The Oklahoma Libertarian Party elected its first mayor this week, with registered Libertarian Roger Dale Merrill winning an open race for mayor of Beggs. Several other candidates backed by the party were also elected to municipal seats in communities across the state.
Four candidates with the support of the state Libertarian Party ran in Tuesday’s municipal elections, with Merrill running for mayor of Beggs, Sammy Kruckenberg for Alva City Council, Eric Catman Sr. for the Maysville Board of Trustees, and David Moss for the Deer Creek-Lamont School Board. All four races were officially nonpartisan. However, the party had publicly identified the candidates as Libertarians beforehand and promoted their campaigns on social media.
Uncertified results published by the state list that all four were successful in their respective elections. Merrill won the mayoral race in Beggs with an overwhelming majority, earning 82.1% of the vote in a two-way race. According to the Oklahoma Libertarian Party, Merrill’s victory makes him the first Libertarian mayor in state history.
Moss won a seat on the Deer Creek-Lamont School Board with 62.2% of the vote in a two-way race. Kruckenberg was elected to the Alva City Council, winning exactly 50% of the vote in a three-way contest. Catman, who was previously appointed to the Maysville Board of Trustees, won a full term with 34.9% of the vote in a four-way race with three winners.
These four will join three other individuals affiliated with the Oklahoma Libertarian Party who were elected by filing unopposed in municipal races earlier in February. Results as published by the Oklahoma State Election Board are listed below.
| Candidate Name | Vote Total | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Gary Teurman | 50 votes | 17.92% |
| Roger Dale Merrill | 229 votes | 82.08% |
| Candidate Name | Vote Total | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| David L. Moss | 61 votes | 62.24% |
| Kemper Tennyson Hill | 37 votes | 37.76% |
| Candidate Name | Vote Total | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Kannin JD Koehn | 37 votes | 10.11% |
| Mark Nichols | 146 votes | 39.89% |
| Sammy Kruckenberg | 183 votes | 50% |
| Candidate Name | Vote Total | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Joy Taylor | 21 votes | 24.42% |
| Louise P. Jones | 7 votes | 8.14% |
| Eric S Catman, Sr. | 30 votes | 34.88% |
| Kevin Kappes | 28 votes | 32.56% |
Editorial note: The article has been updated to clarify that the four candidates who ran did so with the support of the Oklahoma Libertarian Party, but were not necessarily fielded by the party. Thanks to Chris Powell for the clarification.
Congratulations to the four elected. I will not that all were elected to policy making positions. Good job.
I heard that hard work and getting into minor nonpartisan elected office would really pay off in 1987-9. I heard it again in 2008. Lots of people rolled up their sleeves and worked hard. Some got elected. Are we free yet?
Congratulations to these four Libertarians and all other elected and appointed Libertarians in any office. Such Libertarians realize that their success does not hinge on who the LNC chair is, or on which “caucus” controls the LNC. They took their own initiative, did some hard work, and made things happen. I’ve heard promises from my Libertarian cohorts for the last 40 years that hard work really isn’t necessary to bring about liberty in our lifetimes; rather, a silver bullet would come along and propel Libertarianism into the forefront. This silver bullet was to be anything from the dawn of the Internet to changing the party logo. Well, both of those have taken place, and we are still waiting.
Bottom line: Libertarians need to stop making excuses and do some real work to rebuild the party and get into elected or appointed office.
Been there, done that. Find another sucker.
It would be more accurate to say that these four candidates chose to run and the party was supportive, rather than that “the party ran four candidates” as these folks initiated their campaigns themselves. I would posit that aside from instances where the party makes a nomination in a process outside of a primary, it is almost never the case that a political party, including the establishment parties, initiates campaigns. In my view it is vitally important for it to become more widely recognized that ‘the party’ isn’t the driver of activity, it is the decisions of individuals associated with the party of their choice to take action. Political parties provide some organizational structure, most noteworthy here probably being the ability(or inability) to provide ballot access, but things get done because people do them. Often political party officers do things like run for office or promote issue positions but it is almost never the case that doing those things is dependent upon being a party officer.
Everyone who wants to blame a political party for failure to be effective in campaigns or issue advocacy should work on being the change they want to see, most especially focusing on communicating political ideas to the general public rather than arguing with other political people on social media and elsewhere.
Congratulations to the Oklahoma Libertarian Party and the elected candidates!