The Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania’s 2017 convention is being held today in Harrisburg Pennsylvania. I will attempt to liveblog.
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July 21, 2026
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The Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania’s 2017 convention is being held today in Harrisburg Pennsylvania. I will attempt to liveblog.
Comments are closed.
“allforsmiles
April 10, 2017 at 23:46
As Invictus spoke in PA the antifa commie scum were left holding their limp dicks and their nuts shriveled from chemical castration treatment for convicted pedophiles. Anti-White bitches were cucked like the cucks they are. Hail Victory!”
Let me guess, this person is posting under an IP anonymizer, in addition to the fake screen name they are using, right?
Probably one of the same trolls that have been posting here at IPR for years, probably on the payroll of some government agency.
As Invictus spoke in PA the antifa commie scum were left holding their limp dicks and their nuts shriveled from chemical castration treatment for convicted pedophiles. Anti-White bitches were cucked like the cucks they are. Hail Victory!
“Chad
April 6, 2017 at 06:21
To give a bit of clarification on MALF, after it’s cancellation, some of the organizers broke off and invited the speakers for the PA Leaders Forum portion of the event only to a venue that they secured at the last minute in a mad dash scramble in order to save a video project to be made that both donors and the LPPA had a great deal of money on. This was a huge scramble and wires did get crossed at the end. The original organizers concentrated on refunds while the new team simply did what they could to make it happen. When Arvin Vohra, Larry Sharpe and Glen Cripe said they still wanted to come, no one was going to turn them away.”
I do not know who Glen Cripe is, but I’d have been interested in seeing Arvin Vohra, Larry Sharpe, and Augustus Invictus.
“Some of the communication got to be tricky towards the end and a few wires got crossed. If you attempted to contact during the 3 hours or so that I was on the switchboard, please accept my most sincere apology. Also, the PA Leaders forum was broadcast live on Ask A Libertarian’s Facebook page if you would like to go back and check it out (and no, that’s not the video that your donations and the LPPA paid for).”
I would be interested in watching videos of the event. Somebody should post these video to YouTube, as more people will see them there than on Facebook.
Chad, thanks for the update.
To give a bit of clarification on MALF, after it’s cancellation, some of the organizers broke off and invited the speakers for the PA Leaders Forum portion of the event only to a venue that they secured at the last minute in a mad dash scramble in order to save a video project to be made that both donors and the LPPA had a great deal of money on. This was a huge scramble and wires did get crossed at the end. The original organizers concentrated on refunds while the new team simply did what they could to make it happen. When Arvin Vohra, Larry Sharpe and Glen Cripe said they still wanted to come, no one was going to turn them away. Some of the communication got to be tricky towards the end and a few wires got crossed. If you attempted to contact during the 3 hours or so that I was on the switchboard, please accept my most sincere apology. Also, the PA Leaders forum was broadcast live on Ask A Libertarian’s Facebook page if you would like to go back and check it out (and no, that’s not the video that your donations and the LPPA paid for).
Thank you Jeremy for the reporting.
“Jeremy Siple Post author
April 3, 2017 at 09:36
Other speakers at the secondary event included Larry Sharpe, Steve Scheetz, and Dale Kerns.”
I had heard that Sharpe was not going to be there. If I had known that he was going to be there, I’d have been more likely to make the drive.
It’s all because the Libertarians fail to stand up to Antifa, and stand up for Augustus Invictus, who is the best Libertarian. If they had any sense they would make him the national chair. Giving in to communist thug tactics and in some cases actually siding with the communists…some “libertarians” you are. Slavetarians is more like it. As Samuel Adams said on another such occasion: May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen.
Other speakers at the secondary event included Larry Sharpe, Steve Scheetz, and Dale Kerns.
Dale is seeking our nomination for U.S. Senate in 2018. I have some concerns on his stance on borders and immigration, but he’s already campaigning hard, getting out signs and campaign literature (I have a Kerns for Senate bumper sticker on my car). After last year having statewide candidates making no real effort to campaign, I am happy to support him!
This reminds of something that happened years ago. I’m a long time fan of MMA (Mixed Martial Arts fighting, like the UFC, etc…). There as an event advertised as being an MMA expo, that was supposed to have all of these big name fighters, and others from the MMA world in attendance (trainers, announcers, etc…). A friend and I bought tickets to go to the event. It turned out that most of the big names advertised for the event were not there, and the event was basically a joke. Most of the event was actually so pathetic it was laughable (like they had these kids on stage wearing pads and karate type uniforms, and they had these foam swords, and they had them all fighting with them, and it looked like a bunch of kids playing in a backyard hitting each other with big pieces of foam, there was no technique, and it looked really stupid), and there were people that had tables at the event that had little or nothing to do with martial arts. We got to meet a few interesting people, but the event was nowhere near what it had been advertised to be, and we felt like we had been defrauded out of money.
“Jeremy Siple Post author
April 3, 2017 at 09:21
The secondary event was announced at the last minute. Frankly, I don’t believe they wanted many people to know. There were still fears that the alt right and/or antifa would show up, so things were kept very low key. I had a four hour drive to the convention, so I can certainly sympathize, but I get it.”
I had specifically asked to be keep in the loop as to what was happening, and there are several people in the LP of PA who have my phone number and email address. It would not have been that hard for somebody to text me or email me and let me know what was going on so I could decide whether or not I wanted to drive 350 miles to get there, and then have to make a return trip of 350 miles.
I was concerned about driving for 350 miles one way, only to find a boring business meeting where nothing significant happened, and that was poorly attended. Plus it like after making the return trip, I’m shortly going to be making another trip, which is 732 miles in the opposite direction.
The secondary event was announced at the last minute. Frankly, I don’t believe they wanted many people to know. There were still fears that the alt right and/or antifa would show up, so things were kept very low key. I had a four hour drive to the convention, so I can certainly sympathize, but I get it.
“paulie
April 3, 2017 at 09:04
It sounds to me like it was a last minute scramble where everyone was just trying to manage hasty last minute logistics and literally no one would have known in time to let you know before you left which speakers would be there and which would not since they did not know themselves.”
I find it hard to believe that nobody knew anything. Somebody could have sent me a message, or posted something online to let people know what was going on so they could decide whether or not they wanted to make the trip. I’m not in PA right now, but even for those who were, supposed you lived in Eire, or some other place in PA, that would be a long drive, and you were trying to decide whether or not you were going to go. They did not provide enough information for people to make informed decisions.
It sounds to me like it was a last minute scramble where everyone was just trying to manage hasty last minute logistics and literally no one would have known in time to let you know before you left which speakers would be there and which would not since they did not know themselves.
“and then some showed up another others did not, ”
Should read, “and then some showed up, and others did not..”
“paulie
April 3, 2017 at 08:50
Sounds to me like all the last minute changes made things chaotic and no one really knew which speakers would be there until close to or maybe even at the time of the event. I did tell you I saw a thing on FB that listed some speakers at a renamed event that day but Ken Krawchuk was the only name I even recognized on there.”
This was not enough information to go on to decided whether or not I wanted to make a 700 mile round trip. I had specifically asked to be updated as to what was going on, and I never heard from anybody or even saw anything online.
I know that Greg Faust had announced that he was going to run for Commonwealth Court, but I heard shortly before the convention that he had decided to drop out of the race. He sounded like he would have been a good candidate.
I didn’t even know that anyone else was seeking to be nominated to run for this office.
There really needs to be better organization for future conventions. Candidates for nominations, whether they are internal party nominations, or for public office, ought to be announced prior to the convention.
Also, the fact that speakers were announced, and then some showed up another others did not, and there were no updates available as to who was going to be there online, or what was happening at all, is just not very professional.
Sounds to me like all the last minute changes made things chaotic and no one really knew which speakers would be there until close to or maybe even at the time of the event. I did tell you I saw a thing on FB that listed some speakers at a renamed event that day but Ken Krawchuk was the only name I even recognized on there.
“Jeremy Siple Post author
April 3, 2017 at 08:34
There was no speaking time for MALF speakers at the convention, but there was a separate event the day before where Arvin Vohra, Ken Krawchuk, and others spoke. Augustus Invictus held his own event.”
I was going to attend, but I’m about 350 miles away right now. I was going to drive there on Friday, but somebody in the LP of PA told me that the Mid-Atlantic Liberty Festival was canceled. I asked this person if any of the speakers were still going to be there, and they said they did not think so, I asked this person to call me or send me a text message if any of the speakers were going to be there, as I needed some lead time, considering that I’d have to drive 350 miles to get there, and I never heard back from this person, and I never even saw any updates online about what was happening.
I would like to have attended the business meeting, but I did not feel strongly about anyone who was running for anything, and I figured that my one vote wasn’t going to make that much of a difference anyway. My main reason for wanting to go was the Mid-Atlantic Liberty Festival, so when I heard that fell though, it killed my motivation to drive the 350 miles (and I would have had to have driven 350 miles back), plus it looks like I’m going to be making another long driving trip shortly.
It would have be nice if somebody could have let me know what was going on via phone call, text message, or email, or by posting updates on IPR or Facebook or on the LP of PA website.
There was no speaking time for MALF speakers at the convention, but there was a separate event the day before where Arvin Vohra, Ken Krawchuk, and others spoke. Augustus Invictus held his own event.
Mr. Miller’s nomination was contentious because frankly he seems out of touch with Libertarian principles. He was asked about the second amendment, and instead of simply saying that he would apply the constitution to his rulings, stated that the right to gun ownership was not absolute. He defined a crime as violating a government statute. He used the phrase “fiscally conservative, socially liberal.” Groans and boos were heard throughout, but in the end he was nominated, I believe, just so we would have a candidate. I voted against his nomination.
“Drew Gray Miller was nominated as the Libertarian Party candidate for Commonwealth Court Judge. His nomination was contentious.”
Why was this nomination contentious?
Jeremy, did any of the speakers who were supposed to be at the Mid-Atlantic Liberty Festival, which was originally scheduled to be at the same venue as the LP of PA State Convention, the day before the LP of PA State Convention, show up at the convention? If so, who was there, and were they allotted speaking time?
At the beginning of the convention the entire agenda was rearranged at the suggestion of Ed Reagan. This sounds far less complicated than it was, and the less said about it, the better.
A change to the bylaws and the constitution to create a Central Vice Chair passed.
Election for Chair, first ballot:
Daniel Richardson – 34
Drew Bingaman – 30
Shawn House (Incumbent) – 11
NOTA – 2
Matt Schutter – 1
Ken (write-in) – 1
Second Ballot:
Drew Bingaman – 37
Daniel Richardson – 35
Shawn House (I) – 4
NOTA – 1
Joe Soloski (write-in) – 1
Third Ballot:
Drew Bingaman – 42
Daniel Richardson – 33
NOTA – 2
Ed Reagan (write-in) – 1
Western Vice Chair – Jessica Santiago elected over NOTA by show of hands.
Eastern Vice Chair:
Chris Bastone – 37
Alex Humanick – 34
Matt Schutter – 1
Chris Humanick (write-in) – 1
Central Vice Chair:
Bill Sloane – 47
David Moser – 17
Ed Quiggle Jr. – 6
NOTA – 1
Secretary:
Steven Brenize elected over NOTA by show of hands.
Treasurer:
Joe Soloski – 49
Richard Schwarz (I) – 21
NOTA – 2
Judicial Committee (Top 5 elected, no second ballot):
Betsy Summers – 54
Jerry Geleff – 50
Giovanni Martello – 47
Henry Haller – 40
Grant Meckley – 38
Ed Reagan – 30
Matt Schutter – 21
Drew Gray Miller was nominated as the Libertarian Party candidate for Commonwealth Court Judge. His nomination was contentious.
Bylaws and constitution changes were read and voted on, but cut short by a successful motion to adjourn.
No, sorry I wasn’t able to get WiFi or a data signal inside the hotel. Drew Bingaman was elected chair on the third ballot. Jessica Santiago was elected Western Vice Chair by acclimation. Chris Bastone was elected Eastern Vice Chair on the first ballot. The position of Central Vice Chair was created and Bill Sloane was elected on the first ballot. Steven Brennize was elected Secretary by acclimation. Joe Soloski was elected Treasurer on the first ballot. Drew Gray Miller was nominated for Commonwealth Court. I’ll have more in depth results later, right now I’m getting something to eat.
Was this a belated April Fools joke?