Sent to me from C. Michael Pickens-Executive Director, LPWA
Our Libertarian Party of Washington executive committee is determined to grow the largest and most effective state Libertarian Party in the entire country. A Libertarian Party that not only competes with the D’s and R’s, but are winning elections and advancing liberty by passing libertarian legislation on all levels of government.
To encourage more participation and to put our mission into action, we have decided to make this year’s convention the most affordable ever. You can attend the short business session and speaker sessions for FREE! We have made the lunch and banquet prices as close to cost as possible. Lunch is $13 and the dinner/banquet is $35, or you can buy both for $45. We have already passed up the attendance numbers need to cover the cost!
This past weekend I attended the Libertarian Party of California annual convention in Sacramento, and I was disheartened by the high cost and low attendance. Just to take part in the business session, members had to pay $90! If you wanted to buy the full convention package you would have had to cough up $290! In direct result of these high prices, there was record low attendance; the first delegate count on Sunday showed that there were only 59 members in attendance.
We now have 87 people registered for our convention; in a state that is 1/3 the size of California! We are determined to take all the actions necessary to grow the movement, not just empty talk. We already have twice as many people registered this year than last year; with 12 more days of registration left; with the understanding that the majority of people will register in the last week before the convention.
The rest of the information can be found here .
“Washington does not have partisan voter registration.”
California should follow Washington State’s example in this, as it has with Top Two.
In 2008 Ruth Bennett survived the top two primary to make it on the General Election ballot for State Reprsentative, 37th District.
Ruth Bennett was the only LP candidate on the Washington state ballot that year, and she received 5,017 votes, 10.56% in a two way race against an incumbent Democrat.
@10 Amen Michael! We are a team and there is no “I” in team. We expect big things from Team LPWA. You were wise to hire Mr Pickens.
Starchild said: “registered Libs………………110,000……..?”
Washington does not have partisan voter registration.
Btw Rich the rest of us up here ain’t chopped liver. We’ve been active and we intend to stay that way. One person can’t do it all.
The Early Bird Floor fee was $49.00 and Mr. Pickens voted for that proposal. Eventhough Mr. Pickens is disappointed his candidate for Chair did not win in California, I wish him nothing but success in the future.
Starchild according to what I have in front of me the January 2013 membership number for California showed 1760 active and for Washington we had 387.
Convention comparison by the numbers:
STATE……………………….CALIFORNIA…..WASHINGTON
state population……………..38 million…..7 million
registered Libs………………110,000……..?
LP members…………………..?…………..?
floor fee……………………..$70? $90?……none
delegates (est.)……………..59………….?
overall attendees…………….?…………..87
full package cost…………….$290(5 meals)..$45?(2 meals)
The reason I listed two different possible numbers for the amount of the California LP’s convention floor fee — Michael Pickens reports it being $90, but I believe I was charged “only” $70. I’m also not sure whether $45 is the full package cost for Washington.
Any corrections to any of the numbers listed above, or help filling in the blanks in the chart, would be welcome.
I think that the Top Two system in Washington is really holding the Libertarian Party back in that state.
“The LPWA hasn’t been on the ballot in a while.”
By that logic, the California LP hasn’t been on the ballot since 2010 either.
People, do not under estimate LPWA. MIchael Pickens, The Executive Director of LPWA is going to make The LPWA into major player in Washington. Just give him a little time and watch out. He never gives up.
re # 1 I am not sure what your comment was about but the party is active here. We get out a news letter every other month and had a number of people testifying on legislation in the last few months. Running for office is not the only way to influence the system. It is just one of a few.
“Krzysztof Lesiak // Apr 9, 2013 at 12:35 am
The LPWA hasn’t been on the ballot in a while. Actually, last time it was was probably Ruth Bennett running for Governor in 2004.”
It depends on what you mean by the Libertarian Party of Washington having ballot access. Gary Johnson for President was just on the ballot in Washington in 2012 and he did have the Libertarian Party label next to his name.
The problem in Washington is that Top Two Primary was passed there. That has really hurt minor party and independent candidates in that state.
The LPWA hasn’t been on the ballot in a while. Actually, last time it was was probably Ruth Bennett running for Governor in 2004.