LSOCK NEWS, April 15,  2014


Libertarians Of South Central Kansas (LSOCK) meet for Supper and discussion every Tuesday at Cathy’s Westway Cafe located at 1215 W. Pawnee in Wichita, Kansas at 5:30 PM. If we have official business to conduct or a featured guest speaker, that will begin at 6:00 PM. All who support personal responsibility and individual liberty are invited to attend.

To receive the LSOCK NEWS and LSOCK NEWS Alerts! via email please contact Steven Rosile at sarasile@att.net or 316 618-1339.

Contact the Libertarian Party of Kansas or LSOCK at:


LPKS / LSOCK
P.O. Box 2456
Wichita, Kansas 67201

Ph. (800) 335-1776

On the Web please go to LPKS.org  or to the LSOCK Blog at:

www.libertariansofsouthcentralkansas.blogspot.com

Also see: Sedgwick County Libertarians on Facebook. Their meeting time and location are the first Saturday of every month at Meads Corner Coffee Shop at 1:30 PM.

Meads Corner Coffee Shop is located at the northwest corner of Douglas and Emporia in downtown Wichita.

LSOCK NEWS

IN THIS ISSUE:

1. From The Editor
2. LPKN Convention Update
3. LSOCK Elects Officers
4. Convention of States
5. RIP David Moffett

1.       From The Editor

Hello everyone,

Politics in Kansas has gotten a lot duller. This is due to a bill recently signed into law by Governor Brownback that purportedly was to protect the integrity of primary elections. It supposedly does this by preventing voters that are registered as affiliated with a party from changing their registration to another party from early June, when the filing deadline is for major party primary election candidates (and minor party candidates nominated by convention) until after the primary election is certified by the Secretary of State (SOS), which is anywhere from a few days to a few weeks after the primary election.

This period varies so much due to how many recounts need to be done in tight races and whether these races are local or statewide. Statewide recounts can take considerable time and delay certification.

The rationale purportedly was to prevent people from switching party registration and voting in the other party’s primaries. It was claimed that as many as two hundred people had done this in an election.

The real purpose of this new law, in my opinion, was to prevent a losing primary candidate from switching to another party and running for the same office as another party’s candidate. This is called a sore loser law and many states have them.

In Kansas, no one can run as a party’s candidate unless they are registered into that party. The window for cross party candidates used to be from the day of the primary election until the day that election is certified by the SOS. A candidate, realizing he was not going to win the primary, could change their party registration and be named a replacement candidate for a particular office and run for that office as a candidate from their new party.

That possibility no longer exists and the establishment parties can rest easier because it means that they will be able to resist the wishes of the voters of Kansas for new blood and a new approach to politics in our state and nation.

The effect of the new Kansas law is even worse than the typical sore loser law. Our new law eliminates not only candidates that lost their primary but also anyone registered into a party from reregistering and changing their party to be eligible to run as a candidate from that other party.

I know this is confusing so let me give you an example. A few years ago local Wichita area businessman Wink Hartman ran against Mike Pompeo in the Republican Primary for US House, 4^th District, but lost. Hartman knew that candidate substitution was possible and openly flirted with the idea of running against Pompeo as the Libertarian candidate for that office. This possibility resulted in the LPKS receiving a lot of media exposure all over the state. My estimate of the value of this publicity to the LPKS is roughly $50,000. It is doubtful that the LPKS would have agreed to have Mr. Hartman run as our candidate and, as it turned out, Hartman abandoned the idea but the attention and publicity it brought our party was incredible.

This process has been used by both the Kansas Democratic Party and the Libertarian Party of Kansas in the past. In fact, it was because the Democrats had used the procedure in the late 1990’s that we (LPKS) knew about it and used it in the early 2000’s. Since then there have been several instances where there were persons who were candidates in other party’s primaries we might have substituted for our candidate, but who declined. There were also some who were interested in running as our candidate for a particular office and contacted us about doing so. Unfortunately, in those instances we did not have a candidate nominated for that particular office and so could not make the substitution.

As the LPKS gets more active, visible and involved in the political process and landscape we can be sure the establishment party will be taking measures to protect themselves from competition. It is my opinion that this and other recent measures that they have taken, show that they are doing so and this is a sign of our growing support.

This year Senator Pat Roberts is facing a serious primary challenger in Dr. Milton Wolf, whose candidacy is backed by the TEA Party. You can tell by Robert’s recent voting record (much more conservative than before) and attack ads he is running against Dr. Wolf that he is taking this challenge seriously.

Senator Roberts has been part of the problem with Washington for decades and needs to be replaced. But the party elites in Kansas and Washington want him to remain in office.

That is the real purpose of this new law, not protecting primary elections as stated. That this is the case is obvious when you see that independent voters can still declare a party on the day of the primary election to register and vote in that party’s primary or otherwise change their voter registration from independent to affiliated with a party at any time. Only independent voters are allowed to do this under the new law.

As I said at the beginning of this article, politics in Kansas just got a lot duller.

And less subject to the will of the people, as well.

For Liberty,

Steven A. Rosile

Editor, LSOCK NEWS

2.     LPKN Convention Update

As I write this the LPKS 2014 Nominating Convention is less than two weeks away. It will take place in Wichita, Saturday, April 26, at the Holiday Inn East I-35 (US 54/Kellogg at Rock Road in east Wichita) in the Southern Ballroom, right off of the lobby.

The business meeting is Saturday morning and afternoon and is FREE to attend. Please register for the business meeting on LPKS.org. This is open to members, guests and the general public.

If possible, bring your voter registration card showing that you are registered as Libertarian to make it easier for us to determine if you are qualified to vote at the convention. Voting by registered members will be for nomination of candidates for public office, amendments to our Platform, Constitution and Bylaws, Delegates to the National Libertarian Party Convention in Columbus, Ohio in June, and any other items that may come up for a vote. Only registered Libertarians will be allowed to vote at the convention.

Again. It is FREE to attend the business meeting.

There are a number of activities featuring former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson, the 2012 Libertarian Party Candidate for President. These activities do have a cost as Governor Johnson is raising funds for his 2016 campaign. These activities can be found on LPKS.org and tickets for these opportunities to spend time with the Governor are as little as $10.

Friday evening, April 25, from 6:00 to 11:00 PM there will be a mixer featuring Governor Gary Johnson. The mixer will be at the Green Mill Restaurant located right inside the hotel just a short distance from the Ballroom. There will be a $10 fee to attend this mixer. Tickets can be purchased on the website or you can pay when you arrive at the Green Mill.

There also will be a Banquet Saturday evening where Governor Johnson will be the featured speaker. You must purchase your banquet ticket by Thursday, April 24 in order to attend. Again, you can purchase your ticket(s) online at LPKS.org.

For those who do not wish to eat dinner at the Banquet, seats will be available after the meal is over to hear the Governor speak. Cost for a seat is only $10 and can be purchased online now or the Saturday at the convention.

Please go to LPKS.org and register for FREE for the convention business meeting, Saturday, April 26, as soon as you can.

Hope to see you there!

2.       LSOCK Elects Officers

Libertarians of South Central Kansas (LSOCK) held its annual election for its officers on February 21, 2014. Serving one year terms are Gordon Bakken-Chair, Steven Rosile-Vice Chair, Drew Holland-Secretary, Shawn Smith-Treasurer, Mike Brincefield- 1st At Large, John Kostner, 2nd At Large.

Thank you all for your service.

3.       Convention of States

On Tuesday, March 21, LSOCK members and guests were expecting a bonus for our supper group as Kansans for Liberty were holding a meeting immediately after ours. That meeting featured Kris Ann Hall, Kansas Director for the Convention of States.

This newly formed (less than a year old) group is advocating, promoting and organizing, a Convention of States, per Article V of the US Constitution. This convention would be to formulate and propose constitutional amendments for the states consideration and ratification as there is a need for new guidelines for reigning in the out-of-control federal government and re-establishing the states’ control over what they (the states) created, i.e., the federal government. If three fourths of the states (38) did ratify any amendment(s) it then would become part of the US Constitution and binding upon all the states.

More can be found on this worthy organization at their website:

conventionofstates.com

4.       David Moffett, RIP

Long time Libertarian activist David Moffett passed away February 3, 2014. He was sixty four years old. I met David through the Libertarian Party and he became a close personal friend. David served in various offices in the LPKS (Treasurer, District Coordinator and Editor of the Free Kansan Newsletter and ran for public office several times as a Libertarian candidate. He also served as LSOCK Chair and Vice Chair.

David was born in Manhattan, Kansas but grew up in Fort Collins, Colorado. He was an electrical engineer and worked for several firms in the computer industry and for Boeing Company in Wichita.

A devout Christian, David supported his church, Three Angels Seventh Day Adventist, and helped send his grandchildren to the church school. His memorial service was held at the church and I, Steven Rosile, LSOCK Chair Gordon Bakken and former LPKS Chair and current Sedgwick County Commissioner Karl Peterjohn all attended his service.

David was a fiery advocate for individual freedom and religious liberty. He is, and will be, missed very much.