Quarterly Reports from Libertarian Regions 1, 2 & 4

Libertarian National Committee
Region 1 Report
Submitted by Norm Olsen
December 6, 2013
Overview
• The ten affiliates which comprise Region 1 are: Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.
• Eight of the ten states in the region are currently ballot qualified for 2014. Of the two exceptions, ballot access in Hawaii requires only 750 valid signatures, while ballot access in Washington requires only 1,000 valid signatures.
• Due to the geographic nature of this region, which spans five time zones and extends from 19 to 71 degrees north latitude (some 3,000 x 3,000 miles), personal contact between the Regional and Alternate Representatives and the individual affiliates is quite rare.
• Progress of the movement is demonstrated by the manner in which Republicans and Democrats are now fighting back.
o In Arizona, Libertarians are allied with Democrats in fighting the “pseudo” Top Two election measure implemented in a midnight legislative session by the dominant Republicans.
o In Colorado, Libertarians are allied with Republicans in fighting against legalized election fraud implemented in a hasty 64 page bill pushed through the legislature by the dominant Democrats. The bill requires that mail ballots be mailed to all electors, even those normally declared to be inactive, and provides for election day registration with minimal voter fraud protection.
o In Montana, Libertarians are allied with Democrats in fighting yet another Top Two primary proposal initiated by the dominant Republicans.
• As described above, a whole new paradigm of building relationships with former opponents is being developed over time. The time worn, very worn, philosophy of “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” prevails. It appears that survival requires getting used to accepting this paradigm.
Alaska
Mark Fish, State Chair

The Alaska Libertarian Party (ALP) is running on all eight cylinders. Mark Fish understands precisely how to elect Libertarians to public office and is doing the best with what he has to implement all the necessary actions. The strategy is simple: Build an organization which can provide the necessary level of support to attract libertarian minded electable candidates to run as Libertarians. This simple strategy can work, and will work in Alaska, a state where:
• 53% of all voters are registered as unaffiliated.
• Libertarian congressional candidate (statewide in Alaska) Jim McDermott received 5% of the vote in 2012.
• Ballot access for 2014 is already achieved, thanks to Jim McDermott.
• One of just four states in the union in which Gary Johnson and Judge Jim Gray polled more than 2% of the vote.
• A home-brew, cloud based membership list is being cleaned up for the 2014 election run.
• 3,500 votes will win a state legislature seat.
• Electable, libertarian minded, candidates are considering running as Libertarians. Their evaluations of the support the ALP will be able to provide will be the crucial decision point.
• Much more.
Alaska is the new frontier for politics, and Alaska is (politically) the most Libertarian state in the nation.

Number of Libertarians 7,457
Method of Membership Determination Registered voters
Voters can register as Libertarian Yes
Ballot Access Status 3% of register voters
Number of Candidates in 2012 2
Estimated Budget $3,600 / year
Web site current? No
Arizona
Warren Severin, State Chair
Warren reports:
The “pseudo” Top Two ballot access measure passed in the midnight legislative session by the dominate Republicans has been recalled. The measure will need a majority affirmative vote of the general electorate in 2014 before it can become law. Some 85,000 valid signatures were collected and submitted prior to the deadline. The Libertarian Party, with help and cooperation of the Green Party and the Democratic Party has been fighting this battle. The battle to defeat this measure at the 2014 gneral election remains to be won. Planning and fund raising for this effort are scheduled to begin immediately after the holidays.
The LNC has not been involved in this battle in an official way. I suggest that we strongly consider a non-trivial presence. In addition to defeating the Top Two measure, may I suggest that you consider that there are now some 26,000 voters registered as Libertarians in Arizona, while only 350 of these are LNC BSM members. A show of strong support for our fellow Libertarians in Arizona may help us grow our national membership in future years.

Number of Libertarians 25,845
Method of Membership Determination Registered voters
Voters can register as Libertarian Yes
Ballot Access Status Registration >= .65% of active registered voters
Number of Candidates in 2012 14
Estimated Budget
Web site current No
Colorado
Jeffery Orrok, State Chair
For Jeffery Orrok, Norm Olsen reports:
Colorado experienced the first legislative recall in its 137 year history with two legislators being recalled, one of which was the actual President of the State Senate. While the LPCO was not involved in the actual recall, this is noted here as the basis for the recall furor was the passage of several anti-gun measures by the Democratic dominated legislature. The LPCO earned substantial media coverage by winning a law suit against the Colorado Secretary of State who proposed unconstitutional recall election rules which substantially infringed upon the LPCO’s ability to get a candidate on the recall election ballot.
The LPCO was active in an effort supported by many Republican heavy hitters to defeat a Democratic proposal to increase taxes. Billed as an education measure, Amendment 66 would have:
1> increased the income tax rate,
2> established a progressive income tax with two brackets,
3> increased income taxes again on those in the higher income tax bracket, and
4> rescinded the constitutional requirement that tax increases beyond population growth and inflation be approved by the voters.
Amendment 66 was defeated by a 66% NO vote in the recent general election; a major defeat for the dominant progressive Democratic establishment.
LPCO continues to develop its master membership list using the web based list management system produced and maintained by Big L Solutions. Since the inception of the program, some 6,000 initial contact calls were made to obtain current information from voters registered as Libertarians. LPCO can now maintain communication with these voters on a regular basis through electronic means. 18,000 more registered Libertarians are yet to be contacted.
LPCO’s 2014 convention will be held at the Denver West Marriot in Golden Colorado on the weekend of March 28, 2014. Candidates for the 2014 general election will be selected at that event. In the event that two or more candidates for a particular office receive 30% or more of the delegate vote, Colorado law requires that the eventual general election candidate be selected by primary. In any case, petitioning is not required for any partisan election in the state. Candidate recruitment is already underway. The LPCO goal is to have not less than 5 Libertarians on every ballot in the state.
Number of Libertarians 24,000
Method of Membership Determination Registered Voters
Voters can register as Libertarian Yes
Ballot Access Status 1,000 Registered voters
Number of Candidates in 2012 65+
Estimated Budget $375 / month
Web Site current? Yes

Hawaii
Tracy Ryan, State Chair

Hawaii’s ballot access expires with this election. Petitions of 750 valid signatures will be needed in the next three election cycles to obtain ballot access for the next five election cycles.

Number of Libertarians 67
Method of Membership Determination National membership
Voters can register as Libertarian No, party affiliation not maintained by the state
Ballot Access Status 10% of statewide race, or petition of 0.1% of registered voters (~720)
Number of Candidates in 2012 2
Estimated Budget
Web site current? Yes
Idaho
Rob Oates, State Chair

Idahoans can now affiliate with the Libertarian Party when they register to vote. This has not been much of a help to the struggling Idaho affiliate. The web site has been inoperative for several months; the result of some new upgrades required by the server and lack of availability of technical resources (all volunteer, of course).
Rob is not sure that being able to register as a Libertarian is much of a help. His experience is that libertarian- minded folk tend to register as a Republican so they can vote in the Republican Party. The Ron Paul effect is still limiting growth of the Libertarian Party of Idaho.

The essential need cloud based membership list capability to enable communications with all registered Libertarians.

The bi-annual convention of the Libertarian Party of Idaho will take place on the last week of June, perhaps even the same weekend as the national bi-annual convention. LPID by-laws do not allow for much leeway.

Number of Libertarians 3,286
Method of Membership Determination Voter Registration
Voters can register as Libertarian Yes (new in 2013, explaining the above answers)
Ballot Access Status Maintained by running 3 statewide candidates very two years.
Number of Candidates in 2012 6
Estimated Budget $3,000 per annum
Web site current? No
Kansas
Al Terwelp, State Chair
We are executing on all of the strategies we developed at the 2013 convention. Here are the most notable:
We put together a Governor Candidate Search Team. This summer we identified two highly qualified candidates. This is a year and a half out from the 2014 election with full campaign teams and social marketing already formed. We have had many ‘meet and greets’ around the state and the word is spreading. We also have two, maybe three, other candidates lined up already. We are leveraging our candidates to create what will be the largest nominating convention, and possibly the last, in our history. We, and unofficially the KS Election Office also, believe we will achieve major party status in 2014. We are continuing to expand our communication through a new website upgrade to better connect state districts with volunteers, we are upgrading our database and working on fundraising options. Our efforts in social media have taken us to new heights. For example our Facebook page has gone from a couple hundred “Likes” to over a 1000 and weekly viewing of posts have gone from a few hundred to 10s of thousands.
Our outreach season this summer, where we set up LP booths at the state and county fairs, netted the best results ever by a long margin.
Other notable items are statistics. Kansas has lost 40,000 registered voters this year. Republicans have lost 19,000 registered voters and Democrats have lost 16,000. We are quite pleased to share that since the fall 2012 election the LPKS has gained 1000+ in this environment.
Lastly, we have continued our work on open carry firearm rights. We lost our lawsuit earlier this year but have regrouped and have created the Johnson County Open Carry Group. We submitted a new lawsuit last week. We are very confident that we will win and carry this victory on into the 2014 legislature where is it scheduled to continue from last year and be first up on the docket.
The 2014 annual convention at which general election candidates will be selected is scheduled for April 26, 2014. Venue yet to be determined.
Number of Libertarians 10,800
Method of Membership Determination Registered voters
Voters can register as Libertarian Yes
Ballot Access Status 1% statewide race
Number of Candidates in 2012 21
Estimated Budget $5,000 annually
Web site current? Yes

Montana
Mike Fellows, State Chair
Recent happenings in Montana include:
• Here in Montana, we’re doing the usual outreach having had booths at the Missoula Hempfest, and an entry in the University of Montana Homecoming parade which is one of the largest in Montana with some 25,000 people watching the parade.
• The Missoula County LP came out against a 1.7 million Transportation mill levy that passed.
• The MTLP also opposed changing the Billings City Charter to allow a Billings Parking Commission to be established.
• We are working on college groups as well, see below.
• The UM College Libertarians were in a debate with Democrats and Republicans on October 29th.
• The Missoula LP still has its public access TV program called “Other People’s Pockets” which is under Libertarians Live.
• Next year is statewide elections with US Senate, US House, Montana Supreme Court, legislative races and local races.
• The Top Two primary bill (SB 408) will be on the ballot as LR 127 (LR = Legislative Referendum). See: http://mtjungleprimary.com/2013_posts/2013-09-25_top_two_referendum_put_on_ballot.html
• Another ballot bill SB 405 seeks to eliminate same day registration.
Had the Republicans won the governor’s race in 2012, the bills mentioned in the last two items would have gone straight to the governor for his signature. So we have our work cut out for the MTLP next year.
What could the LNC spend money on to help us defeat LR 127? Maybe a $1,000 dollars seed money just in case. I need to send out a fund raising letters out to our mailing list and to other politicians who may be inclined, hopefully, to contribute. Would they contribute to the MTLP or would I be better off starting a different group?
UM College Libertarians are collecting names for the 2013-2014 school year to become a campus group. The process seems to be slow, so I hope they got all the paperwork submitted. We did the same thing down at Montana State University, but we’re having troubles finding an advisor.
[NTO: Mike has chosen to start a political committee to fight LR 127. This will enable him to seek non-Libertarian support (i.e. like Democrats) to help ensure the defeat of this measure. There is another ballot issue (HB-405) which the Democrats are actively opposed to and vigorously fighting. Thus, there is ample opportunity for cooperation and mutual effort. Coordinating this will be a challenge for the MTLP. It is very important that the LNC provide support to ensure defeat of LR 127.
My e-mail tag for several years has been “First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win”. In Montana, we have reached the point where the Republicans are fighting us. This is indeed a battle which we need to fight, and a battle we cannot afford to lose.
Please keep in mind that Montana is a very Libertarian state. Gary Johnson received 2.9% of the vote in Montana (three times the national average). That’s second only to Gary Johnson’s home state of New Mexico. In a recent statewide election, Libertarian Mike Fellows received Libertarian record of 43% of the vote. To cede Montana to the Republicans would be a disastrous mistake for us Libertarians.]
Number of Libertarians 56
Method of Membership Determination National Membership
Voters can register as Libertarian No
Ballot Access Status Qualified for 2014
Number of Candidates in 2012 9
Estimated Budget
Web site current? No

Utah
Courtney White, State Chair
Officers elected at convention to serve until 2015:
Courtney White, Chair, 801-389-4645, [email protected]
Mark Hilgenberg, Vice-Chair, 801-871-9415, [email protected]
Katie White, Secretary, 801-389-4925, [email protected]
Shawn Curtis, Treasurer, 435-764-1382, [email protected]
Andrew McCullough, Legal Counsel, 888-9LP-UTAH, [email protected]

Number of Libertarians 2,500
Method of Membership Determination Tax check off
Voters can register as Libertarian Yes
Ballot Access Status 2% of statewide congressional vote
Number of Candidates in 2012
Estimated Budget
Web site current? Sort of

Washington
Larry Nicholas, State Chair
Annual Day at the Capitol event has been scheduled for Jan 30. As many as 10 candidates have expressed interest in running as Libertarians in the Washington state top two primary system. Washington has set a goal of 8 active county affiliates by the 2016 election.
Number of Libertarians 381
Method of Membership Determination National membership
Voters can register as Libertarian No
Ballot Access Status 1,000 signatures
Number of Candidates in 2012 None, top two primary state
Estimated Budget 24 monthly pledges
Web site current? Yes
Wyoming
Richard Brubaker, State Chair
Annual business meeting held November 2, 2013 at Parkway Plaza Hotel and Convention Center, Casper WY. Richard Brubaker has been elected chair for the next four years. WYLP is trying to stimulate membership by staging “meet and greet” events in various towns and cities. Development is considerably hindered by distance and low population density in Wyoming. Party officers are often four hours away (at 75 mph) from their fellow officers. Google Plus is being used to great advantage.
Candidate recruitment for the 2014 general election is expected to begin in April.
Number of Libertarians 1,889
Method of Membership Determination Registered voters
Voters can register as Libertarian Yes
Ballot Access Status 2% of statewide race
Number of Candidates in 2012 6
Estimated Budget $100 / month
Web site current? Yes

Region 2

FLORIDA: