LD 11 in 2021 and myself have run for Hawthorne Town council, which I earned 33.4% of the vote in 2023.

I am currently the Communications Chair for the Green Party of New Jersey. I have served as a national delegate for GPNJ, served as GPNJ State Co-Chair for 3 terms and a member of the LatinX Caucus. New Jersey has run numerous candidates for office and has consistently beaten the Libertarian Party since 2017. During my races for town council I was the first Green to secure endorsements from the Sierra Club and League of Conservation voters.

I continue to serve as a Green Team member in the town of Hawthorne since 2018, a Passaic County SPCA member/board member since 2019 and am a co-founding member of Voter Choice NJ along with other Green Party of New Jersey members. VCNJ is a non-partisan group working to help pass RCV trigger ordinances throughout the state of New Jersey. For a few months during the pandemic I was able to feed and assist families with Mutual Passaic County, a mutual aid organization I started in Passaic County.

I am pro-labor and anti all wars. I have advocated for some modernization to the Green Party platform by supporting a "Fifth Pillar -Labor" and even would support expanding our SC to include organizations in alignment with our ideals and values. I have been a committee liaison to Media, Merchandise, the PCSC and was recently added as liaison to oversee and help restructure the Outreach Committee. I am a proud supporter of the Abandon Biden/Harris faction that has joined our party which has brought new energy and perspectives across the state party chapters. I have supported the NJ chapter of the recently formed A&M Caucus of GPNJ, which is one of the early chapters ratified in our state party bylaws this year. I also plan to support and expand on the work needed to establish an Indigenous and Disability caucus. I still consider caucuses as entry points for those marginalized to know they have representation in our always growing party.

I always work with anyone and try to find a path forward, sometimes we have people join the party and in the end leave for their reasons but we need to call out those that spend more time bringing us down than elevating us all up. I still believe for us to grow we need to put aside petty differences and offer a vision and direction while maintaining structure, decorum and mutual respect. I work in sales which focuses on customer relations, negotiating and problem solving. All skills that have served me well in my role as a national co-chair and I am ready to take on another term with even more commitment and enthusiasm. I have supported coalition work with Workers Strike Back, PSL and this term will double-down on my focus to outreach and have us lead in actions across the country.

I was proud to serve as one of your last Presidential Nominating Convention Co-Chairs and have appeared as a national spokesperson on several podcasts during my first term as a co-chair. I also served on the hiring committee for the temporary fundraiser and played a role in ensuring all the party's social media platforms are active. In my second term my goal is to
initiate and support more live events to showcase the work of our committees, highlight our candidates and fundraise for new projects.

I kindly ask you to rank me as your first choice for national co-chair and look forward to serving everyone and helping us expand the party nationally.



Wissam Charaffedine, Michigan
Wissam Charafeddine is an Arab American thinker, activist, author, entrepreneur, educator, and engineer. He holds a Master’s Degree in Software Engineering from the University of Michigan–Dearborn and serves as an Optimization Expert at W Design and Development, as well as the Family and Community Engagement Liaison at a local School District.

A prolific writer and published poet, Wissam is the author of The Opposite Swings, Climbing Leaves, Pains, and the Book of Paris. His published works also include The Awaited Arab State, a visionary proposal for Arab confederation; Universal Declaration of Human Values, a bold philosophical treatise on shared ethics across civilizations; and كون من عدم (A Universe from Nothing), an eloquent Arabic exploration of metaphysical and humanist ideas. He is also the author of the W Planner, on how to become the Super You, and IRSHADIYAT, 12 formulas for the renewal of Islamic thought.

Wissam is the founder of the nascent Arab American and Muslim American Green Party Caucus, advocating for political engagement of the Arab and Muslim American Communties, and their empowerment through running for office via the platform of the Green Party, which aligns with their values closely. He is also the cofounder of the Arab American Center for Culture and Arts and the PanIslamic Alliance. A hyper-entrepreneur, Wissam has launched several businesses and nonprofit organizations and remains deeply engaged in Islamic studies, reformist thought, and issues of Arab identity and historical renewal.



Arshia Papari, Texas

“If we do not organize as a force for justice, we concede the future to those who profit from our suffering.”

Arshia Papari is a second-generation Iranian-American organizer, strategist, and Green Party candidate for Texas State Representative in House District 49. A proud member of the Green Party and a former Vice-President and Spokesman of Austin Students for a Democratic Society, Arshia is running for the GPUS Steering Committee to help build a party that is bold, uncompromising, and grounded in justice for people and planet alike.

Arshia has been organizing since high school, on immigrant rights, climate justice, education access, anti-war resistance, and youth power. In recent years, he has led or co-led dozens of campaigns and actions, including student protests for Palestine, protests and walkouts for Immigrants rights and against ICE detention centers, lobbying efforts on immigration, education, free speech, and pro-Palestine legislation, and campaigns for ceasefire and sanctuary resolutions in Texas cities. He has served as a legislative aide in the Texas House of Representatives twice, written and advised on progressive legislation, managed several electoral campaigns, and worked with local coalitions on policy related to the death penalty, public health, migrant defense, and divestment efforts.

Arshia helped spearhead organizing for the 2024 Stein/Ware campaign in Austin Texas, managing campus-wide outreach, hosting educational forums, and organizing Professor WareÂ’s visit to the University of Texas at Austin. His testimony and advocacy in city councils and the state capitol have uplifted the Green Party as a principled alternative to the violence of the status quo.
He also has mentored and trained youth organizers across the country, has directed national civic education programs, and helped build the leadership pipelines necessary for sustaining a long-term political movement. His organizing experience includes work on county and state electoral campaigns, climate coalition strategy, campus political engagement, and national legislative tracking for youth-led organizations.

Arshia is running for Steering Committee to help sharpen the strategic direction of the Green Party and grow it into a viable, visible, and action-oriented political force. His priorities include:
• Youth Power: Bringing forth a green youth focused media and engagement strategy and establishing national training, mentorship, and organizing infrastructure for new Green leaders.


• Ballot Access & Visibility: Supporting the party’s fight for ballot access across all states while growing Green presence in city halls, capitols, and media ecosystems.


• Political Identity: Sharpening the Party’s public messaging to position it clearly as the independent left opposition to war, ecological destruction, capitalist exploitation, and police and border violence.


• National Cohesion: Improving internal communication and national strategic planning so that states, candidates, and caucuses can work in unison instead of in silos, with a greater ease of communication, and access.



Arshia believes the Green Party must become the political home for those disillusioned by both corporate parties, especially youth, immigrants, workers, and the climate generation. He brings discipline, policy fluency, and the grounded perspective of someone who has organized from the classroom to the Capitol.

Arshia is running to help prepare the Green Party to lead in an era that demands nothing less than transformation.


Laura Potts, Florida
Laura lived globally in her youth and registered Green in 1992, in Southern California. She moved to Southwest Missouri in the very late '90s. Laura founded/led a Kids for Peace chapter (4 years), modeling youth empowerment with grassroots local and international peacebuilding. She was active with her local Green Party affiliate and sustains connections across state chapters. She later became a Presidential Nominator for Missouri at the 2020 Green National PNC. Now rooted in Florida, as Co-Chair, Laura fights to deepen local affiliates, strengthen national ties, and build a future where people and planet thrive. She bridges justice work through international committees and national caucuses. Laura has previously been a GPUS National Committee Observer (2022-2024) and is now an Elected Delegate (2024, re-elected 2025). Laura operates two socially conscious micro-businesses: ESL tutoring- advancing equity in education; and fiber arts and crafting - modeling community based economics and ecological wisdom. Laura champions decentralized power and cultivating the wisdom of practitioners throughout the Green Party.


Tamar Yager, Virginia
When many people talk about the Steering Committee of an organization, they often think of a group of leaders that determine overall policy and strategy, set goals, initiate projects, and govern the organization. But here is the definition of our Steering Committee’s charge:

The GPUS Steering Committee (SC), along with the party’s staff, oversees and helps execute the day-to-day administration and operations of the party.

Thus, the Steering Committee Co-Chairs for the Green Party are responsible for administrative tasks including monitoring finances, overseeing office and staffing, participating in bi-weekly Steering Committee calls and assisting in other operational undertakings. Each Co-Chair is a liaison responsible for communicating regularly with several committees. This often means providing assistance in re-invigorating committees and assisting in their work. Unlike many organizations, in our party, the Steering Committee doesn’t necessarily “steer” or make policy. The National Committee makes policy and the committees implement with the SC and staff overseeing.

Because I have served in many leadership positions in the Green Party in my local and state and on several national committees, I am well-suited to fulfill the duties of a SC Co-Chair. Having been on staff as Fundraising Manager (2009-2010) and later serving as staff supervisor, I have extensive knowledge of most of the inner workings of the party operations, financial systems, NationBuilder database, merchandise issues, and more. When we did not have a treasurer for several months, I did the FEC reports and handled other financial duties. When we laid off staff a few years ago, I served as the volunteer Office Manager. Currently, I am most involved on the Fundraising and Annual Meeting Committees but I have served on others in past years. In the last term I served as staff Supervisor as well as liaison to the Media, Finance and Merchandise Committees. I have much-needed institutional memory on most administrative matters.

Some people have been critical of SC candidates because they seem so busy, often with committee work. Many people say that if you want to get something done, ask a busy person. Well, I am always busy – some would call me a professional volunteer. I am lucky to be able to devote a significant amount of time to the Green Party. In my time(s) on the SC, I regularly put in 20 or more hours each week including committee work.

My professional work background is in development, meeting planning and non-profit marketing/administration. I’ve had some great jobs over the past 30 years – I was a community organizer for the Coalition of Immokalee Workers. I worked for many years at Actors Theatre in the marketing department. I was a federal grants writer for the Louisville Metro Government and most recently I was the Community Manager for my housing cooperative until it was bought out by a developer. Currently I am the Associate Director of Call to Action (CTA-USA.org). In my role I oversee all fundraising, finances and human resources.

My work, volunteer and political experience is broad. I was chosen by our town council to serve on the Board of Zoning Appeals (ended in 2021), which is a constitutional office. I recently termed out on the board of our local United Way where I successfully chaired several events that raised over $50,000. I have served in roles on various candidate and issue campaigns since I joined the party in 2006.

I feel I can bring a balanced view to the Steering Committee and as a liaison to other GPUS committees. Some have said I am a voice of reason because I listen to all sides and try to compromise on difficult issues. I try to find common ground on issues while still maintaining the letter and spirit of our rules.

Vision, hopes, dreams, priorities for the Party:
• Encourage every Green be a donor at some level.
• Make ballot access a priority so that we can be on the ballot everywhere in 2028.
• Strengthen affiliated parties in all states and revive dormant state parties.
• Elect more Greens to office at all levels by building state parties.
• Work with others to develop a long-term plan to become an anti-racist organization.
• Help empower Committees so they can do their work without micromanaging.

I think these priorities are achievable with standing committees, the National Committee and the Steering Committee working together.

On a personal level, in 2006 I married into the Green Party and moved to Virginia from Kentucky. My husband, Tom, was very involved on the local, state and national level. I first became involved nationally when I attended the 2007 meeting in Reading and then helped plan the 2008 Convention in Chicago. In my spare time I love to cook, watch reruns of Law and Order and play with our two “kids”, RipleyCat and KaceyCat.

It has been an honor to serve on the Steering Committee in previous years and I look forward to doing that for another term. I hope I can count on your #1 vote.

Tamar Yager
tamaryager@gp.org



NOC - No Other Candidate
No Other Candidate



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