Posted on 11/05/2003 2:47:15 PM PST by freepatriot32
At least 14 Libertarians emerged victorious in local elections held around the country on November 4, including five who made a "clean sweep" of contested offices in Michigan.
In addition, LP activists went two-for-four on ballot questions where they played a significant lobbying role -- saving taxpayers at least $800 million in the process.
In all, about 210 LP candidates were on the ballot in local elections in 28 states.
Libertarian victories included:
* In Michigan, three incumbent Libertarian city council members were re-elected in a "clean sweep" for LP officeholders, said Oakland County LP Communications Director Greg Dirasian.
In addition, two other Libertarians were elected to city councils for the first time.
"The Libertarian Party of Michigan had the biggest night in its history on November 4," said Michigan LP State Chair Bill Gelineau.
Winning re-election were Mark Owen in Owosso, Andy LeCureaux in Hazel Park, and Bill Bradley in South Haven.
Making their debuts as elected Libertarian officeholders were Erin Stahl in St. Clair Shores and John Stempfle in Grosse Pointe.
In Hazel Park, LeCureaux was the top vote-getter in a seven-way race for four open seats. He won 1,581 votes (17.5% of the total votes cast) to earn another two-year term -- despite being attacked by an anonymous flier that accused him of wanting to legalize "prostitution, drugs, [and] child pornography."
LeCureaux said the attack showed that the older parties are afraid of Libertarian candidates.
"One thing is clear: Elected officials from the older parties wouldn't be attacking us if they weren't afraid," he said. "I'm still not sure what it is they fear, but I am sure that they don't want an open and honest discussion of the issues."
As the leading vote-getter in the race, LeCureaux is now the Mayor Pro-tempore of Hazel Park.
In Owosso, Owen came in third of eight candidates for four open seats. The top three vote-getters earned four-year seats; the fourth-place finisher won a two-year seat.
Owen won 691 votes (13.7% of the total votes cast).
"Mark built his reputation in Owosso as the major organizer against a new historic district which would have burdened many homeowners," said Gelineau. "His door-to-door marathons have built his reputation as a serious campaigner."
In South Haven, Bill Bradley was re-elected in an unopposed race. Bradley, the Chair of the Van Buren County LP, has served on the city council since January 2002, when he was appointed to fill a vacant position.
In St. Clair Shores, Stahl earned a strong second-place finish, coming in just 14 votes behind the top vote-getter -- and outing two incumbents at the same time.
Stahl won 7,769 votes (18.9% of the total votes cast). She will serve a four-year term.
It was Stahl's second run for a city council seat.
"Many voters urged me to run again," she said. "Our city council had become so arrogant and disrespectful of the residents that they had to be replaced."
In Grosse Pointe, Stempfle finished third of six candidates for three open seats, winning 859 votes (21.8% of the total votes cast).
"John made an incredible showing in his first bid for elective office," said Gelineau.
The wave of Libertarian victories in Michigan is a "bellwether of the future," said Gelineau.
"Candidates who invest in serious organizational efforts and uphold libertarian concepts can and will be successful," he said. "It was a great night for the Libertarian Party of Michigan and [for] those who love liberty everywhere."
* In Indiana, Libertarians won five races -- three of which were partisan contests.
In Hagerstown, Susan Bell defeated an incumbent Republican to become the new town judge. Bell won 274 votes (57%).
In Union City, Dr. Susan Pyle was elected to the city council with 58% of the vote.
Also in Union City, Russell Reichard won a seat on the city council with 57% of the vote.
In two uncontested races, Anita M. Amspaugh was elected clerk-treasurer of Union City, while Darren Nolan was re-elected to the city council in Universal City.
* In Idaho, Rob Oates narrowly defeated an incumbent to win a spot on the Caldwell City Council (Seat #4). Oates won 880 votes (50.9%) in the non-partisan race.
"Overcoming the incumbent's inherent name recognition and inertia are a tremendous challenge in a race without much controversy," said Oates. "Yard signs and door-to-door [campaigning] seemed to have made the difference in this, my first run for elected office."
* In North Carolina, T.J. Rohr won a seat on the Lenoir City Council, coming in second for two open seats.
Unofficially, Rohr won about 900 votes (32.5%), placing him behind the first-place finisher's 1,120 votes (40.4%), but comfortably ahead of the runner-up's 750 votes (25.3%).
* In Iowa, Roger Fritz was re-elected to the Roland City Council, finishing second of four contenders. The top three were elected.
Fritz won 206 votes (29.6%), just a whisker behind the top finisher, who won 208 votes (29.9%).
"Though winning the first one is more exciting, it feels more satisfying to get re-elected," said Fritz. "Now I had a record, and apparently that record was agreeable to the electorate."
Fritz ran as part of a team with the other two winners, which he said "will allow us to put the kibosh on expansion of city government staff that the ousted incumbent proposed. I think that is why we three got elected."
* In Iowa, Bill Lynn was elected Alderman (5th Ward) in Davenport, a city with a population of about 100,000. In a razor-close race, Lynn defeated a two-term incumbent, earning 902 votes (50.08%).
Lynn is an economic professor at St. Ambrose University.
In ballot questions, Libertarians won two and lost two:
* In Colorado, residents of Littleton approved a Libertarian-led effort to abolish the town's tax on groceries. The initiative won the support of 5,633 voters (62%).
The victory made it a "great day!" said Frank Atwood, who led the campaign for the grocery tax repeal.
With the vote, the town's 1% tax on food purchased for home consumption will be phased out -- dropping to 0.5% in January 2004 and to 0% in January 2005. Residents will save about $600,000 annually.
* In Pennsylvania, the Montgomery County LP failed to stop a $250 million "Green Fields, Green Towns" initiative.
Montgomery County voters unofficially approved the measure on a lopsided 101,905 (77.65%) to 29,326 (22.35%) vote.
The initiative authorizes the county government to borrow $150 million -- plus another $100 million for interest payments -- to purchase land as part of an "open space" program.
However, Montgomery County LP Political Action Coordinator Charles Fournier said the loss represented "positive progress" for local Libertarians.
"We never had a chance to win the referendum," he said. "Our approach was to use it as a marketing opportunity to increase our electoral base and enhance the name recognition of [the Montgomery County LP]. In all respects, this campaign has been a great success. We put the Montgomery LP in political orbit."
* In Massachusetts, voters in Waltham defeated by a 5 to 1 margin a Libertarian-sponsored initiative to roll back property and business taxes by about $40 million a year, and trim the city government's budget by 25%.
The vote was 10,420 (83.7%) against and 2,031 (16.3%) in favor of Question One.
The measure was spearheaded by Rich Aucoin, the head of Waltham Citizens for Taxpayer Justice, who said they could not overcome "massive" spending against the initiative.
"We faced a huge machine," he said. "There were two or three organizations that organized against the question. It was overwhelming."
However, Aucoin also told the Waltham Daily News Tribune: "I really think there will be plenty of voters who regret [voting] no. They will especially regret it as they watch their taxes go up."
In his race for an at-large seat on the Waltham City Council, Aucoin finished ninth of nine candidates for six open seats, winning 1,870 votes.
* In Arizona, Pima County Libertarians led the fight to defeat two ballot questions that would have required Tucson to build a light-rail system and fund it with higher taxes.
Residents rejected Proposition 200 on a 37.17% to 62.83% vote. The measure would have increased the city sales tax from 7.6% to 7.9% and imposed a construction tax of 4%.
Residents also turned down Proposition 201 on a 36.41% to 63.59% vote. The measure would have required the city government to build a light-rail train system, increase bus service in the metro area, improve road maintenance efforts, and build bike paths.
Had the measures passed, the cost to Tucson residents would have been at least $800 million over the next two decades.
To fight the proposals, the Pima County LP paid to have an argument against each proposition printed in the Tucson election booklet. The booklet was mailed to every registered voter in the city.
In addition, Pima County LP Chair David Euchner and First Vice-Chair Jason Auvenshine argued against the measures "on various news outlets, including television debates and newspaper editorial board roundtables," said Auvenshine.
Libertarians were able to demonstrate that "light-rail true believers" were wrong when they claimed that "19th century technology was the way to usher our city into the 21st century economy," said Auvenshine.
In other election news:
* In Indiana, incumbent Greenfield city councilman (District 5) Phil Miller was defeated in a close two-way partisan race. Miller, who was first elected in 1999, won 299 votes (46.4%).
* In Indiana, Rev. Greg Dixon fell short in his campaign for the Marion County City-County Council (District 22). Dixon, the Senior Pastor at the Indianapolis Baptist Temple, finished third of three candidates with 14.16% of the vote.
* In Virginia, Robert McBride was defeated in his race for the Prince William County Board of Supervisors (Occoquan District). McBride finished third of three candidates in the non-partisan race with about 20% of the vote.
* In Pennsylvania, 18-year-old Andrew Danto lost his bid to win an at-large seat on the O'Hara City Council. A final vote tally is not yet available.
Danto was running as a Libertarian as part of a high school project for his American Government & Politics class. He is now attending American University in Washington, DC.
There isn't any major party that supports your position.
Everyone's an anarchist when push comes to shove.
There isn't any major party that supports your position.
You got that right, the democrats, republicans, and Libertarians have no intention or disire to stop immigrants, legal and illega, from coming into this country, and have no desire to close/protect our borders.
I realize that no party wants national sovereignty, but what is your point? so what if nobody else wants our borders protected, I still do.
You and I agree, but I dont agree with that statement. IF the majority of Libertarians wanted to protect our borders, then they would change the Libertarian party Plank that says it is in favor of open borders - without conditions.
My point is that you are using an odd selection criteria given that the parties are all indistinguishable on the subject.
They DO support national sovereignty. They're in favor of non-interventionism and withdrawing from the UN. What's your party's stance on this?
Immigration - legal and illegal - is a totally different issue. My ancestors emmigrated to this country to work and raise families - with minimal government assistance and intrusion. The cause of undesirable foreigners entering our country today is the free government handouts given to them. Hell, they're not required to even speak the common language. Stop these unconstitutional programs, and the quality of immigrants will improve. "Amnesty", as suggested by one of the major party leaders (who shall remain nameless) is not the answer.
When a Libertarian promises to throw his support to the Republican in a close race, I’ll consider him responsible enough to look at.
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