Message from the Chair 5-22-16
This is an exciting time for the Libertarian Party. As you have probably seen in various media outlets, there is great interest in our party’s presidential nominee unlike any we have seen before. Is it possible for the Republicans and Democrats to be on the verge of nominating such distasteful and unpopular candidates? It looks like it. That’s why there’s so much at stake at our upcoming national convention, May 26 to 30, in Orlando, Florida. California has the largest number of delegates, and we will be there in full force to select the LP candidates for president and vice-president. I expect there will be C-SPAN coverage, as there usually is, but also much more media on hand.
Back here in California, there are 9 Libertarian candidates on the June 7 primary ballot, and they all need your support (and the support of your families, friends, neighbors, entire towns, etc.) to win enough votes to be in the Top Two and move on to the November general election. The candidates are:
- U. S. Senator – Gail Lightfoot
- U. S. Senator – Mark Matthew Herd
- U. S. Representative, 9th District – Alex Appleby of Stockton
- U. S. Representative, 17th District – Kennita Watson of Palo Alto
- State Senator, 13th District – John Webster of San Jose
- State Assembly, 8th District – Janice Bonser of Carmichael
- State Assembly, 24th District – John Inks of Mountain View
- State Assembly, 35th District – Dominic Rubini of San Luis Obispo
- State Assembly, 42nd District – Jeff Hewitt of Calimesa
But we have another chance to place candidates on the November ballot. 16 districts have only one candidate, meaning that the incumbents are unopposed. That means that a write-in candidate can become one of the Top Two, and we have recruited Libertarian write-in candidates in 10 of the 16 districts. It’s very important to write in these candidates. If any of them receive more write-in votes than any other write-in candidate, he or she is in the Top Two and moves on to November as a regular candidate who is printed on the ballot. And it looks like some of them are the only write-in candidates in their respective districts! Please support these candidates by writing them in if you are eligible to do so. It could make all the difference.
- State Senator, 33rd District – Mimi Robson of Long Beach
- State Assembly, 1st District – Donn Coenen of Nevada City
- State Assembly, 2nd District – Kenneth Anton of Elk (Mendocino County)
- State Assembly, 7th District – Janine Kloss of Sacramento
- State Assembly, 49th District – Boomer Shannon of Temple City
- State Assembly, 51st District – Mike Everling of Los Angeles
- State Assembly, 62nd District – Baron Bruno of Venice
- State Assembly, 70th District – John Hoop of Long Beach
- State Assembly, 73rd District – Brandon Stevens of Aliso Viejo
- State Assembly, 76th District – Clint Muhe of Carlsbad
In other news, Libertarians will be at some upcoming events to promote the cause of Liberty. On June 25-26, the Politicon conference will be held at the Pasadena Convention Center. This is the “unconventional political convention” which should draw politically-minded people from across the political spectrum. The Libertarian Party will have a large booth there. Come join us.
The California State Fair is coming up from July 8 to July 24 at the Cal Expo Fairgrounds in Sacramento. The Libertarian Party will have a booth at the fair, and this is a major undertaking that should bring our party and our views to the attention of tens of thousands of fair attendees. Volunteers are needed for any and all of those dates, at all times of the day and evening. Contact Mark Hinkle at mhinkle@ca.lp.org to volunteer.
We have had a small party office in Sacramento for several years, and this office is closing as of June 30. For now, our mailing address will remain the same. We expect to have another Northern California office in the near future. But the big news is that we have a new party office in Southern California that will open soon. The location is a small office building in Monrovia, a town two cities east of Pasadena. This is a great location, and we expect to have regular staffing. This will work out quite well for the upcoming campaign season.
Our party membership has grown slightly, but not nearly enough. So we will be engaged in more aggressive membership recruitment during the next few months. Not only should our former members re-join us now, but there are so many other Californians upset with their “choices” in the other parties, that we can expect to attract as well. To help with this effort, we will have an online newsletter starting up shortly, to be edited by Elizabeth Brierly of San Jose, who is also one of the editors of national LP News. You should see the first one in June.
To join or renew your membership, go to:
I will report to you again after the national convention. I expect that there will be a lot of good news coming out of that event, likely to be the largest convention in party history.