Michael Cavlan



Michael Cavlan (b. 1959) is a Minnesota political activist, independent journalist, and registered nurse from Apple Valley, Minnesota. Cavlan was the 2006 Green Party candidate for the United States Senate seat from Minnesota. Cavlan also is a driving force with the Counter Propaganda Coalition - an organization "confronting corporate media bias and promoting alternative media".

Personal life
Cavlan was born in San Jose, California, but spent most of his childhood and adolescence in Northern Ireland with his Roman Catholic family. Cavlan lived near Belfast, Northern Ireland from 1969 till 1984, becoming involved in the Irish Trade Union Movement as a member of ITGWU (the Irish Transport and General Workers Union) and IVG&ATA (the Irish Vintners, Grocers & Allied Trades Association). He is a nephew of Ballymoney Sinn Féin councillor, Anita Cavlan.

He is a registered nurse at Saint Paul's Regions Hospital and a member of the Minnesota Nurses Association 3rd District union and volunteer for the National Disaster Medical System. In the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, he volunteered to assist in caring for wounded survivors.

Green Party involvement
Cavlan's first attempt at electoral politics was a run for the state legislature in 2002 as a Green Party candidate. He almost failed to achieve party endorsement when he refused to disavow support for the use of violence by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (his aunt is a Sinn Fein councillor in County Antrim, Northern Ireland). But the issue was quickly moot, because Cavlan's run ended almost as soon as it began when he lost the contested Green primary.

Following the disputed Ohio election in 2004, Cavlan went to that state to help with the Green Party's effort to recount Ohio's votes after the 2004 election. Cavlan announced his 2006 candidacy to run for Senate in October 2004 on the Green Party ticket. He faced Republican candidate Mark Kennedy, Independence Party candidate Robert Fitzgerald and the election's winner, Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party candidate Amy Klobuchar, in the general election. Shortly after the election, Cavlan announced his candidacy for the 2008 Sentate election. However, at the 2008 Minnesota Green Party convention, he failed to gain the nomination.

A self-described "peace activist", Cavlan has called for immediate troop withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan. Among other issues, he is pro-choice, opposes the death penalty, drug prohibition, and school vouchers, and supports gay marriage.

Electoral history

 * 2006 election for U.S. Senate - Minnesota
 * Amy Klobuchar (D), 58%
 * Mark Kennedy (R), 38%
 * Robert Fitzgerald (I), 3%
 * Michael Cavlan (G), 0.5%