Dear Fellow Libertarians,
I have decided to run for Chair of the Libertarian Party of California. The state convention will be held on Sunday, May 31, in Las Vegas, Nevada. I urge you to attend and to support my candidacy.
The California LP has fallen on hard times over the last few years. Membership hovers around 800, where it once stood at 7,000 or more. Fundraising and new member recruitment at the state party level have slowed to a tiny trickle. There has been no newsletter for quite some time, and very little communication with members, so it’s difficult to find out what’s going on in the state party. Or, perhaps we hear nothing because nothing is happening, which is even less acceptable. Transparency is #1 with me.
It’s time for a few changes. Libertarians need to regroup and show that we are still on duty –fighting for personal freedom, economic freedom, and a non-interventionist foreign policy. If we won’t do it, who will?
I have been an LP member for 36 years, and have held almost every job in the party during that time. I was chair from 1988 to 1989, served on the Executive Committee for 20 years, served as Los Angeles County chair, and newsletter editor. I handled candidate recruitment for over 20 years, personally signing up hundreds of LP candidates. I have also run as a Libertarian candidate myself 15 times. I took a break from activism about 7 years ago to build my business, though I have attended most conventions and currently serve as chair of the Judicial Committee and as secretary of my local group in Pasadena. It’s time for me to come back and work to revitalize the California LP.
This will be a tough job and I need your help to do it. I’m looking for Libertarians who are interested in the following areas (not a complete list):
Membership Recruitment
Fundraising
Newsletter
Candidate Recruitment
Being a candidate (partisan or non-partisan)
Speaker’s Bureau
Web site design
Press releases & media relations
Initiatives (like repealing Top Two)
Testifying at the state capitol
Student group organization
County LP organizations (where we don’t have any now)
Liaison and outreach to other libertarian-oriented groups
Convention 2016
Please e-mail me at [email protected] with your support, ideas, and areas you wish to volunteer for. You have strengths which you can share and the party can use. Help the cause of liberty forge ahead, not fizzle away. Thanks in advance for your help, and see you in Las Vegas!
For liberty,
Ted Brown
P. S. If you want things to turn around for the Libertarian Party of California, you need to make your voice heard and your vote count! The state convention on May 31 is your chance to do just that. (Go to http://ca.lp.org/convention-2015-prices
Dear Fellow Libertarians,
I have decided to run for Chair of the Libertarian Party of California. The state convention will be held on Sunday, May 31, in Las Vegas, Nevada. I urge you to attend and to support my candidacy.
The California LP has fallen on hard times over the last few years. Membership hovers around 800, where it once stood at 7,000 or more. Fundraising and new member recruitment at the state party level have slowed to a tiny trickle. There has been no newsletter for quite some time, and very little communication with members, so it’s difficult to find out what’s going on in the state party. Or, perhaps we hear nothing because nothing is happening, which is even less acceptable. Transparency is #1 with me.
It’s time for a few changes. Libertarians need to regroup and show that we are still on duty –fighting for personal freedom, economic freedom, and a non-interventionist foreign policy. If we won’t do it, who will?
I have been an LP member for 36 years, and have held almost every job in the party during that time. I was chair from 1988 to 1989, served on the Executive Committee for 20 years, served as Los Angeles County chair, and newsletter editor. I handled candidate recruitment for over 20 years, personally signing up hundreds of LP candidates. I have also run as a Libertarian candidate myself 15 times. I took a break from activism about 7 years ago to build my business, though I have attended most conventions and currently serve as chair of the Judicial Committee and as secretary of my local group in Pasadena. It’s time for me to come back and work to revitalize the California LP.
This will be a tough job and I need your help to do it. I’m looking for Libertarians who are interested in the following areas (not a complete list):
Membership Recruitment
Fundraising
Newsletter
Candidate Recruitment
Being a candidate (partisan or non-partisan)
Speaker’s Bureau
Web site design
Press releases & media relations
Initiatives (like repealing Top Two)
Testifying at the state capitol
Student group organization
County LP organizations (where we don’t have any now)
Liaison and outreach to other libertarian-oriented groups
Convention 2016
Please e-mail me at [email protected] with your support, ideas, and areas you wish to volunteer for. You have strengths which you can share and the party can use. Help the cause of liberty forge ahead, not fizzle away. Thanks in advance for your help, and see you in Las Vegas!
For liberty,
Ted Brown
P. S. If you want things to turn around for the Libertarian Party of California, you need to make your voice heard and your vote count! The state convention on May 31 is your chance to do just that. (Go to ca.lp.org/convention-2015-prices ).
Make my day 🙂
“Top Two” is the Establishments’ answer to proportional representation or any other form of challenge to the fraud of the Two Party System. If it spreads throughout the country we will all have to become Demorepublicrats and find a new strategy to advance liberty in the political realm.
The problem top two presents for Libertarians and other alternative parties is not merely that our candidates will probably be eliminated in the primary. The top two system in California means we have to collect in-lieu signatures to cover the filing fee from all the voters, with a much higher number needed than when we had partisan primaries.
We need to plan our petition drives months in advance. Individual candidates or their petition circulators have to cooperate and collect signatures for several candidates for different offices at the same time. And our candidates still have to be prepared to pay part of the filing fee.
That is the real issue with qualifying candidates under California’s top two system.
If I told you, I’d have to kill you–
No, seriously, there is a bit of drama in the works, which has the potential to make our single day in Vegas quite worthwhile. I’ll keep you posted as it happens.
In another thread you mentioned that there are (at least) three factions. I’d be interested in knowing more details about that.
I was sent an endorsement for Ted from long-time LA activist Mike Everling:
“Dear Libertarian Party colleague,
This letter to you constitutes my endorsement of Ted Brown to be elected Chairman of the Libertarian Party of California at this year’s State Convention.
The enormous challenges that our Party faces here in California dictate a robust effort to rebuild membership and activism.
Ted’s long resume as a candidate for public office, as an activist, and as a Party officer, including leadership positions such as State Chairman and Los Angeles County Chairman, make him eminently qualified to take the helm at this time.
If you are able to attend the State Convention in Las Vegas please consider supporting and voting for Ted. I regret that I will not be able to join you due to a scheduling conflict but you have my moral support.
I hereby endorse Ted Brown for Chairman.
Sincerely,
Michael B. Everling”
WA has learned ways to be effective despite the evil Only Two scheme.
Jose–I can’t speak for Richard, but I don’t ever recall him saying we shouldn’t run candidates in CA due to Top-Two. I know that’s the excuse the Ex-com gives, but I don’t think Richard has expressed such a view.
Top-Two is a serious challenge for our state party, but I think there are far greater impediments. Hopefully, we can replace all or some of them at the upcoming convention.
I know Ted Brown, not as well as a lot of people who live in CA full time do, but based on what I know I think he can and will do a great job as chair again.
No, it was just done away with in practice because alt parties don’t get to run in the general election since they are eliminated in the primary. But a more recent bill moved the vote test to the primary, which I believe passed.
Agreed!
Fabulous
Richard, I stand corrected. The Green Party only had five candidates for state wide office. But this truth does not invalidate what I said. The LPC should have candidates no matter the difficulties put in place by the Democratic and Republican establishment. If as you (Correct me if I am wrong as to your view) and the LPC Executive Committee believe that the LPC should not have candidates because the Democratic and Republican parties have made it tough for us, I disagree.
If the view of the Executive Committee is correct this would send an unmistakable message to the Democratic and Republican establishment that the way to stop the Libertarian Party is by making the election laws tough for our candidates to get on the ballot. Because the day they make the election laws tough for us we will go running scared saying we should not run candidates because it is to tough.
If the view of the Executive Committee is correct then Ed Clark should not have run for Governor in 1978 because the LPC was not on the ballot and it would take to much effort for Ed Clark to get on the ballot. Fortunately for us the Ed Clark campaign did not listen to the nay sayers and he ran for Governor ending up with 5.6% of the vote. Was it easy for the Ed Clark campaign and the Libertarian Party of California? No, but is worth it.
I have known Ted Brown as an activist Libertarian since the early 1980s, when I moved back to Southern California. I look forward to his election as state chair of the Libertarian Party of California, and hope to help in its revival.
I thought that the 2% vote test to remain a ballot qualified party in California was done away with when Top Two Primary got passed in June of 2010.
Just to be clear, the Green Party had 5 statewide candidates in California in 2014, not 6. Also all the 2014 statewide minor party candidates were only able to run in the June primary, not the November election. Americans Elect also had a statewide candidate, who ran in June for Lieutenant Governor. The Americans Elect candidate is the only statewide minor party candidate who got less than 2% in the June primary.
Ted Brown has to be considered a front runner in the race for Libertarian Party of California (LPC) Chair. Ted Brown has been an activist in the LPC since the 1970’s. If something has needed to be done Ted has done it. Ted is best known for the 2,000+ candidates he has recruited to run for office. He has also recruited candidates to run for state wide office who have received over two percent of the vote ensuring the LPC has been on the ballot in California since 1980 (How many states can that be true of?). In California one way to stay on the ballot is by getting 2% of the vote in a state wide election.
In 2014 I ran for public office and I asked the Executive Committee of the LPC for help getting on the ballot. I was told I would not get help, we do not need to have candidates, and it is not important whether we have candidates or not. I then asked Ted for help and he came through helping me get on the ballot as a candidate for the State Board of Equalization District 3. He also helped two other candidates get on the ballot. Of course Ted did not do it alone as others such as Gail Lightfoot and Joe Dehn helped get candidates on the ballot. Ted also helped Jonathan Jaech get on the ballot as a candidate for Attorney General ensuring the LPC have a candidate for state wide office a streak that started in 1978 when Ed Clark ran for Governor receiving 5.6% of the vote.
The LPC does need a lot of work to be turned around and headed toward growth. One area that needs a lot of work is in candidate recruitment. In 1980 the LPC had 100+ (including Ed Clark) candidates for office and during the 1980’s and 1990’s the LPC every two years had 100+ candidates for office. Unfortunately in 2014 there were only about eight candidates for office. If not for the work of Ted Brown, myself, Gail Lightfoot, Joe Dehn, and Jonathan Jeach we would not have even had those candidates. I disagreed with the Executive Committee and I believe having candidates for office is important and has value which is why I ran for office.
The Green Party had six candidates for state wide office, the Peace and Freedom Party had three candidates for state wide office, and the LPC only had one. It takes leadership and belief something is important and the will to get it done. The Peace and Freedom and Green Parties showed it can be done. In 1978 the LPC and Ed Clark had the vision to see that it could be done. When Ed Clark ran for Governor it was said it could not be done. Why? Because the LPC is not even on the ballot. Yet Ed Clark’s campaign collected enough signatures to get on the ballot, received 5.6% of the vote, and based on his success decided to seek the Presidential nomination of the Libertarian Party and the rest is history.
The LPC needs a lot of work to be turned around and headed toward growth. Ted brown has the leadership and the belief the LPC can head toward growth no matter the obstacles. Ted also has the will to get what is needed to be done to get done. He has shown it can be done, he has done it, and he will help get it done.
José C
Chair,
Libertarian party of Los Angeles County
Excellent news. My best to the LPCA.
No one seems to know, Richard, but some people close to him are acting as if he might. Perhaps he’s popular in Northern CA or around Sacramento, but most people I know in So CA would like to see him replaced.
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I was given the impression several months ago that Kevin is not running for re-election.
Yes, I’ve known him for over 20 years. He’s a very consistent, straight-up Libertarian. He’s been state chair, region chair, and a candidate for Congress. He can win against Kevin Takenaga, although Kevin would be nuts to run again.
Interesting! Anyone in SoCal know anything about Ted?