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Libertarian Party of Delaware holds convention, nominates three candidates

Our official press release:

“It’s time for government to stop regulating the American people,” said attorney Tyler Nixon, accepting the Libertarian Party of Delaware’s fusion nomination in the 4th House District (Wilmington), “and time for the American people to start regulating their government.” Nixon, already the Republican candidate for the seat, was one of three individuals nominated by the Libertarians at their annual convention on Saturday in Newark. He identified government transparency, eminent domain abuse, and renewable energy as key campaign themes.

Fusion nominations, legal in Delaware despite an attempt to kill the practice last year, allow candidates to accept the endorsement of two or more parties in the same race.

Nearly two dozen delegates also voted to nominate Mark Anthony Parks of New Castle County as the Libertarian candidate for the US House of Representatives. “Ron Paul’s candidacy energized me,” he said. “His campaign convinced me that people would respond to the message of personal freedom.” Delegate Brad Thomas called Parks “a man who thinks carefully about the government’s impact on the lives and freedoms of everyday citizens.”

“I’m going to wage as vigorous a campaign as my resources will allow,” Parks promised.

Jesse Priester, the GOP candidate in the 23rd House District in Newark also received a fusion nomination from the LPD. “The Libertarian ideal is personal freedom,” Preister said, “and that’s my ideal as well.” He cautioned that effective politicians must work with the system as they find it, however, not as they would like it to be. “That’s why I’m making the establishment of Sunday bus service into Newark one of my issues.”

The convention elected Jim Rash of Milford as State Chair, Paul Thompson of Pike Creek as Vice Chair, and re-elected Brad Thomas of Newark as Secretary-Treasurer.

“We’ve built a strong foundation today for communicating our message of personal freedom and limited government,” Rash told delegates. “From this point forward we need to be a strong presence in policy debates at every level.”

In May, Vice Chair Thompson represented Delaware at the national Libertarian Party convention in Denver, where the party nominated former Georgia Congressman Bob Barr for President. Barr, who broke ranks with the GOP several years ago, has become an advocate of curtailing government intrusions against individual civil liberties and a critic of Bush administration foreign policy.

Criticizing both major party candidates for not protecting the freedoms of American citizens, Barr is polling 3% nationwide, but scores 5-11% in ten “battleground” states, where only a slim margin separates Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain.

Pointing to Ron Paul’s internet-based fundraising, “Libertarians across the state and across the nation will have to depend heavily on new media,” said Steve Newton, publisher of the Delaware Libertarian blog.. “Libertarians in North Carolina and Texas are proving the power of blogs and meet-ups to challenge the major parties.”

Convention delegates also chose Rash, Thompson, and Brian Shields of Seaford as presidential electors.

Established in 1970, the Libertarian Party is the nation’s third-largest political party.

------end of press release------

Also in attendance (doesn't this sound like a wedding announcement?) was our good friend Shirley Vandever, the Delaware Curmudgeon, who emailed me after the fact: I am inspired to change my registration to Libertarian so I can be a more active member. Now the $10 million question: How do we get Tyler Nixon elected?

Good question. We'll be taking up that quest in depth right here real soon.

Our Libertarian National Committee Representative for Region 5, Dr. Jim Lark, also drove up for the convention, hung out afterward, and exchanged a lot of ideas. I give the LNC a lot of crap here, so consistency requires me to report when they do something good. It's about a five-hour drive each way for Jim, and he was enthusiastic to the max. I think our delegates got a big boost out of seeing someone from the LNC at the State convention.

Special thanks to Tom (who always lets me know when I have forgotten the really important stuff), and to two people who have kept the Libertarian flame alive here in Delaware during the worst of times: Tim Spong and Bill Morris.

Comments

Good reporting ! I had a great time. Oh, but you might want to spell my name right. It's Vandever. LOL.
Anonymous said…
Tim Spong is the LPD's Liz Allen.

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