Author Archive | Bob Johnston

BREAKING: a bill has finally been introduced to rein in the worst parts of the PATRIOT Act and put basic limits on mass government surveillance. Call Congress at (202) 919-7073 and tell your lawmakers to support the Safeguarding Americans’ Private Records Act now. Five years ago, Edward Snowden risked everything to reveal that the NSA […]

From the Albuquerque Journal on January 27, 2020: For the second consecutive statewide election cycle, New Mexico will have three major political parties. That’s because the state Libertarian Party was determined to have met the minimum requirements – by the narrowest of margins – to retain its major party status, along with the Democratic and […]

From Ballot Access News on January 22, 2020: On January 22, U.S. District Court William O. Bertelsman, a Carter appointee, struck down a Kentucky ballot access law. Sweeney v Crigler, e.d., 2:19cv-46. The law, passed last year, requires independent candidates, and the nominees of parties that nominate by convention, to file a declaration of candidacy […]

From Spectrum News on January 21, 2020: Third-party candidates in Texas allege a new state law makes it harder for them to get a spot on the general election ballot, so they sued. Ted Brown is running for Congress as a Libertarian. He recently paid his filing fee of $3,125. This is the first cycle that third-party […]

Iowa Libertarian and former Cedar Falls Councilmember Nick Taiber was appointed on January 20, 2020 to fill a vacancy on the city council. Mr. Taiber held one of the at-large seats on the council from 2009 to 2017, when he decided not to run for reelection. He ran again last year for the other at-large […]

The North Dakota Libertarian Party regained party status, and will appear on the ballot for the 2020 elections. North Dakota Secretary of State Al Jaeger on Wednesday said the party had filed petitions on October 16 that resulted in enough qualified signatures to recognize the party as a political organization. The party needed 7,000 qualified […]

From Ballot Access News on December 9, 2019: Four states hold their legislative elections in the odd year before presidential election years. The Libertarian Party had legislative candidates in all four of these states in 2019 (Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, and Virginia), and polled the best vote it has ever received in this set of […]

Below is a graphic with the delegation count for each state for the 2020 Libertarian National Committee convention, being held in Austin, Texas from May 21 through May 25, 2020:   How the delegate allocation is determined (from the LP Bylaws and Convention Rules, Article 10, Section 4): a. In order to be counted for […]

Below is a press release from the Harris County, Texas Libertarian Party on December 2, 2019: On Monday, December 2, 2019, Judge Kristen Hawkins, Judge in Harris County’s 11th Judicial District, signed a temporary injunction order barring the Secretary of State and Harris County officials from enforcing a new law imposing filing fees payable to the […]

New York Libertarian Michael Korchak was elected District Attorney of Broome County, defeating a Democrat and Republican. Mr. Korchak finished with 14,882 votes, beating the Republican challenger F. Paul Battisti by 122 votes. Democrat Debra Gelson finished third with 10,683 votes. The race was not made official until November 19, two weeks after the election. […]

Michigan Libertarian Andy LeCureaux was elected to his tenth consecutive term on the Hazel Park City Council on November 5. He has been on the council since 2001. Terms on the city council are for two years. Mr. LeCureaux finished first in a 3-way race, with the top two finishers elected. He received 778 votes […]