The Herald
His face won’t be found on flashy billboards, in obnoxious campaign commercials or even behind a desk in a swank campaign headquarters.
Jacob Holloway, a Jonesboro native and ASU graduate student, seeking an MSA in Agricultural Science, is running under the Green Party Ticket for the U.S. House of Representatives in the first District.
Holloway, 25 years old, is no stranger to the Arkansas political arena. He was instrumental in bringing the Wall Street movement to Jonesboro last fall, ran for a seat on the Jonesboro City Council in 2010 and worked on the 2006 Arkansas Democrat’s Coordinated Campaign and with John Kerry in 2008. But the turning point in his political career came four years ago, when Holloway was functioning as the state-wide Vice President for the College Democrats of Arkansas.
At that time, Holloway was a student at University of Arkansas in Fayetteville where he penned an editorial for the University paper that U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor’s campaign and certain members of the Democratic Party found offensive.
“I became vocal about his support of certain Bush administration policies, specifically the telecommunications companies spying on Americans and I was showing support for Rebekah Kennedy, who was the Green party candidate in ’08,” Holloway said. “Then basically, I got a call from the Pryor chief of staff telling me to either support the party’s issues or leave the party.”
Holloway said the fallout from that experience left him questioning his and the core values of the Democratic Party. With more soul searching, community outreach and research he reached the decision of switching his party affiliation, and “going green.”
Later in 2008, Holloway openly helped his friend and fellow U of A student, Abel Tomlinson run for congress in the 3rd District under the Green Party ticket.
Since then, Holloway has had no qualms about changing parties.
The Green Party, along with other third parties, is slowly coming to gain prominence on national and state levels. The state party even garnered national attention in the 2008 election cycle when Richard Carroll, a former boilermaker, gained a seat in the Arkansas House of Representatives for the 39th district. That year also marked the first time the Green Party had a separate primary ballot in the state.
But even with campaigns gearing up for the final stretch, Holloway insists he is running his campaign the old fashioned way.
“I’m calling people around the state, using social media to spread the word and make connections,” he said. “In other countries, corporations can funnel billions into campaigns and it is known as bribery. But here, it’s called campaign contributions. Needless to say, I won’t be taking donations from corporations.”
Even when election campaigns have taken cynical, bitter tones, Holloway refuses to launch smear campaigns, or negative attacks, fitting in with his motto of empowering the people.
“You can’t empower people with negativity. I’m a spiritual person and have studied lots of Eastern thought, and I can say that even with the tragedy of today’s world, it doesn’t matter the outcome, but how one responded to the situation. Negativity will get us nowhere, but only compound our troubles.”
Besides economic equity among Arkansans citing that one shouldn’t have to worry about losing his or her job or homes to “criminal Wall Street banks,” or to corporate outsourcing of labor to other countries for “slave-like wages.”
Holloway also wants to see the Dennis Kucinich idea of single payer healthcare implemented. “The current health care laws just aren’t drafted correctly,” he noted. “There is no excuse for not taking care of the sick.”
What Holloway is stressing that he will offer to the 1st district is “real hope and change” that every Arkansan can believe in; something he believes never really came from the 2008 presidential election.
“I’m not in this for political gain, power or vindictiveness. No, I am doing this to make people think and talk about issues and things that don’t have voices otherwise,” he said.
“Look at Ralph Nader. He never held a political office, but the change he advocated as an activist and consumer advocate netted more legislation than any other congressman. The same with Martin Luther King. He never was elected and he held more influence than most could dream of.”
Even if he is not elected, Holloway noted he will not go away without having offered a fair fight. “Ultimately, the acts of people are important. But it is the ideas that can endure as a legacy. There are lots of people who were never in the system, but looked beyond convention and changed it. But in the end, it is about always staying truthful to your message.”
His face won’t be found on flashy billboards, in obnoxious campaign commercials or even behind a desk in a swank campaign headquarters.
Jacob Holloway, a Jonesboro native and ASU graduate student, seeking an MSA in Agricultural Science, is running under the Green Party Ticket for the U.S. House of Representatives in the first District.
Holloway, 25 years old, is no stranger to the Arkansas political arena. He was instrumental in bringing the Wall Street movement to Jonesboro last fall, ran for a seat on the Jonesboro City Council in 2010 and worked on the 2006 Arkansas Democrat’s Coordinated Campaign and with John Kerry in 2008. But the turning point in his political career came four years ago, when Holloway was functioning as the state-wide Vice President for the College Democrats of Arkansas.
At that time, Holloway was a student at University of Arkansas in Fayetteville where he penned an editorial for the University paper that U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor’s campaign and certain members of the Democratic Party found offensive.
“I became vocal about his support of certain Bush administration policies, specifically the telecommunications companies spying on Americans and I was showing support for Rebekah Kennedy, who was the Green party candidate in ’08,” Holloway said. “Then basically, I got a call from the Pryor chief of staff telling me to either support the party’s issues or leave the party.”
Holloway said the fallout from that experience left him questioning his and the core values of the Democratic Party. With more soul searching, community outreach and research he reached the decision of switching his party affiliation, and “going green.”
Later in 2008, Holloway openly helped his friend and fellow U of A student, Abel Tomlinson run for congress in the 3rd District under the Green Party ticket.
Since then, Holloway has had no qualms about changing parties.
The Green Party, along with other third parties, is slowly coming to gain prominence on national and state levels. The state party even garnered national attention in the 2008 election cycle when Richard Carroll, a former boilermaker, gained a seat in the Arkansas House of Representatives for the 39th district. That year also marked the first time the Green Party had a separate primary ballot in the state.
But even with campaigns gearing up for the final stretch, Holloway insists he is running his campaign the old fashioned way.
“I’m calling people around the state, using social media to spread the word and make connections,” he said. “In other countries, corporations can funnel billions into campaigns and it is known as bribery. But here, it’s called campaign contributions. Needless to say, I won’t be taking donations from corporations.”
Even when election campaigns have taken cynical, bitter tones, Holloway refuses to launch smear campaigns, or negative attacks, fitting in with his motto of empowering the people.
“You can’t empower people with negativity. I’m a spiritual person and have studied lots of Eastern thought, and I can say that even with the tragedy of today’s world, it doesn’t matter the outcome, but how one responded to the situation. Negativity will get us nowhere, but only compound our troubles.”
Besides economic equity among Arkansans citing that one shouldn’t have to worry about losing his or her job or homes to “criminal Wall Street banks,” or to corporate outsourcing of labor to other countries for “slave-like wages.”
Holloway also wants to see the Dennis Kucinich idea of single payer healthcare implemented. “The current health care laws just aren’t drafted correctly,” he noted. “There is no excuse for not taking care of the sick.”
What Holloway is stressing that he will offer to the 1st district is “real hope and change” that every Arkansan can believe in; something he believes never really came from the 2008 presidential election.
“I’m not in this for political gain, power or vindictiveness. No, I am doing this to make people think and talk about issues and things that don’t have voices otherwise,” he said.
“Look at Ralph Nader. He never held a political office, but the change he advocated as an activist and consumer advocate netted more legislation than any other congressman. The same with Martin Luther King. He never was elected and he held more influence than most could dream of.”
Even if he is not elected, Holloway noted he will not go away without having offered a fair fight. “Ultimately, the acts of people are important. But it is the ideas that can endure as a legacy. There are lots of people who were never in the system, but looked beyond convention and changed it. But in the end, it is about always staying truthful to your message.”
