Politics

Green Party Finally Wins One

April 1, 1999 / 1:31 PM EST / AP

Audie Elizabeth Bock decided to run for the California Assembly with the backing of the Green Party, going up against a well-known former Oakland mayor who outspent her 20-1.

Bock, whose last bid for office was a campaign for high school class secretary, appears to have pulled off the upset.

If Wednesday's results are confirmed, Bock will be the first Green Party member in the nation to win state office, shocking Democratic political veteran Elihu Harris in a runoff election.

Unofficial results gave Bock a winning margin of about 300 votes, with some ballots still to be counted. Official results were expected Friday.

Bock said her apparent victory showed voters were unhappy with their elected officials.

"I think that in itself indicates there is a change going on, that people are not satisfied by what the two major parties have to offer," she said.

Harris, who was mayor for eight years and had served 12 years in the legislature, appeared stunned.

"After 20 years in politics, this is the first time that I've suffered an election loss," he said. "But obviously, if you accept the will of the voters when you win, you must also accept it when you lose."

Green Party members exulted over Bock's showing against Harris, 51.

"I think you're going to see a lot more Greens running for office in the year 2000," said Nancy Marmol, spokeswoman for the Green Party of California. "We think this proves that people will vote for a Green Party candidate when there's a hope that the Green Party candidate will win."

Bock, 53, is a single mother of one who teaches at a community college and runs a small foreign language film distribution business from her home in Piedmont, a small city next to Oakland. She campaigned on a promise of more school funding, universal health care and closing corporate tax loopholes.

Her party is similar in philosophy to Green parties in various European countries, sharing goals such as feminism, decentralized authority, nonviolence and environmental consciousness.

"She's important to us because she's shown to the public she's a person who is electable," said her campaign treasurer, Dan Marsh. "There's a stereotype of Green Party members as being hippie tree-huggers."