Kent Mesplay
Encyclopedia
Kent Mesplay is the California
delegate to the Green National Committee and unsuccessfully sought the 2004 Green Party
Presidential
nomination which he lost again in 2008.
to Lutheran Missionary
parents. He graduated Valedictorian
from Mira Mesa High School in 1980. In college, he studied Western and non-Western medicine, earning a Ph.D.
in Biomedical Engineering
from Northwestern University
and he obtained an undergrad degree in Engineering
from Harvey Mudd College
, Claremont, California
. After graduate school, Mesplay suffered through a long period of unemployment as he worked to develop a funded position for himself at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center, in Long Beach, California
, before moving to La Mesa
and teaching mathematics
in the Grossmont Union High School District
. He currently works as an Air Quality Inspector at the Air Pollution Control District, in San Diego.
delegate to the Green National Committee in 2004 http://cagreens.org/delegates/#del. Previously, he was elected Treasurer of the Green Party County Council, San Diego, which he served as from 1996-1997. During the same period, he was the co-chair of the Communications Committee, Green Party County Council, San Diego.
. Prior to the 2004 Green convention Mesplay was sixth in the "Soft" Delegate Count with 10 (1.3%) committed delegates. Mesplay finished seventh in Round 1 of the Presidential Nomination Voting with 24 (3.1%) delegates. After a number of candidates withdrew or were eliminated Mesplay entered the second and final round, Mesplay finished third with 43 (5.6%) delegate votes. David Cobb
received the nomination with 408 (53%) delegate votes beating out no nominee 308 (40%) (and endorsing Ralph Nader
).
for the U.S. Senate election in California. He lost in the primaries to Todd Chretien
. Chretien finished third in a field of six, behind incumbent Democrat
Dianne Feinstein
(overall winner) and Republican
candidate Dick Mountjoy
.
.
Socially, Mesplay supports abortion rights and same-sex marriage
and holds other views typical of the Green Party
Platform.
Mesplay came in fourth at the convention, the nominee being Cynthia McKinney
.
on June 29, 2008, that he was in the planning stages for a 2012 presidential campaign. On May 24, 2011, he filed with the FEC as an official candidate for Green Party presidential nomination.
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
delegate to the Green National Committee and unsuccessfully sought the 2004 Green Party
Green Party (United States)
The Green Party of the United States is a nationally recognized political party which officially formed in 1991. It is a voluntary association of state green parties. Prior to national formation, many state affiliates had already formed and were recognized by other state parties...
Presidential
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
nomination which he lost again in 2008.
Personal
Mesplay was born and raised in Papua New GuineaPapua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...
to Lutheran Missionary
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
parents. He graduated Valedictorian
Valedictorian
Valedictorian is an academic title conferred upon the student who delivers the closing or farewell statement at a graduation ceremony. Usually, the valedictorian is the highest ranked student among those graduating from an educational institution...
from Mira Mesa High School in 1980. In college, he studied Western and non-Western medicine, earning a Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
in Biomedical Engineering
Biomedical engineering
Biomedical Engineering is the application of engineering principles and design concepts to medicine and biology. This field seeks to close the gap between engineering and medicine: It combines the design and problem solving skills of engineering with medical and biological sciences to improve...
from Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
and he obtained an undergrad degree in Engineering
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
from Harvey Mudd College
Harvey Mudd College
Harvey Mudd College is a private residential liberal arts college of science, engineering, and mathematics, located in Claremont, California. It is one of the institutions of the contiguous Claremont Colleges, which share adjoining campus grounds....
, Claremont, California
Claremont, California
Claremont is a small affluent college town in eastern Los Angeles County, California, United States, about east of downtown Los Angeles at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains. The population as of the 2010 census is 34,926. Claremont is known for its seven higher-education institutions, its...
. After graduate school, Mesplay suffered through a long period of unemployment as he worked to develop a funded position for himself at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center, in Long Beach, California
Long Beach, California
Long Beach is a city situated in Los Angeles County in Southern California, on the Pacific coast of the United States. The city is the 36th-largest city in the nation and the seventh-largest in California. As of 2010, its population was 462,257...
, before moving to La Mesa
La Mesa, California
La Mesa is a city in San Diego County, California. The population was 57,065 at the 2010 census, up from 54,749 at the 2000 census. It was founded in 1869 and officially incorporated as a city on February 16, 1912. Its official flower is the bougainvillea....
and teaching mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
in the Grossmont Union High School District
Grossmont Union High School District
The Grossmont Union High School District is a public school district located in eastern San Diego County, California, and serves high school, adult school, and Regional Occupational Program students in the cities of El Cajon, La Mesa, Lemon Grove, and Santee; and the unincorporated communities of...
. He currently works as an Air Quality Inspector at the Air Pollution Control District, in San Diego.
Early politics
Mesplay became a Green Party of CaliforniaGreen Party of California
The Green Party of California is the California affiliate of the Green Party. The party is a ballot-qualified in California, first established as such in 1991, using the petition method of gaining state recognition....
delegate to the Green National Committee in 2004 http://cagreens.org/delegates/#del. Previously, he was elected Treasurer of the Green Party County Council, San Diego, which he served as from 1996-1997. During the same period, he was the co-chair of the Communications Committee, Green Party County Council, San Diego.
Presidential election 2004
Mesplay sought the Green Party presidential nomination in 2004United States presidential election, 2004
The United States presidential election of 2004 was the United States' 55th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 2, 2004. Republican Party candidate and incumbent President George W. Bush defeated Democratic Party candidate John Kerry, the then-junior U.S. Senator...
. Prior to the 2004 Green convention Mesplay was sixth in the "Soft" Delegate Count with 10 (1.3%) committed delegates. Mesplay finished seventh in Round 1 of the Presidential Nomination Voting with 24 (3.1%) delegates. After a number of candidates withdrew or were eliminated Mesplay entered the second and final round, Mesplay finished third with 43 (5.6%) delegate votes. David Cobb
David Cobb
David Keith Cobb is an American activist and was the 2004 presidential candidate of the Green Party of the United States .-Career and political activities:...
received the nomination with 408 (53%) delegate votes beating out no nominee 308 (40%) (and endorsing Ralph Nader
Ralph Nader
Ralph Nader is an American political activist, as well as an author, lecturer, and attorney. Areas of particular concern to Nader include consumer protection, humanitarianism, environmentalism, and democratic government....
).
Round two of presidential nomination voting
770 delegates voting; majority = 386 votes- David Cobb - 408 (53.0%)
- No Nominee - 308 (40.0%)
- Kent Mesplay - 43 (5.6%)
- JoAnne Bier-Beemon - 8 (1.0%)
- Abstain - 3 (0.4%)
California Senate election 2006
In 2006 Mesplay attempted, unsuccessfully, to receive the nomination of the Green Party of CaliforniaGreen Party of California
The Green Party of California is the California affiliate of the Green Party. The party is a ballot-qualified in California, first established as such in 1991, using the petition method of gaining state recognition....
for the U.S. Senate election in California. He lost in the primaries to Todd Chretien
Todd Chretien
Todd Chretien , an American activist. Chretien is a leading member of the International Socialist Organization. He was the Green Party candidate for United States Senate in California in 2006.-Background:...
. Chretien finished third in a field of six, behind incumbent Democrat
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
Dianne Feinstein
Dianne Feinstein
Dianne Goldman Berman Feinstein is the senior U.S. Senator from California. A member of the Democratic Party, she has served in the Senate since 1992. She also served as 38th Mayor of San Francisco from 1978 to 1988....
(overall winner) and Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
candidate Dick Mountjoy
Dick Mountjoy
Richard L. "Dick" Mountjoy is a Republican politician from Monrovia, California.-Personal life:Mountjoy was born in Los Angeles and graduated from Monrovia-Arcadia-Duarte High School. He was married to Earline Winnett until her death in 2009. He has two sons, Michael and Dennis Lee, and one...
.
Presidential election 2008
Mesplay announced he was seeking the Green Party nomination again in 2008United States presidential election, 2008
The United States presidential election of 2008 was the 56th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on November 4, 2008. Democrat Barack Obama, then the junior United States Senator from Illinois, defeated Republican John McCain, the senior U.S. Senator from Arizona. Obama received 365...
.
Socially, Mesplay supports abortion rights and same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage is marriage between two persons of the same biological sex or social gender. Supporters of legal recognition for same-sex marriage typically refer to such recognition as marriage equality....
and holds other views typical of the Green Party
Green Party (United States)
The Green Party of the United States is a nationally recognized political party which officially formed in 1991. It is a voluntary association of state green parties. Prior to national formation, many state affiliates had already formed and were recognized by other state parties...
Platform.
Mesplay came in fourth at the convention, the nominee being Cynthia McKinney
Cynthia McKinney
Cynthia Ann McKinney is a former US Congresswoman and a member of the Green Party since 2007. As a member of the Democratic Party, she served six terms as a member of the United States House of Representatives. In 2008, the Green Party nominated McKinney for President of the United States...
.
Presidential election 2012
Mesplay announced during an interview with WikinewsWikinews
Wikinews is a free-content news source wiki and a project of the Wikimedia Foundation. The site works through collaborative journalism. Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales has distinguished Wikinews from Wikipedia by saying "on Wikinews, each story is to be written as a news story as opposed to an...
on June 29, 2008, that he was in the planning stages for a 2012 presidential campaign. On May 24, 2011, he filed with the FEC as an official candidate for Green Party presidential nomination.
External links
- Kent Mesplay Official Site
- Candidate profile at Project Vote SmartProject Vote SmartProject Vote Smart is a non-profit, non-partisan research organization that collects and distributes information on candidates for public office in the United States...
- Interview with Lifted Magazine regarding '08 run
- Article in San Diego CityBEAT regarding '08 run
- Presidential campaign FEC disclosure report