Press "Enter" to skip to content

Open Thread: Election Day 2015

ivoted

List of 2015 Libertarian Party candidates.

List of 2015 Green Party candidates.

List of 2015 elections.

68 Comments

  1. paulie November 4, 2015

    The political chatter on the networks is more that Edelen may not run now, and so less pressure on Randal to drop out of presidentials and defend the Senate.

  2. Thane Eichenauer November 4, 2015

    Ballotpedia has KY Auditor office election results. Current Auditor Adam Edelen [Democrat] is listed as having lost with 48.1% of the vote in the two way race. Edelen was mentioned in other news articles as having been a presumed general election opponent of Rand Paul for US Senate. This presumed non-reelection would offer him more time to campaign.
    http://ballotpedia.org/Kentucky_Auditor_election,_2015

  3. Andy November 4, 2015

    “NewFederalist

    November 4, 2015 at 12:01 pm

    ‘I do not know a whole lot about Panepinto, but it sounds like he might be at least somewhat libertarian. If so, Libertarian Party members ought to consider trying to recruit him into the party.’ – Andy

    Does the party really need another GOP retread? I believe the LPPA is far more radical today than it was in past years. I doubt they would be interesting in wooing another Republican.”

    The Libertarian Party should recruit anyone who agrees with libertarian principles.

  4. NewFederalist November 4, 2015

    That would be “interested”

  5. NewFederalist November 4, 2015

    “I do not know a whole lot about Panepinto, but it sounds like he might be at least somewhat libertarian. If so, Libertarian Party members ought to consider trying to recruit him into the party.” – Andy

    Does the party really need another GOP retread? I believe the LPPA is far more radical today than it was in past years. I doubt they would be interesting in wooing another Republican.

  6. Andy November 4, 2015

    “Jed Ziggler

    November 4, 2015 at 11:47 am

    I’m Facebook friends with him, he strikes me as more conservative than Marxist.”

    He was a registered Republican, up until earlier this year I believe.

    I was surprised when I heard that he favors legalizing marijuana. I also heard something about him saying that people should not get locked up for victimless crimes (as a generalized statement).

    I do not know a whole lot about Panepinto, but it sounds like he might be at least somewhat libertarian. If so, Libertarian Party members ought to consider trying to recruit him into the party.

  7. Andy November 4, 2015

    “NewFederalist

    November 4, 2015 at 11:39 am

    Actually, I voted for him because he petitioned his way on as well. After voting for him I told my wife I sure hoped he wasn’t a Marxist!”

    All candidates (as in even major party candidates) have to petition their way on to the Pennsylvania ballot.

    The major party candidates do not have to collect as many petition signatures as the minor party and independent candidates do though, however, they only have 3 weeks to gather their signatures, and Democratic Party candidates can only collect signatures from registered Democrats, and Republican Party candidates can only collect signatures from registered Republicans. Statewide major party primary candidates have to get 2,000 valid petition signatures to appear on a major party primary ballot.

    The minor party and independent candidate petition requirement fluctuates due to voter turn. This year it was 16,000 and something valid signatures, which was the lowest it has been in Pennsylvania in a long time. Minor party and independent candidates have about 5 1/2 months to gather the required number of valid petition signatures, and any registered voter can sign their petitions.

  8. Jed Ziggler November 4, 2015

    I’m Facebook friends with him, he strikes me as more conservative than Marxist.

  9. NewFederalist November 4, 2015

    Actually, I voted for him because he petitioned his way on as well. After voting for him I told my wife I sure hoped he wasn’t a Marxist!

  10. Jed Ziggler November 4, 2015

    Honestly my support for Panepinto was due to him being the only opposition to the duopoly, this is the first I’ve heard of his stance on marijuana.

  11. NewFederalist November 4, 2015

    “Jed Ziggler

    November 4, 2015 at 12:23 am

    In my neck of the woods, Paul Panepinto finished 7th of 7 candidates (3 elected) with 2% of the vote.”

    “What do you know about Panepinto? I recently heard that he supports legalizing marijuana and iand that he is good on gun rights, and that at least a few Libertarians in Pennsylvania were intending to vote for him.” – Andy

    I did!

  12. Andy Craig Post author | November 4, 2015

    “I’d love to see Libertarians in Ohio use this as an opportunity to take the lead and file a Marijuana initiative that is as libertarian as possible, and get it on the ballot for 2016.”

    Libertarians in Ohio need to be more concerned with getting *themselves* back on the ballot.

  13. paulie November 4, 2015

    [Statechairs] 2015 NJLP Election Results

    Patrick McKnight via hq.lp.org

    6:58 AM (31 minutes ago)

    to Bob, LP-State, Carla, Arvin

    Congratulations to Joe DeLong on winning 9.6% in his race for Mayor of South Bound Brook!

    Thank you to all our outstanding 2015 NJLP Candidates:

    Patrick Smith – South Bound Brook Borough Council – 5.3%

    Peter Rohrman – Bergen County Freeholder – 4%

    Jeff Hetrick – Assembly 27th District – 1%

    Damien Caillault – Assembly 27th District – 1%

    Joseph Dunsay – River Edge Board of Education (non-partisan race) – 19%

    Patrick McKnight

    Chair, NJLP

    _______________________________________________
    Statechairs mailing list
    [email protected]
    http://hq.lp.org/mailman/listinfo/statechairs_hq.lp.org

  14. Nicholas Hensley November 4, 2015

    A great day for the Reform Party. Dennis Dickinson running solely on the Reform Party line won Supervisor of Lake George.

    Charles Falciglia won a seat on the Rockland County Legislature with 43 percent of the votes cast for the Reform Party line. He was joined in victory for by Edward Markunas who won a second Rockland County Legislative seat with 35 percent of the vote on the Reform Party line. These were fusion candidates, but they brought attention to the Reform Party name.

    Frank Hagen and Moira Herztman won their elections in New York with 18 percent of the vote cast for the Reform Party line, and smaller percentages caste for fusion lines.

    In some of the stuff we lost, we were still getting within the teens and twenty percentiles. Some of them were getting in the 30s and still losing.

    Some of this was fusion voting, but for a minor party with first year ballot access to come up and put up without a lot of resources, without a lot of name recognition and gain a good amount of votes in some of these elections is a great improvement for the Reform Party. We capitalized on an off year election, got our name out there, and improved our standing.

  15. Andy November 4, 2015

    “Jed Ziggler

    November 4, 2015 at 12:23 am

    In my neck of the woods, Paul Panepinto finished 7th of 7 candidates (3 elected) with 2% of the vote.”

    What do you know about Panepinto? I recently heard that he supports legalizing marijuana and iand that he is good on gun rights, and that at least a few Libertarians in Pennsylvania were intending to vote for him.

  16. Andy November 4, 2015

    “Andy Craig Post author

    November 3, 2015 at 9:56 pm

    I was just about to comment with that new (edit: OH Issue 3). Not even close.

    On the upside, maybe the margin of defeat being so large, will help make clear it lost because of the cronyism/cartel angle, and that it wasn’t part of the broader push being supported by major legalization groups in other states.”

    I’d love to see Libertarians in Ohio use this as an opportunity to take the lead and file a Marijuana initiative that is as libertarian as possible, and get it on the ballot for 2016.

  17. Jed Ziggler November 4, 2015

    In my neck of the woods, Paul Panepinto finished 7th of 7 candidates (3 elected) with 2% of the vote. Mark Tonell finished 4th of 5 candidates (3 elected) with 11% of the vote.

  18. paulie November 4, 2015

    Agreed on all counts with Somin at that link.

  19. Andy Craig Post author | November 3, 2015

    “It’s hard to draft a legalization measure so badly flawed that even some libertarian organizations, such as the Ohio Libertarian Party and the Republican Liberty Caucus, oppose it. But the drafters of Issue 3 managed to achieve that dubious distinction. Hopefully, the failure of Issue 3 will pave the way for a “clean” legalization initiative in the near future. But in the meantime, large numbers of Ohioans will continue to be arrested and imprisoned for possessing or distributing marijuana.”

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2015/11/03/flawed-ohio-marijuana-legalization-initiative-defeated/

  20. Andy Craig Post author | November 3, 2015

    I’m not a fan of off-year elections, for the same reasons I’m not a fan of off-cycle local elections. While there are some plausible rationalizations for it, in practice it’s just a way to get lower turnout, and thus make it easier for party machines to run the gamut by turning out their narrow base of predictable straight-ticket voters. I don’t like to see election results manipulated by differences in turnout like that.

  21. paulie November 3, 2015

    Thanks!

    Duh, I should have remembered ND does not have initiative votes in odd years. Few states do.

  22. Mark Axinn November 3, 2015

    In Texas:
    >We’re still looking for a catchy name for this strategy.

    How about, Wining?

  23. paulie November 3, 2015

    Hopefully a measure without the monopoly provision can pass next year.

  24. Mark Axinn November 3, 2015

    Ohio is strongly anti-drug freedom, in both the minority inner cities like Cleveland and the lily-white suburbs like the Akron/Canton area where I own some property.

    They love to run articles in the local papers about how the meth scourge is destroying neighborhoods (i.e., property values).

    And surprise! surprise!: The drug menace is strong as ever there.

  25. paulie November 3, 2015

    Haven’t looked to verify this… FB comment:

    Darrin Bjornson
    here in north dakota medicinal (MJ) was just put in as a referendum

  26. paulie November 3, 2015

    There are no good guys in the HERO fight, as I see it. A pox on both their houses.

    Agreed.

  27. Andy Craig Post author | November 3, 2015

    There are no good guys in the HERO fight, as I see it. A pox on both their houses.

  28. Andy Craig Post author | November 3, 2015

    It hasn’t been called yet, but it’s looking like it will pass. The redistricting amendment also handily passed, but the effect is actually pretty trivial (increasing the minority party membership on the bipartisan redistricting commission from 1 out of 5 to 2 out of 7).

    http://cache.ltvcms.com/wjw/elections/elections.html

  29. paulie November 3, 2015

    Houston Equal Rights Ordnance failing in early results:

    http://www.chron.com/politics/election/local/article/HERO-results-6608562.php

    Opponents ran a scare campaign flaming ridiculous fears with off base caricatures of transgender bathroom issues, most likely accounting for the result. There are solid libertarian reasons to oppose government equal rights mandates, but it’s far more likely that BS about sex predators dressing as women and attacking women in restrooms had a lot more to do with it.

  30. paulie November 3, 2015

    They had another issue on the ballot against monopolies (Issue 2). I haven’t looked to see how that did yet.

  31. Andy Craig Post author | November 3, 2015

    I was just about to comment with that new (edit: OH Issue 3). Not even close.

    On the upside, maybe the margin of defeat being so large, will help make clear it lost because of the cronyism/cartel angle, and that it wasn’t part of the broader push being supported by major legalization groups in other states. Also, the Republicans ended up putting a good anti-monopoly Issue on the ballot even though they didn’t really have to.

  32. paulie November 3, 2015

    AP projecting Republicans holding on to the VA Senate and picking up KY Gov.

  33. paulie November 3, 2015

    CNN is projecting the marijuana initiative in OH failing by 65-35%

  34. Andy Craig Post author | November 3, 2015

    Libertarian candidates for House of Delegates in VA (with ~70-80% reporting):

    District 20
    Dickie Bell (R) 7,883 71.58%
    Will Hammer (L) 2,890 26.24%
    Write-In 240 2.18%

    District 33
    Dave LaRock (R) 5,378 59.03%
    Chuck Hedges (D) 3,406 37.38%
    Mark Anderson (L) 309 3.39%
    Write-In 18 0.20%

    District 46
    Charniele Herring (D) 3,754 66.35%
    Sean Lenehan (R) 1,612 28.49%
    Andy Bakker (L) 250 4.42%
    Write-In 42 0.74%

    District 87
    John Bell (D) 5,326 52.55%
    Chuong Nguyen (R) 4,574 45.13%
    Brian Suojanen (L) 208 2.05%
    Write-In 27 0.27%

    http://www.vpap.org/

  35. Andy November 3, 2015

    I agree with Wang Tang Fu that Rand should make up his mind about the libertarian label.

  36. Andy Craig Post author | November 3, 2015

    Libertarian National Campaign Committee
    1 min ·
    Susan Bell has been elected to another term on the bench of the Hagerstown Town Court on the Libertarian ticket. Another win in Wayne County, Indiana.

  37. Andy Craig Post author | November 3, 2015

    @WTF

    No, plurality wins.

  38. Wang Tang-Fu November 3, 2015

    Does Virginia have a runoff if no one reaches 50% or is it plurality wins?

  39. Andy Craig Post author | November 3, 2015

    Preliminary results:

    With 46% reporting, State Senate District 10:

    Glen Sturtevant (R) 12,457 48.70%
    Dan Gecker (D) 12,385 48.41%
    Marleen Durfee (I) 554 2.17%
    Carl Loser (L) 153 0.60%
    Write-In 32 0.13%

    http://www.vpap.org/electionresults/state-senate-10/

  40. Wang Tang-Fu November 3, 2015

    He should make his mind up whether it’s a badge of honor or an albatross, then.

  41. Andy November 3, 2015

    I do not know if Rand is doing robo calls against that Libertarian Party candidate or not today, but Rand recently said in an interview that the libertarian label is a badge of honor.

  42. Andy November 3, 2015

    LOL!!! That picture for the Loser campaign is hilarious!

  43. Caryn Ann Harlos November 3, 2015

    Andy Craig,

    ==I haven’t been able to confirm it or get a copy, but I did get a second-hand report that Rand Paul is making robocalls against Carl Loser today, explicitly talking about how “we’re conservative Republicans, not libertarians” and how “libertarians want to split the vote to give control of the state senate to liberals.”==

    I would so love to have corroboration of THAT

  44. paulie November 3, 2015

    I saw something in passing that the Auditor race is the one to watch in KY, as that Democrat is the one who is likely to run for Senate. I may have that wrong, I had it on in the background.

  45. Andy Craig Post author | November 3, 2015

    Speaking of Kentucky Governor, anybody in Kentucky who hasn’t voted yet should go do so for Drew Curtis. 😉

  46. Andy Craig Post author | November 3, 2015

    “Speaking of Senator Paul, there’s a real possibility of Democrats winning key elections in Kentucky today. If they do, the pressure may increase for Sen. Paul to abandon his floundering presidential campaign and try to save his Senate seat. And speaking of the presidential campaign, the latest poll I saw had him at 2%. If those numbers hold up he will not be in the main debates for much longer if at all.”

    538 has a good explanation of why it wouldn’t be that surprising or noteworthy for Conway (D) to win the Governorship, and that the correlation between Governor elections and partisan voting for federal offices, is pretty weak. Kentucky has tended to have Democratic Governors (including the outgoing incumbent) while also voting Republican for Congress and President. You’re right it might increase the pressure on him, but I don’t think it would actually make him any more vulnerable in a relatively-safe seat.

    http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/can-a-democrat-still-win-the-kentucky-governors-race/

  47. Andy Craig Post author | November 3, 2015

    “If you can get a recording of that, it would be a great thing to post on youtube and as an article here. Testimonials from people who received the calls would work too, but a recording would be even better.”

    Unfortunately the person who got it answered their phone, it wasn’t left as a voicemail, and they’re a friend-of-a-friend so I don’t know if they’d want to testify to it.

    But I absolutely agree, if anybody can get their hands on a copy of that call, or at least provide corroboration that they’re being made, let me know. I’d love to post that here as an example of Rand being the GOP’s pet attack dog against Libertarian candidates. Regardless of my general disdain for Rand, I think it’s very noteworthy that the GOP now has a Senator whom they deploy specifically to campaign against Libertarians. This wouldn’t be the first such instance, though it’s the first I’ve heard of for such a lower office.

  48. Wang Tang-Fu November 3, 2015

    Speaking of Senator Paul, there’s a real possibility of Democrats winning key elections in Kentucky today. If they do, the pressure may increase for Sen. Paul to abandon his floundering presidential campaign and try to save his Senate seat. And speaking of the presidential campaign, the latest poll I saw had him at 2%. If those numbers hold up he will not be in the main debates for much longer if at all.

  49. Wang Tang-Fu November 3, 2015

    If you can get a recording of that, it would be a great thing to post on youtube and as an article here. Testimonials from people who received the calls would work too, but a recording would be even better.

  50. Andy Craig Post author | November 3, 2015

    I haven’t been able to confirm it or get a copy, but I did get a second-hand report that Rand Paul is making robocalls against Carl Loser today, explicitly talking about how “we’re conservative Republicans, not libertarians” and how “libertarians want to split the vote to give control of the state senate to liberals.”

  51. Wang Tang-Fu November 3, 2015

    Lily Tang Williams posted on facebook:

    I dropped off my ballot this morning at Parker Town Hall. This location will take the drop off ballots until 7:00pm.

    As a citizen, I take my Constitutional right to vote seriously. Politicians know how to count the votes. They do not care why you did not vote.

    I was never allowed to vote for anything in Communist China where I lived for 24 years. Even today, 1.3 billion Chinese citizens cannot really vote on choosing leaders or on public issues.

    Voting right is a critical part of human freedom as a citizen of your country. So many people have fought bloody battles and died for this right. I treat my one vote as precious as I can. I always vote based on my principles and values regardless what the others say.

    Please VOTE and let your voice to be heard.

  52. Wang Tang-Fu November 3, 2015

    I don’t remember the conversation exactly, but I think I remember reading here that Democrats in Virginia are more open to ballot access reform than Republicans. Anyone know more about this? What other results, besides those linked in the post, should we keep an eye on? Interesting initiatives (I know of the ones in Ohio..any others we should keep an eye on)?

  53. Andy Craig Post author | November 3, 2015

    There are several Libertarians running for state legislature in Virginia, including one who’s running for the seat that will probably decide control of the State Senate.

  54. Alex W. November 3, 2015

    I just wish that Libertarians would be smart when in comes to strategy, if we captured just a few seats in a closely divided legislature( think Virginia) we’d be calling the shots! If we marshal our resources towards certain races we could make a difference instead of just making a mess!

  55. Jed Ziggler November 3, 2015

    Voted for two independents: Paul Panepinto for PA Supreme Court and Mark Tonell for Jefferson County Commissioner. Tonell stands a good chance of winning, there’s a lot of signage for him in the area.

Comments are closed.