I have been a Libertarian Party member and activist since 1979 and have never seen the kind of attention we have been receiving since Gov. Gary Johnson won our party’s presidential nomination at the end of May.
Gary Johnson and his running mate, Gov. Bill Weld, are the most qualified ticket that the LP has put forward, and the media and the public are taking notice. With a majority of voters finding Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton to be unlikable, unqualified, dishonest, authoritarian, buffoonish, or any combination thereof, it seems like the right year to be a Libertarian. If Johnson can rise to 15% in the public opinion polls, he will be eligible for the televised presidential debates. Can you imagine our candidate on stage to debate Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton? If that happens, the sky is the limit. For info on Johnson/Weld campaign, go to:
http://www.johnsonweld.com
The California coordinator of the Johnson/Weld campaign is Boomer Shannon, who is one of our most enthusiastic activists. He is looking for campaign volunteers for a variety of duties. He can be reached at (909) 641-7675, or BoomerShannon@johnsonweld.com.
We will also have five state legislative candidates on the ballot in November. Top Two wasn’t kind to the Libertarian candidates who were printed on the June primary ballot. But five others qualified as write-in candidates, since they challenged unopposed incumbents, and thus placed in the Top Two. They are:
- Honor “Mimi” Robson of Long Beach – State Senate, District 33
- Donn Coenen of Nevada City – State Assembly, District 1
- Ken Anton of Mendocino County – State Assembly, District 2
- Mike Everling of Los Angeles – State Assembly, District 51
- Baron Bruno of Marina del Rey – State Assembly, District 62
There was a Libertarian booth at the State Fair in Sacramento from July 8 to July 24. Volunteers staffed the booth during that time, and we met with a lot of Californians who are interested in the Libertarian message and especially the Johnson/Weld campaign. We sold a lot of T-shirts and buttons as well. A number of our county affiliates are sponsoring booths at upcoming county events, such as the Nevada County Fair, the Plumas County Fair, and the Orange International Street Fair. This is a good way to get our message out to the public – and have some fun doing it.
We have closed our Sacramento office for the time being, though we will still use the 770 L Street, Suite 950 address as our mailing address. Our new party office is located at 825 S. Myrtle Avenue, in Monrovia (two cities east of Pasadena). It’s in the process of getting set up. The State Executive Committee will be meeting there on Saturday, August 6, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. to conduct party business. The public is invited to attend and see how the party is being run. One interesting item on the agenda will be for the party to take positions on the 17 ballot propositions on the November ballot. Some of them may stir some hearty debate.
You will be seeing an online newsletter shortly, and it will be the first of several that will go out before the election. Our editor is Elizabeth Brierly of San Jose, who also helps to edit the national LP News. You as a member need to know more of what’s going on, and this newsletter should be a big help in getting the word out.
If your membership has expired, or if you haven’t joined yet as a dues-paying member of the Libertarian Party of California, I hope you will do so. Please go to: