May 31, 2010
Dear Friend of Liberty,
Today is Memorial Day, and I enjoyed reading these comments from David Boaz at the Cato Institute.
At the Libertarian National Convention in St. Louis over this Memorial Day weekend, the following individuals were elected to serve as officers and other members of the Libertarian National Committee (LNC) for the next two years:
Chairman
Mark Hinkle
Vice Chairman
Mark Rutherford
Secretary
Alicia Mattson
Treasurer
James Oaksun
At-Large Members
Kevin Knedler
David Nolan
William Redpath
Wayne Allyn Root
Mary Ruwart
We’re still gathering the final results of the elections for Regional Representatives.
I’d like to congratulate all the newly elected members, and also to thank the outgoing members for their hard work and dedication.
Next week, on June 8, there will be an election in California on “Proposition 14,” a measure to adopt a top-two primary system. If this measure passes, it may be very damaging to alternative parties like the Libertarian Party. If you would like to help fight this measure by making phone calls to voters, please contact Beau Cain with the Libertarian Party of California by calling toll-free 877-884-1776. (You do not need to live in California to help with this.)
Sincerely,
Wes Benedict
Executive Director
Libertarian National Committee
P.S. If you have not yet become a member of the Libertarian Party and
wish to do so, please click here and join the only political party dedicated to free markets and civil liberties. If you need to renew, please click here. If you would like to make a contribution separate from membership, please click here.
Please note, this page is undergoing extensive changes from June 2 to June 4. Information will be transitional and not final during that time.
Meet our leadership team. The Libertarian National Committee consists of four officers, five at-large members, and nine regional representatives and alternates.
Chair
Mark Hinkle |  |
Vice Chair
Mark Rutherford |  |
Secretary
Alicia Mattson |  |
Treasurer
James Oaksun |
At-Large Representatives
Kevin Knedler
|  |
David Nolan
|  |
William Redpath
|  |
Wayne Allyn Root
|  |
Mary Ruwart |  |
Region 1
Alabama, Arkansas, California, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas
Representative | |
| Doug Craig Griffin, GA [email protected] | |
Representative | |
| Stewart Flood Charleston, SC [email protected] |  |
Representative | |
| Daniel Wiener Simi Valley, CA (805) 526-0958 [email protected] |  |
Alternate | |
Scott Lieberman |  |
Alternate | |
Guy McLendon | |
Alternate | |
Brad Ploeger |  |
Region 2
Alaska, Florida, Idaho, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Tennessee, Vermont, Washington
Representative | |
Rachel Hawkridge | |
Alternate | |
Vicki Kirkland | |
Region 3
Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio
Representative | |
Rebecca Sink-Burris | |
Alternate | |
| Andy Wolf La Porte, IN [email protected] | |
Region 4
Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii, Kansas, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming
Representative | |
| Norman Olsen Littleton, CO (303) 277-9967 [email protected] | |
Alternate | |
Don Wills | |
Region 5 – South
Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia
Representative | |
| Dr. James W. Lark, III Earlysville, VA [email protected] |  |
Alternate | |
| Marakay Rogers York, PA [email protected] | |
Region 5 – North
Connecticut, Maine, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island
Representative | |
Daniel Karlan |  |
Alternate | |
Carl Vassar |  |
Region 6
Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin
Representative | |
| Dianna Visek Urbana, IL (217) 367-5027 [email protected] | |
Alternate | |
| Randy Eshelman Omaha, NE [email protected] |  |
Yes – great idea. Professor Sour Grapes Phillies and Dr. Strangelove Mary “loves kids” Ruwart, please go take yourselves and your supporters to the BTP to join Jim Davidson, Darryl Perry, Tom Knapp etc AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
Then LP can take off without anchor.
George, the radicals themselves are a problem. Maybe they will listen to you. A fusion ticket fell into the LP’s lap in 2008-Gravel/Ruwart. Looing back, even if you had withdrawn & endorsed Gravel & Mary too, & he won the nomination, the rightists would have ruined it by nominating Barr vp. But even if they had nominated Ruwart, she would have refused, ruining it. That scenario-Barr vp-could not happen in BTP. But so far Ruwart has resisted obstinately all efforts to get through to her. Maybe you can convince her to leve LP & join BTP. Milnes/Ruwart on a @45 state ballot access with a downticket slate full of BTP/LP & Green candidates could very well win in 2012. Phillies as U.S. Senator. etc.
What do you think?
hey I look mostly cute but a little crazy – which is my personal motto
if I ever win Im using the photo u snapped of me Mike , sitting on Paulies lap with a beer on some dudes ass who I cant remember
Wanna run in 12?
Same with Hinkle’s photo. You’d think that candidates running for a position on the LNC would be savvy enough to have a good photo ready in case they win!
It’s better than the one he has at http://www.stoptoptwo.org/ (right column…scroll down)
if I ever win Im using the photo u snapped of me Mike , sitting on Paulies lap with a beer on some dudes ass who I cant remember
Same with Hinkle’s photo. You’d think that candidates running for a position on the LNC would be savvy enough to have a good photo ready in case they win! 🙂
Would someone please get a better photo of Mattson? That one of her glaring holes through our LCDs has got to go!
(Nothing personal towards her, it’s just a very bad photograph!)
George, Senator Kennedy’s seat is up for re-election inn 2012. You could win as BTP candidate with PLAS. Think about it. Do you think the LP will endorse PLAS? Do you think you & I can convince BTP to endorse PLAS?
George, you have invested a LOT in the LP. Time, energy, thought, MONEY. What has become of it? Rightists have diverted it directly or indirectly to the GOP. e.g. Barr in LNC calling for endorsement of republican Ron Paul. Met with OUTRAGE? NO! Enthusiasm! Who are these people? At least you KNOW everybody in BTP & who joins BTP is RADICAL! If not it will become obvious quickly.
George, I know you are dedicated to the LP. But it is a lost cause-unless the radicals can control the rightists. They don’t seem able.
Passive aggression-remove yourself. & be glad you have a good place to go.
@15 You’re right. I did drop you. My apologies. Also, Rutherford has been on the LNC before, just not the most recent term. Of the Alternates, Scott Lieberman and Vicki Kirkland have been on the LNC before.
Milnes has a good idea for once.
Phillies should definitely join Milnes, Jim Davidson, Darryl Perry and the other luminaries in the Boston Tea Party.
They may have to rename it the Worcester Tea Party in honor of Phillies. Or maybe the FEC Tea Party.
George, why don’t you quit LP & go to BTP? Help it get good ballot access & nominate a fusion ticket in 2012. Just in case the LP wastes everything on a rightist ticket-again.
George, is that another way of saying the rightists have more control of the LP?
I believe that you could argue that the LNC filling an empty at-large seat is an appointment, not an election. This would be the first time that Ms Mattson has been elected.
But George…you forgot me. I was re-elected.
About half the committee is from last term.
This message was sponsored by all your friends who are making calls while the rest of you are not: PLEASE GET ON THE PHONES AND MAKE CALLS TO GET OUT THE VOTE AGAINST PROP 14!!!
What’s Mattson’s background, George?
@11 Excellent point…Mattson was elected by the LNC, not the delegates, so she is returning to the committee.
Mind you, the dominant coalition significantly increased its grip on the LNC.
@7: Norm Olsen, new rep. for region 4 “Rocky Mountains,” is a former chair of the LP of Colorado, current LPCO Campaigns Director, and a repeat candidate for Congress in District 2 (heavily Democratic, rep. freshman and gazillionaire Jared Polis, anchored by Boulder–my home). He is well respected. He is greatly concerned about our country’s skyrocketing national debt.
I could not attend NatCon; am still awaiting response from Brian Holtz regarding my bounty claim for a “better LP issue than abortion.” Attended Leadership Institute training yesterday; planning to “crash” Elena Kagan confirmation hearings.
Phillies @9, recall that Mattson was never elected to the Committee until just last week. She was installed by the Starr Chamber, which is thankfully now inoperative.
Reefernce was apparently to al large reps
“Ruwart is the only person reelected to the committee.”
Quote from @1, not @1 himself, missed Hinkle, Mattson, Hawkridge, Sink-Burris, Lark, and Karlan, all of whom were on the last Committee. (I did not check the alternates, and do not claim my list is complete.)
Olsen, not Wilson.
Gottaget offline, but call me.
who’s Norman Wilson , I never met him? I wish Tony Ryan would have stayed on but welcome to mr Wilson 🙂
Not so much, based on a lot of his campaign rhetoric. But we’ll see how he actually votes if he gets elected. He could earn my support. He’s certainly very good on at least some issues, compared with other US Senators, so the most likely scenario is that he will be a mixed bag and a good addition to the mix to widen the scope of some of the debates. That’s a good thing. Having some of his other apparently non-libertarian views define libertarianism in the public mind – far less so.
Wes, did you invest in oceanfront beach property? Texas? Florida? Panhandle?
Right, paulie.
& are you going to support Rand like you did Ron?
With the help of Robert Milnes and Jim Davidson, the BTP is well on its way to to total world domination.
The LP is pathetic. Predominated by rightists. It is not going to work. The rightists will transfer wherewithall to the GOP directly or indirectly. If the Pauls run again in 2012 they will suck the air out of any chance for the real libertarians-a do-over of 2008.
Radicals in LP-quit the party asap-the sooner the better. & Join BTP. All radicals & anarchists in USA-Join BTP . BTP needs volunteers, contributions & candidates. With enough ballot access, a fusion executive ticket & a full downticket slate of 50/50 Greens & Libertarians, we can sweep the dems & reps out in 2012. The LP rightists will not nominate a fusion ticket, few radical/anarchist candidates & cannot win. Voters will flock to the reps & dems. If Teddy Roosevelt had selected a progressive democrat in 1912 he may very well have won. That is the model. Elections in 2010 can set the stage for 2012. Leave the LP-Join BTP. The sooner the better.
@ http://libertypoint.org/?p=1838 :
Libertarian Party elects new national committee
June 2, 2010
The Libertarian Party elected an almost entirely new national committee at its biannual national convention in St. Louis over the weekend. The were nearly 500 delegates credentialed for the convention.
Unlike the Democratic and Republican parties, Libertarians hold a national convention every two years. And also unlike the Democratic and Republican parties, Libertarians receive no taxpayer money to conduct any of their conventions. Delegates attend entirely at their own expense.
Mark Hinkle of California is the new chair of the Libertarian national committee. Mark Rutherford of Indiana is vice chair.
They are joined by Alicia Mattson of Tennessee as secretary and James Oaksun of Maine as treasurer. Mary Ruwart of Texas, Wayne Allyn Root of Nevada, Bill Redpath of Virginia, David Nolan of Arizona, and Kevin Knedler of Ohio were elected members at-large. Ruwart is the only person reelected to the committee.
Nolan was a co-founder of the Libertarian Party. The party’s first meeting was held in his living room in 1972. Root was the party’s 2008 vice presidential candidate. Redpath is the former chair.
“I’m glad to see Mark Hinkle elected LNC chair,” said Michael Shanklin, a North Carolina delegate. “He will bring a fresh perspective towards marketing the party while sticking with Libertarian principles”
While Shanklin said he was disappointed that fellow North Carolinian Thomas Hill did not win an at-large seat, he was happy to see Ruwart and Nolan win.
“Overall, I’m happy with the diversity and tolerance of those in attendance at the convention and I believe the delegates voted in a manner that will unify the party,” he said.
Those sentiments were echoed by Barbara Howe, state party and delegation chair. “There is a good mix of new faces along with experienced members. I look forward to positive actions.”