WASHINGTON, Dec. 24 (UPI) -- Ralph Nader has told the Green Party that he will not be the party's nominee for U.S. president in 2004.
In a release issued late Tuesday, the party said Nader informed Green officials that he would not seek the nomination of the 300,000-member political affiliation.
"Most of us believe that had he run for the nominations, Nader would have quickly secured the delegates necessary to win the Green nomination, and we told him as much," Ben Manski, co-chairman of the Green Party of the United States, said in the release.
Nader, who ran for president as the Greens' nominee in 1996 and 2000, told the party that he may consider a 2004 presidential campaign as an independent. Some Democrats contend that Nader's 2000 run siphoned votes from Democratic Party candidate Al Gore.
Six people have said they will seek the Green Party nomination in 2004. They are: Paul Glover, Kent Mesplay and Lorna Salzman from New York; Peter Camejo and David Cobb from California; and Carol Miller from New Mexico. Camejo is perhaps the best known of the group, having finished fourth in California's gubernatorial election held in conjunction with the recall vote on Gov. Gray Davis.
