Fellow California Libertarians,

I have a lot of good news to report!

The Libertarian Party of California state convention will be held April 1 – 3 at the Hilton at Los Angeles Airport, near LAX. The contract has been signed, and our convention committee headed by Mark Hinkle is in the process of bringing an excellent set of speakers on board. Early-bird pricing for convention packages will soon be available. Stay tuned for more information on what should be the gala event of the season. And a big thanks to Mark and also Nancy Neale for the hours they spent on this project!

There hasn’t been a party newsletter for quite some time, but that is about to change. “The California Libertarian Activist,” edited by Elizabeth Brierly, will be going out in the next few days. It will be inserted in the same envelope with “LP News,” the national LP newsletter, so keep your eyes out for it. This joint mailing will give members of the state and national parties an opportunity to read both newsletters, and let everyone know about party activities across the country. I was very impressed myself to see what terrific activities our county groups are doing, and I think you will be, too. I’m hoping this is the first in a series of great newsletters. You deserve to know what our California activists are working on. Maybe you’ll even decide to join in the fun!

I am committed to increasing membership in the Libertarian Party of California. There is power in numbers, and we need more activists to promote the cause of liberty. To that end, we recently sent a mailing to 2,500 current and former national LP members urging them to join the California party. This is a good opportunity for any of you who are not current with your membership dues to renew. Go to http://ca.lp.org/join

Local activism is crucial to party growth, which is why we need to have active organizations across California. There are 58 counties, but we’re only active in 21 of them. It’s time to get organized in the remaining counties. We’re holding meetings to make that happen. For example, Kern County (Bakersfield) hasn’t had an active LP organization for many years. On December 1, there is an organizing meeting to get the ball rolling. San Joaquin County (Stockton) also hasn’t had an active organization, so we’re addressing that problem in an upcoming January meeting. If your county is active, join your local group! If not, please let us know how we can help you.

Student Libertarian groups have the drive and passion to encourage new activists. Young Americans for Liberty and Students for Liberty held a November conference at UCLA, which I attended along with ExCom members Jeff Hewitt, Boomer Shannon, and Jason Yu. The student leaders had lots of ideas for networking and promoting liberty which we can get moving on. California High school students also got to hear from Libertarians. Santa Clara and Monterey activists recently manned a booth at a Junior Statesman event in the Bay Area, where they promoted the libertarian alternative.

Campaign 2016 is coming up fast. As you know, we need Libertarians to step up and run as Libertarian candidates for Congress, State Senate, and State Assembly. Voters need an alternative to the same old same old. Contact me at tbrown@ca.lp.org and we can discuss what’s involved in running for office.

Happy holidays – and
“May the non-initiation of force be with you.”

For Liberty,
Ted Brown
Chair, Libertarian Party of California