Michael Cavlan



Michael Cavlan (born 1959) is a Minnesota political activist and registered nurse from Apple Valley, Minnesota. Cavlan was the 2006 Green Party candidate for the United States Senate seat from Minnesota.

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 divorced with two sons, and 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. He specializes in burns, trauma and intensive care. In the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, he volunteered to assist in caring for wounded survivors. Cavlan called for an official investigation into possible government involvement in the death of Minnesota Senator Paul Wellstone, a call which was the subject of an article in the Star Tribune.

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. But the issue was quickly moot, because Cavlan's run ended almost as soon as it began when he lost the contested Green primary. The contest was the only primary for the Green Party.

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 Senate 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. During his 2006 Senate campaign he declared:

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%