Fox 59 | Indiana's Libertarian Party 'drinking-in' to put lawmakers on tap for ... Fox 59 COLUMBUS, Ind. Indiana's Libertarian Party helped served a cold one Sunday afternoon. The day and location - purposeful. The message unequivocal. Hoosier hoist a cold one for liberty | News | tribstar.com |
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Indiana's Libertarian Party 'drinking-in' to put lawmakers on tap for ... - Fox 59
The Libertarian Party of Arkansas submitted over 15,000 signatures on Monday to the Secretary of States office to try and qualify to be a new political party -- for the fourth election cycle in a row. The state has 30 days to certify at least 10,000 of the signatures are from registered Arkansas voters.
This initial hurdle, and the financial cost of signature drives, is often critiqued by Arkansas third parties. In order for a political party to retain Arkansas ballot access through the next election cycle a candidate for either governor or president has to garner at least three percent of the vote. Last year Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson fell just shy with 2.63 percent of the vote.
Despite falling short of that threshold in 2016, state Party Chair Michael Pakko said the Libertarian Party deserves to be thought of as competitive.
Last year the Libertarian Party was the only party to field candidates against incumbents in all four U.S. Congressional states. In state legislative races Libertarians provided the only opposition in nearly a third of all contested races, Pakko said at the Capitol, Moreover people are choosing to vote Libertarian. Across the four Congressional districts last year our candidates earned over 196,000 votes about 18.5 percent of the total.
The once all-powerful Democratic Party of Arkansas only fielded one Congressional candidate in the last election. But this year, bolstered by an impassioned base in the era of Trump, a growing number of Democrats are expressing interest in 2018 races.
Pakko said he expects Libertarians to be in more three-way races next election.
Its always nice to be the only opposition party. When the Democrats werent running in races last year that gave us a little bit bigger piece of the spotlight but we dont expect that to be the case, Pakko said, so well just take it as it comes.
No Arkansas Libertarians hold legislative, statewide, or federal offices. But that lack of experience isnt necessarily a negative to Pakko.
One of the things voters communicated in their election of Donald Trump was their willingness to pick someone for public office that didnt have previous experience, he said.
While certainly having experienced candidates would be helpful I dont think thats necessarily a handicap to have non-professional politicians, regular citizens running for office and I think voters will be receptive, said Pakko.
What matters most to voters, according to the Libertarian chair, is making government work.
The biggest issue that voters think about is the dysfunctional nature of government both at the state and national level, he said. Its a matter of the two political parties at loggerheads, constant gridlock, and wed like the voters in Arkansas to know there is another choice, another option.
For Pakko and most Libertarians making government work often means passing laws that peel back the role of government, If you believe that governments should protect the rights of the individual, that people should be able to live their lives however they see fit with minimal interference from the government, if you believe that freedom and prosperity flourish where markets are allowed to work and the U.S. is at peace with its neighbors in the world, then please consider joining the Libertarian Party.
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Arkansas Libertarians Submit Signatures To Be "New" Political Party - KUAR
Politics in plain English
A seven-part guide to the candidates running to be the next governor of Virginia.
Superlative: Most likely to be late to the party"
Cliff Hyra may have been the last candidate to join the Virginia gubernatorial race, but like all cool kids, he has the potential of using this newfound attention to get people talking about what really matters politics.
As you could imagine, running for a statewide election as the third party nominee can set you at a disadvantage from the get-go. Fortunately for Hyra, being an unopposed libertarian candidate means that he can take this time to find his edge and relax while his opponents vie for a space on the general election ballot this week.
Hyra is a patent attorney from Mechanicsville, Virginia, who is married with three young children and is expecting another in Aug. To him, this race is a unique opportunity, and he hopes to build on 2013 candidate Robert Sarvis' momentum.
"Rob Sarvis had one of the most successful campaigns in the history of third parties and libertarian parties, Hyra said. "He got about 150,000 votes which is about a 7 percent turnout. (This) is really within striking distance of 10 percent, which is the threshold where if we hit 10 percent we would have automatic ballot access."
In the past, third party candidates have been required to canvas for 10,000 signatures as a precursor to moving forward with their campaign, a costly measure of resources that is not required of the Republican or Democratic candidates.
Despite Hyra's admittedly brief introduction to state politics, he is unfailingly enthusiastic about his future plans and continues to demonstrate faith in his supporters.
"I think you have to run the race with the goal of winning and being the governor, Hyra said. "You know, we are going to do all the things that we can do to maximize the chances of winning. With that said, I am not a crazy person, so I understand that you know the chances are low. At the same time, last year we had a very unusual election and something happened that I didn't think could happen so you know, I am not ruling it out."
If elected, Hyra has addressed four key issues that he will work to resolve in his four-year term economic growth, education reform, justice reform and health care.
In essence, his strategies to achieve optimal success can be generally attributed to one traditional libertarian solution, deregulation. Most of his campaign hinges on the belief that fewer laws constricting peoples actions can do wonders for the economy, incarceration rates and the booming of businesses.
More specifically, Hyras economic proposal includes eliminating income tax of the first $50,000 and removing specific license requirements that cause businessmen and women to get tripped up on trivial tasks.
Currently Virginians are taxed $11,815.28 on $50,000. This proposed cut would likely benefit the middle class the most, but can still exhibit a positive change in tax returns for people of the state.
Involving improvements with the school system, Hyra boasts small-town research on charter schools in New York as a testament to the power of competition to bring forth greater student and parent satisfaction. He says that elected officials must put forth more effort to close the gap, beginning with the states own research.
I was lucky enough to go to some really great schools in Northern Virginia, but we also have some schools that are not doing as well in some places, Hyra said. There are schools that have been really failing the students for many years and you know to some extent there is only so much good that you can do by just throwing more money at the problem.
According to Hyra, legal punishment for victimless crimes is counterproductive, specifically involving marijuana and alcohol consumption.
Logically speaking, Hyra says that lessening criminal punishments for these kinds of crimes will save Virginia money, which spends on average approximately $25,000 a year to incarcerate a single person. In addition, this plan could help reduce racial profiling. Hyra says studies show that African Americans are equally as likely to commit these kinds of crimes as others, but are being sent to prison at much higher rates.
Finally, Hyra has promised to change the face of healthcare by tossing out laws like Virginias Certificate of Need and is looking for a way to expand the healthcare plan without further involving the government.
Cliff Hyra is an incredible candidate, Libertarian Party of Virginia Chair Bo Brown told Bearing Drift News. Hes brilliant. His wifes incredible. Theyve got this great family. Theyre a great representation of Virginians. Weve got to let a lot of our (voters) understand that there are other candidates out there. You dont have to stay stuck to one of those two old parties.
Because Hyra announced his campaign in late April and received the nomination in May, little has been said about his qualifications for this role by other important political figures or by his opponents who are preoccupied with their respective primaries on Tuesday, June 13.
Hyra is a Virginia Tech alumnus who majored in aerospace engineering before attending law school at George Mason.
Hyra says that most people may not know that he became interested in the art of advantage gambling during his time at Virginia Tech and used his computational prowess at Las Vegas casinos for fun.
Want to learn about more gubernatorial candidates? Click below to learn about Republican front-runner, Ed Gillespie.
Superlative: Most likely to take detailed notes
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Meet Cliff Hyra: The libertarian with a golden ticket to the general election - Virginia Tech Collegiate Times
For the fourth consecutive election cycle, theLibertarian Party of Arkansasplans to deliver petitions to the Arkansas Secretary of States office on Monday to become a new political party for the 2018 election.
Because the party failed to win 3% of the electoral vote in the 2016 presidential race that swept Republican nominee Donald Trump into the White House, Arkansas law requires a new political party to collect 10,000 valid voter signatures during a 90-day period.
Party chairman Michael Pakko, an economist at the University of Arkansas at Little Rocks Institute for Economic Advancement, said the party finds itself in the position again of having to register as a new party when it has participated in the last four presidential elections. Pakko said the performance of the candidate at the top of the ticket should not be the only measuring stick for ballot access. Despite being considered a new party under the law, Libertarians fielded a candidate in all four congressional races, while the Democrats only contested the 2nd District. The party was also the only competition in eight of the 34 contested state House races.
Our performance was definitely improved, Pakko said. We are giving voters a choice and voters are making that choice and voting Libertarian.
According to Pakko, party officials collected more than 15,000 signatures for the 2018 ballot after former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson fell short in the 2016 presidential race with only with 2.63% of the Arkansas vote. Thats an improvement from 2012, when Johnson won 1.52% of the vote. His vote total rose from 16,276 that year to 29,611 this year. If the partys gubernatorial candidate wins 3% in 2018, it wont have to collect signatures in 2020.
By not winning 3% of the vote, the party will again have to qualify for the ballot in 2018, a process Pakko has said required six months of work as well as about $33,000 in costs in the 2016 cycle. Because the primary was moved up to March 1, a state law required the party to select its candidates at the end of 2015. Pakko said the party will try to change the states law defining a political party in the 2017 legislative session while working toward the 2018 election.
During the recent legislative session, the party did not get enough support to change the states law defining a political party ahead of the 2018 election.
And as the nation is riveted with former FBI Director James Comeys testimony before Congress and an obstruction of justice investigation of President Donald Trump by independent counsel Robert Mueller, Pakko said there is a high level of mistrust between American voters and Republican and Democratic parties.
There remains a low-level of trust in government and the two-party system, Pakko said. We see the constant bickering between the two major parties and I think one thing that Libertarians would like voters to know is there is another choice and another option out there.
Pakko said Arkansas voters should take a closer look at the Libertarian Party in 2018 at all levels.
We have a specific set of principles that we believe and we put emphasis on the rights of individuals, and that individuals should be free to live their lives as they see fit without as little interference from the government as possible, said the Libertarian leader and economic forecaster. Keep the government out of peoples lives and out of their pocketbooks.
After party leaders deliver petitions to the Secretary of States office next week and the signatures are validated within 30 days, Pakko said the party will immediately begin to recruit new candidates for the next major election that is now less than two years away.
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Libertarian Party To File Petitions As 'New Political Party' For Fourth Time - KASU
The Liberty Conservative | Trump's Libertarian Budget Director: I Don't Care What You Do In ... The Liberty Conservative OMB Director Mick Mulvaney strongly stressed his libertarian leanings in a recent interview with the Washington Examiner. According to the Examiner's Alex ... |
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Trump's Libertarian Budget Director: I Don't Care What You Do In ... - The Liberty Conservative