She earned her BA from Wayne State University in 1969, where she was a scholarship student, majored in foreign languages, and was elected to the Phi Beta Kappa society.

In 2006, Wells served on the executive committee of the "IRV for Oakland" (Instant Runoff Voting) campaign while running for state controller.

[5] In 2002 and 2006, Wells ran campaigns for state controller,[3][6] receiving 419,873 votes in 2002, the most ever for a Green Party candidate in a statewide partisan race in California.

[8][9] Wells has also participated in ten international delegations to Canada and South America to study innovations in participatory democracy and new constitutions, and has broadly worked in a range of volunteer and professional capacities for community and labor organizations, including Pesticide Action Network (North America), Women's Economic Agenda Project, and SEIU United Healthcare Workers (West).

[12] Wells' campaign emphasized the California budget and tax issues, particularly Proposition 13, passed during Jerry Brown's tenure as governor, which she says must be changed, in part because it primarily benefits corporations over individuals.

[13]Wells also favored lowering the margin needed to pass a budget and raise taxes in the state from two-thirds to a simple majority.

As a case in point, she said she had to pay $6,000 for a 300-word ballot statement when she ran for state controller in 2006, a fee she said blocks minor-party candidates from running.

On October 12, 2010, Laura Wells was given a ticket to watch the California gubernatorial debate at Dominican University in San Rafael by a friend of hers and used it to enter the building.

Wells was initially allowed in, but upon being recognized as the Green Party gubernatorial candidate, she was approached by security and asked to surrender the ticket on the grounds that it was not issued to her, but to her friend.