2015 Libertarian State Conventions (listing in progress IV)

By Jordan Willow Evans on June 1, 2015 12:32 AM

This month I am posting a clean repost of the LP state conventions listing being maintained by myself here and Wes Benedict at LP.org. The list both here at IPR and at LP.org is being periodically updated as we learn of more state convention announcements. At this point, though, we are not expecting a lot of additional announcements, as most of the states have already had their state conventions. Nevertheless, if any additional states announce their state conventions, we’ll do our best to keep you updated.

Since the announcements are less of an issue at this point, feel free to use the comments in a pretty open forum fashion to discuss issues tangential to various state conventions, issues and leadership struggles within states, tangents from other comments in the thread, etc.

33 Comments

paulie June 20, 2015
I’m not bumping this any more unless there’s a request (or putting up new one of these) til starting back up in 2016.
paulie June 9, 2015
LOL!!! This has got to be a troll post.
It’s anonymized. However, I don’t see it as a malicious troll post, since it seems more like a joke.
Steve Scheetz June 9, 2015
Andy, it is not just a plan that was needed, but a board willing to implement such a plan. With board members moving away, having health issues, it was difficult to find people willing to put in the time to make things happen.
The reality is that no matter how great one’s plan is, if there is an inability to enact the plan, it simply will not happen.
I believe Shawn and his new board will make things happen! In addition to Shawn’s motivation, coupled with his wife, Karla, Ed Reagan is one of those people who has the tenacity of a badger! once he sets his mind to a task, he will not let it go! I have also come to have a great deal of respect for Dr. William Sloan, and the body of work Richard Schwarz is able to point to, speaks for itself.
PTK, I will take your post as the joke it is and laugh at it! Thank you for the Tuesday AM smile!
Sincerely,
Steve Scheetz
Andy June 8, 2015
“PTK
June 8, 2015 at 1:23 pm
Right now you should be on your hands and knees begging Dr. Tom Stevens to Lead the Pennsylvania LP again. The party has really gone downhill after it was deprived of His wise and courageous Leadership. The Pennsylvania Miracle that He spearheaded has turned into the Pennsylvania Implosion. The party needs a true Leader such as Dr. Tom Stevens, or it is quickly reduced to disarray and collapse, as has happened after He was ousted by His inferiors in PA.”
LOL!!! This has got to be a troll post.
Andy June 8, 2015
“Steve Scheetz
June 8, 2015 at 12:55 pm
Frankly, after this past election, I was extremely disheartened by the lack of support by members of the party, and the membership numbers. We started taking steps to solve the membership issue, but at the end of the day, There is a great deal of apathy.”
The problems in the Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania can all be solved with some hard work and an intelligent game plan. I’ve seen other state LP’s re-vitalize themselves. The LP of Texas and the LP of Arkansas both come to mind as good examples.
Pennsylvania has over 46,000 people who checked the Libertarian Party box on their voter registration form, which makes Pennsylvania one of the states with the most registered Libertarians (out of the states that have voter registration by party). PA may be second to California in terms of number of registered Libertarians.
I hope that the newly elected State Committee in PA implements a game plan and puts in the work to re-vitalize their state party.
PTK June 8, 2015
Right now you should be on your hands and knees begging Dr. Tom Stevens to Lead the Pennsylvania LP again. The party has really gone downhill after it was deprived of His wise and courageous Leadership. The Pennsylvania Miracle that He spearheaded has turned into the Pennsylvania Implosion. The party needs a true Leader such as Dr. Tom Stevens, or it is quickly reduced to disarray and collapse, as has happened after He was ousted by His inferiors in PA.
Steve Scheetz June 8, 2015
Frankly, after this past election, I was extremely disheartened by the lack of support by members of the party, and the membership numbers. We started taking steps to solve the membership issue, but at the end of the day, There is a great deal of apathy.
I was only running for re-election because, at the time, Shawn was not willing to step up to be chairman. However, Shawn, once nominated from the floor, was no longer able to say: “No!”
He has a really awesome body of work to point to, having had the privilege of helping him create his county committee 2 years and a couple months ago, I have seen him win election to borough council, I have seen him stirring the pot with that, and then persuading 10 people to run for office in his county, I could not think of a better person to take the position!
If he had not stepped up, I would have done the job for another year, but truly, my heart was not in it. I am grateful to Shawn for stepping up, and I will do whatever I can to help him!
Sincerely,
Steve Scheetz
Mark Axinn June 6, 2015
Andy–
Yes, Steve was referring to actual dues-paying members of LPPA.
To put it in context:
New York is larger than PA, but our ratio is much better.
NY has about 5000 registered Libertarians, about 600 members of LP National, about 250 dues-paying members of LPNY. Some people belong to two and some to all three categories, but some only to one of them.
Of course, LPNY also has room for growth in a state of 19,000,000 people!
Andy June 6, 2015
“Steve Scheetz is disheartened by the membership decline. There are 46,000 registered libertarians, but only 80 party members.”
Wow, that is dreadfully awful. I knew that the LP of PA had gone downhill over the last few years, but I didn’t think that the situation was quite that bad. I assume that Steve Scheetz was talking about members of the state party, and not members of the national Libertarian Party who live in Pennsylvania. I seem to recall that the LP of PA does not count people who live in Pennsylvania who are current dues paying members of LP national, but who have not currently donated to the LP of PA as being LP of PA members. Pennsylvania is the 6th most populated state, and I recall that there were something like 500-800 dues paying members of LP national in Pennsylvania.
Even if I am correct about the LP of PA not counting people who are just members of LP national, the membership situation in Pennsylvania is still pretty pathetic, but on the flip side, this means that there is a lot of room for growth, and given that there are over 46,000 people in Pennsylvania who checked the Libertarian Party box on their voter registration form, I think that that the LP of PA easily has the potential to be several times larger than it currently is.
Mark Axinn June 6, 2015
Roy is an excellent choice for Platform.
New York will send Chris Padgett, who was our rep. in 2012 and 2014.
Maintaining a libertarian (i.e., not neo-con, not-Republican light) platform is essential to our message.
I believe that both Roy and Chris know that.
Congrats to the new team in PA.
Starchild June 6, 2015
Chuck – Thanks for the very comprehensive coverage of the Pennsylvania LP convention! And everyone else who is covering LP conventions. Apologies I did not do any liveblogging from the California LP convention this year. I will try to post a few notes on that thread later if it looks like I managed to write down anything that hasn’t already been covered.
Chuck Moulton June 6, 2015
Betsy Summers talked about her race in Wilkes Barre. She recieved 32%, had practically all polling places manned, and very nice handouts produced by Jim Babb. She thanks people in the room for helping her. Betsy felt national ignored her race.
Chuck Moulton June 6, 2015
A motion to adjourn failed by a show of hands.
Various reports are now being given:
chair’s report: pretty much given already
treasurer’s report: $2637.82 income, $3,396.96 expense. Richard recommends re-evaluating our street address and 800 number, which don’t seem worth the expense. ($670/year for the mailbox) Dave Jahn points out the mailbox helps when we change officers. He also points out when he became chair membership was also down as low as 80. An active membership committee got it up to 300 within a year. We can do it again. A few people recommended Google voice instead of Ring Central. These are board decisions.
secretary report: Lefty lost his job and internet access, so was unable to do the job as it should have. He is happy for the opportunity and glad Karla is taking over.
eastern vice-chair report: Drew Bingaman focused more on his local county commiittee than activating other counties. He is glad the new EVC Ed Reagan will be able to do more county building.
governor’s report: Ken Krawchuk ran for governor in 2014. Ken threatened to run for governor unless Corbett passed the voter’s choice act. Corbett wouldn’t pass it, so Ken ran. He promoted his book Atlas Snubbed and tried to organize the petition drive. He tried offering petitioners a higher number for signatures if they were validated with a SURE (voter registration database) number. He tried to organize primary day petitioning, but it resulted in thousands of signatures rather than tens of thousands of signatures. Ken did not make the ballot.
Ken will run for governor in 2018. He wants to start running now (3 years early). He is starting a monthly pledge drive for a ballot access drive now to start a completely paid drive that starts the first day possible to petition in 2018. He hopes to raise $60,000 by the time the petition drive starts. He handed out envelopes and a fundraising form out immediately. The money will not be used for 2016 petitioning. Because Pennsylvania stacks candidates, paid petitioners will be sent to candidate districts. There will be a candidate recruitment drive in 2018 telling all the candidates the signatures will all be collected for them. He hopes to have at least 50 state reps run with him.
Chuck Moulton June 6, 2015
Nick Fellini (media relations chair) is interested in being the platform committee alternate.
The person who recieves the most votes will be the rep. The runner up will be the alternate.
Platform committee rep:
Roy Minet – 10
Henry Haller – 5
Nick Fellini – 0
Roy Minet will be the platform rep and Henry Haller will be the alternate.
Chuck Moulton June 6, 2015
Sorry, I trailed off there because I had to seitch back to covering the election.
John and Betsy spoke about the independent gazette, which is a paper that has libertarian commentary paired with advertising to distribute it as a non partisan newspaper to local citizens and voters. Lou Jasikof is the brains behind the publications. He wants to franchise the idea all around the country as a way to get the libertarian word out to voters for free.
Chuck Moulton June 6, 2015
John and Betsy spoke about the independent gazette, which is a paper that has libertarian commentary paired with advertising to
Treasurer vote:
Richard Schwarz – 17
Matt Schutter- 3
Judicial Committee
Bill Sloane nominates Betsy Summers and Ken Krawchuk.
Ed Reagan nominates James Babb. He declines.
Richard Schwarz nominates Ed Clifford
Richard Schwarz nominates Roy Minet. He declines.
Dan Richardson nominates John Delibortino.
Karla Felty nominates Dan Richardson.
Nominations are closed.
The slate of 5 was elected by acclamation.
Ken Krawchuk asks that the JC meet immediately after adjournment to select a JC chair.
Platform Committee
Roy Minet points out PA needs to select a national platform committee representative.
Richard Schwarz nominates Henry Haller.
Steve Scheetz nominates Roy Minet.
The meeting is recessed for 5 minutes while Henry Haller is called to see if he accepts the nomination.
Chuck Moulton June 6, 2015
Eastern Vice-Chair
Eastern vice-chair vote:
Ed Reagan – 12
Dan Ruchardson – 6
Matt Schutter – 2
Ed Reagan was elected eastern vice-chair.
Western Vice-Chair
There are no delegates from western Pennsylvania. This makes electing the western vice-chair difficult. The incumbent western vice-chair (George) moved to Virginia.
Bill Sloane, who lives in Carlisle, would accept the position. Bill is an attorney who helped out with the Gary Johnson challenge in 2012.
Lefty nominates Erik Viker. He isn’t here to accept and no one seems to be trying to call him on the phone.
Ken Krawchuk points out that the board can fill the WVC position if the convention doesn’t find someone.
Vote by hands since there was only one candidate. Bill Sloan was elected western vice-chair. He will have to step down from the judicial committee.
“[shrug] I’ll give it a try.” — Bill Sloane.
Secretary
Dan Richardson nominates Karla Felty (wife of the new chair Shawn Felty).
Richard Schwarz nominates Ken Krawchuk for secretary. Ken wants to stay on the judicial committee. Roy says “The delegates may not like a do nothing judicial committee. You may not get re-elected.”
Nominations are closed.
Ken Krawchuk withdraws from the secretary’s race, saying he has already been secretary and new blood is good.
Karla is elected secretary by a show of hands.
Treasurer
James Babb nominates Richard Schwarz (incumbent treasurer).
Matt Shutter nominates Steve Scheetz. Steve declines
Dan nominates John Deliberto. He declines.
Shawn Felty nominates Matt Schutter. He accepts.
Nominations are closed.
James Babb says when the FEC investigates us, Richard will keep his mouth shut. [laughter]
Shawn Felty says Matt is an elected auditor and good with finances.
Richard says the treasury is in good hands with him.
Ken Krawchuk says Richard has been involved with the LP longer than anyone else in the room.
Chuck Moulton June 6, 2015
Ken Krawchuk gives the judicial committee report. There were no issues and the committee never met, thanks to the JC chair’s great job and “he who shall not be named ceasing his involvement”.
Chuck Moulton June 6, 2015
Nominations are open for easter vice-chair.
Bill Sloane nominates Ed Reagan.
Ken Krawchuk nominates Daniel Richardson
John nominates Matt Schutter.
James Babb says the libertarian tradition is the more you complain, the more jobs you get. Ed has complained a lot, so he has earned this job. Also he has done work traveling around organizing counties.
Shawn Felty says Dan is new to the party, but has really jumped in and become very active. He has a lot of new ideas and different perspectives. James Babb says “You mean he’s not burnt out already?”
Dan appreciates the nomination. He wants to change the situation so the party goes uphill instead of downhill. He wants to reactivate counties and encourage more communication. He wants action, not to sit on his rear end.
Matt says the EVC position is more about party growth and activating counties than the chair job is. Matt wants to grow the party.
Ed reorganized the Northampton county party and ran the last state convention — at a profit of about $8. He points out there are two population centers in the east: the Philly metro area and the Lehigh area. Ed works from home and has a lot of spare time for activism. He is active in gun groups, NORML, and police accountability groups. There is 1 person holding up medical marijuana in the legislature. Let’s run someone against him and hold him accountable. Ed downloaded a video of a Maryland state police guy and former mayor bragging that the police wanted to disarm citizens. That video was taken down by Maryland, and now everyone links to Ed’s archive. He is opposing a guy for state police commissioner who paired licence plate readers with state concealed carry permits to shake down drivers on I-95 in Maryland.
NOTA is always on the ballot. There will be another secret ballot collected by the LPPA secretary Lefty.
Chuck Moulton June 6, 2015
LPPA chair vote (round 1):
Jelly donut – 1 (write-in)
Matt Schutter – 3
Shawn Felty – 9
Steve Scheetz – 9
I didn’t vote. I’m a life member of the LPPA (and national), but felt uncomfortable voting because I currently reside in Virginia and am a registered voter there.
The lowest vote getter (Matt Schutter) was dropped.
LPPA chair vote (round 2):
Shawn Felty – 12
Steve Scheetz – 9
Shawn Felty was elected LPPA chair.
The crowd thanks Steve Scheetz for his service.
Shawn thanks the crowd for their confidence in him and support. He believes in a bottom up model, not a top down model.
Chuck Moulton June 6, 2015
I asked the organizer about the free lunch. The board got bids from
several county parties for the convention and it seemed like all of them would lose money. Why rent a convention hall, have to pay more for food (or have attendees spend a bunch themselves), and still lose a bundle of money? Instead they were able to get a room for free by buying a few lunches, which worked out to costing less money. The free lunches are considered a benefit of party membership.
Chuck Moulton June 6, 2015
The meeting is back in order. People keep making motions to adjourn.
Board member elections are first.
Richard Schwarz nominates Steve Scheetz.
James Babb nominates Drew Bingaman. He declines.
Someone nominates Matt Schutter.
James Babb nominates Shawn Felty.
James Babb says Shawn gets results and isn’t an asshole.
Richard Schwarz says Steve is an asshole, but he’s our asshole. He’s done a good job and is responsive.
Matt Schutter says all three candidates (including himself) would do a good job.
Ken Krawchuk says each of them helped his governor campaign and all would do a good job.
Ken Krawchuk asks each candidate what their vision for thr party is.
Shawn Felty is concerned about the membership decline. (Though he chairs Schulkill County which has the largest membership.) Shawn will help any candidate who furthers liberty regardless of party. He tried to reach out to people who are with us on various issues and show people you can be libertarian on all issues.
Steve Scheetz is disheartened by the membership decline. There are 46,000 registered libertarians, but only 80 party members. He says often people will call him up asking why there isn’t a candidate in their district, yet they won’t run for office themselves. Steve complimented Shawn on running 10 candidates in his county. He wants to have as many people run for office as possible, which requires more active counties. He sees the chair office as a facilitator and will do anything he can to help fellow Libertarians get results.
Matt Schutter wants to put the LPPA on the map through activism. He has a big mouth and wants to use it for good. Matt doesn’t quit. In Carbon County he has 6 candidates running for office this year. He has the free time to reach out to media outlets. He wants to differentiate the LP from the “Nazi Republican party” and the “commie Democratic party”. Matt says he is an asshole personally, but will put that on reserve, treat people with respect, and welcome constructive criticism and advice. He is an elected auditor in Carbon county and is now running for sherriff. He is working to find the misappropriated funds in the $1.6 million township budget, and has received death threats for his persistence.
Matt is very animated in his speech. He was asked about his activism. Matt organized a medical marijuana protest on memorial day. He held town hall meetings for his sherriff race. James Babb asks “Would you say the government authorized the government we have or was unable to prevent it?” in response to Matt’s praise of the Constitution.
People want a secret ballot for the vote.
Greg Bowen June 6, 2015
The conference room at the LPF convention does not have hardline internet, so I can’t live stream with only wifi. However, I am recording the convention and will be posting the videos to 1787 Network.
Steve Scheetz June 6, 2015
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/lppa-convention-2013 When we come back from lunch, there will be a live stream on this channel for the LPPA convention.
This year is a very low key convention due to the fact that there are not hot issues on the table.
Sincerely,
Steve Scheetz
Chuck Moulton June 6, 2015
There was a moment of silence for a person held against his will at a psychiatric institution.
There are 21 registered delegates, and 1 new member. There was a motion to waive the 180 rule (anti- takeover clause) which passed. So there are now 22 registered delegates. 12 is a majority, 16 is 2/3.
There is a motion to immediately recess for lunch, which passed overwhelmingly.
Chuck Moulton June 6, 2015
I’m at the LPPA convention.
There are 23 people in attendance. The convention is starting a little late… it was supposed to start at 11 am, but it is starting at 11:50.
There is no registration fee for members attending the convention and a free lunch was provided.
The current state chair Steve Scheetz is running for re-election. Matt Schutter is also running for chair, and has passed out literature promoting his candidacy.
There is a membership report handout with a county breakdown. It takes 12 members to have representation on the state board. Only 1 county (Schuylkill, a relatively small county compared to the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh area counties) meets that threshold — and even it has exactly 12 members. Montgomery county (suburban Philadelphia) has 8 members. Allegheny county (Pittsburgh) has 6 members.
Greg Bowen June 5, 2015
This is Greg Bowen, Florida Libertarian and Producer for 1787 Network. I will be setting up a live stream through YouTube of the LPF State Convention this weekend. I do not have a link to it directly yet, but you can keep an eye on 1787network.com and it will be posted there as soon as it becomes available.
paulie June 1, 2015
Thanks! Anyone for Florida?
Chuck Moulton June 1, 2015
I should be at the Pennsylvania convention… though I can only attend about 5 hours. I’ll try to live blog anything newsworthy.
paulie June 1, 2015
BTW thanks for the Michigan liveblog. Sorry I did not set up a separate thread for it but you were already part done with it before I remembered and I thought that would be too confusing to post a separate thread at that point.
paulie June 1, 2015
Thanks!
Are you still trying to be here for Alabama also? I think you said you would try but weren’t sure you could make it.
Darryl W. Perry June 1, 2015
I’ll be at the CT & MA conventions this fall, and will do my best to cover each
paulie June 1, 2015
Of the remaining conventions, I’ll try to cover Alabama and possibly Mississippi.
If anyone can help out with any of the others (including ones that already happened) please let us know. Looking for any and all coverage including photos, videos, news reports, blogs, twitter and FB posts, yours and other people’s, during and after – you name it.

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