The last week saw a mix of tragedy and triumph for Libertarians.
Libertarian U.S. Senate candidate Doug Butzier died in a plane crash a week
ago today on his return from a campaign event that evening, according to a
KWWL
news report. The exact cause of the accident is not yet known.
Read
more about why Libertarian Doug Butzier ran for office.
In brighter news, Libertarian polls numbers indicate that the demand
continues to grow steadily for Libertarians while approval of the two old
parties remains low.
Table of Contents:
Libertarians
getting 9% support for Congress in poll
According to a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll released on Oct. 15, more
voters say they will support Libertarians for Congress this year, compared to
the last mid-term elections in 2010.
The
Wall Street Journal reports, "The poll found that voters
are more likely than four years ago to say they would vote for Libertarian and
Green party candidates if given a chance, with Libertarians drawing support
from 9% of likely voters."
That's a significant increase from 2010, when a similar
Wall Street
Journal poll indicated 5–6 percent of voters would support Libertarians.
Gallup polls
continue to say Americans want a third party
Polling firm Gallup reports:
A majority of U.S. adults, 58%, say a third U.S. political party is needed
because the Republican and Democratic parties "do such a poor job"
representing the American people.
Americans' current desire for a third party is consistent with their
generally
negative
views of both the Republican and Democratic parties, with only about four
in 10 viewing each positively.
ND
Libertarian Jack Seaman the "break-out star" of debate
Jack
Seaman,
LP North Dakota candidate
for U.S. House
Jack Seaman, LP North Dakota's candidate for the U.S. House of
Representatives, was called the "break-out star" of the debate by a
prominent North Dakota political writer last week.
"... the real break-out star of the debate was Libertarian Party
candidate Jack Seaman," wrote Rob Port. "Agree with his positions or
not, he was engaged and articulate and seemed to have a reasonable understanding
of what he was talking about. Before I even saw this debate my inbox and social
media accounts were full of people telling me how surprised they were at
Seaman's performance."
Georgia
LP state chair featured in Ozy.com
Doug
Craig
"Whether it's a moment or a bonafide movement, libertarianism is on the
rise. That's thanks to people like Doug Craig, chair of the Libertarian Party
of Georgia."
Libertarian
gubernatorial candidate will keep Alaska free of state income tax
Carolyn Clift
Carolyn "Care" Clift is running for governor in Alaska to fight
overspending and make sure the state income tax is not brought back.
"Alaska needs a Libertarian governor to fight the overspending in
Juneau and bring our budget back to sustainable levels," Clift wrote on
her candidate website position page. "As governor, I will use my line-item
veto power to shrink the budget back down to $5.5 billion; to prevent deficit
spending; and to prevent reinstating the income tax."
Libertarian
anti-prohibition activist Bill Wohlsifer running for AG
Libertarian
Party of Florida candidate for attorney general Bill Wohlsifer has worked for
years to ease the pain of Floridians who suffer from diseases that can be
successfully treated with medical marijuana. He is the author of the Cathy
Jordan Medical Cannabis Act (2012), a bill that was introduced in the state
senate earlier this year.
Bill Wohlsifer is also the first Libertarian candidate for AG in Florida's
history. He had an excellent showing against the Republican and Democrat
challenger in a mainstream televised debate.
Wohlsifer has stated that his first act as Florida's chief legal officer
will be to remove cannabis from Schedule I of Florida's controlled substances
list, to Schedules II and III.
His next action will be to withdraw Florida from an EPA lawsuit that favors
the fertilizer industry over the will of the people, and then to dismiss all
five pending appeals against favorable same-gender marriage court decisions in
Florida. That is day one in office.
Colorado
Libertarian Lily Williams brings lessons from China to her bid for state house
Lily
Williams
Lily Williams, who was born and grew up in China during the regime of
Chairman Mao, is running for the state legislature in Colorado as a
Libertarian.
"By telling my own story, I wanted to share my message with you: Big
governments do not work; big governments are very dangerous because they
eventually use force," Williams said. "Big government attracts people
who love power and control."
Williams spent 24 years living under the communist regime before emigrating
to the United States. But she fears the United States is becoming more
socialist, and losing the freedoms for which she came here.
"I've known Lily personally for many years, and she has a passion for
protecting freedom and liberty, born out of her experience as an immigrant from
communist China," said LNC chair and fomer Colorado LP vice-chair Nicholas
Sarwark. "She's deeply involved in the community in Parker and committed
to work hard for the residents of her district, and I couldn't be more proud
that she's carrying the banner of the Libertarian Party."
Wife of
Libertarian for governor speaks out against newspaper's election coverage
Keen
and Eileen Umbehr
Eileen Umbehr wrote the following letter to
Kansas City Star
reporter Eric Adler after he wrote an Oct. 5 headline story that neglected to
mention her husband, Libertarian for governor Keen Umbehr, who has polled as
high as 9 percent and has consistently beaten the spread between his Democratic
and Republican rivals.
Dear Mr. Adler,
I respect your right to conclude in advance that my husband, Keen Umbehr,
will not win the upcoming Kansas governor's race. I also respect the Kansas
City Star's right to cover the race however they see fit as I am keenly aware
of what they say about those who buy their ink by the barrel.
Much to the chagrin of many, Keen's entrance in the governor's race has made
it a 3-way competition, thereby lowering the threshold for the number of votes
needed to obtain a victory.
But even if you don't think Keen has a chance of winning, it doesn't change
the fact that his name will appear on the November 4 ballot as a third option
for Kansas voters. In my way of thinking, that makes his candidacy newsworthy.
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