November 2014 - Lnc-business - Moellman Enterprises Email

Thankful for being the most successful affiliate in the country in 2014
by Daniel Hayes 27 Nov '14

27 Nov '14

Louisiana fielded it’s largest contingent of candidates ever for a single election date with 19 candidates qualifying(13 local and 6 Federal). In the November 4th, 2014 elections Louisiana elected more Libertarians to office than any other state in the country.(Tied with Arkansas at 3, Region 7 representing!). Louisiana garnered it’s first ever run-off by Chad Perry of Vinton, La running for Calcasieu Parish Justice of the Peace,Ward 7, giving Louisiana the opportunity to become the outright leading state for most elected Libertarians to office in the November election.(not including fusion candidates). Louisiana scored its first ever head to head victory for a Libertarian against an opponent when William Mcbride defeated Republican Laura Budden to win the district 3 seat for Washington, La City Council. Louisiana’s Randall Lord garnered the largest vote percentage in the whole country by a Libertarian running for Federal Office with 26.6% of the vote.(Someone has suggested to me that this may be the largest percentage ever). Louisiana has grown from 4600 official registered Libertarians at the beginning of 2012 to 10,723 registered Libertarians(with more likely in the pipeline due to the registration freeze before an election and the 25 completed registration forms waiting in my car to be dropped off.) We have some great upcoming outreach opportunities on so focus issues that should drive our registration even faster. Louisiana has formed more local affiliates in the last 2 years than any other state. From March 2013 to present Louisiana has formed 17 Parish Executive Committees with 2 more scheduled to come online in about a month. Thats 26.6% of the state already organized at the local affiliate level with right under 30% set to be organized by January 2015. I think that might be the largest percentage of any state in the country organized at the local level. We have begun to also get campus affiliates(College Libertarians) up and running and we are making great gains in registration on campus. Louisiana sent the 9th largest delegation to the National Convention in 2014(Tied with 3 or 4 other states). We had someone in all 12 of our delegate seats. Yes, lots of other states candidates were busy campaigning. Randall Lord, remember him? The largest percentage vote getter for a Federal candidate? He was part of our delegation along with Rufus Craig, another of our Federal Candidates. The Libertarian Party of Louisiana has one of the most successful donor bases having brought in over $27,000 and on pace to bring in over $30,000 for the year and we have This does not include money raised by our local affiliates. Louisiana is 1 of about 7 states that have a paid staffer, with ours being a full time Executive Director. This has been our key to success. Our Executive Director, Wendy Adams has been invaluable to our growth. Most of us in our state party would not be here were it not for her ceaseless efforts. She says she works 70 hours a week, but I know that to be untrue, it’s more like 90 hours. We were very possibly the first state to start accepting Bitcoin Donations in early 2014. You Bitcoiners reading this please feel free to donate. We won’t be offended, not in the least. Growth always brings challenges as more people with different ideas jockey for position, but that’s ok, it’s part of the process. People are going to disagree. Learning how to cope with it and still move forward is a sign of leadership. We have had our interpersonal struggles in Louisiana, probably not the most in the country, but probably more than average. It’s a function of growth, those growing pains. In spite of all of these struggles we have moved forward and moved forward well. Some people see the glass as half empty, some see it as half full. I see that my glass is more than half empty and it’s leaking but I am plugging the holes and refilling the glass. It’s ok to have struggles, it builds character, it prepares us for the future fights ahead. The only thing that isn’t ok is to quit. If your strategy didn’t work, reevaluate realistically. Map out a plan, recognize your glass won’t become full overnight and without work. Look to those that had more success than you and find those elements that work with your own unique situation. Now I am sure, Mr Wagner will argue Oregon is top, I am sure Mr. Pojunis will argue Nevada, others will argue their state but I have to honestly say that as I look at things, Louisiana was the most successful affiliate in the country in 2014. I may have made some slight errors in this email, I am sure some Libertarian somewhere will find it and point it out, cause that’s what Libertarians(some) do.(others do work). #someworksomedont (inside state joke). Despite any nitpicky detail error I may have made, I firmly believe that this email is largely accurate. It’s with that mind that I say, I am thankful for Louisiana being the most successful Libertarian affiliate in the Country in 2014. Wishing you a day to be thankful for, Daniel Hayes LNC Region 7 Representative Alternate P.S. Thanks to all those that have contributed to our success! I figure while I have people’s attention and it doesn’t hurt t ask. Bitcoin aficionados Those that like a good return on investment. Help us do more. Money is always the limiting factor for future growth. Feel free to send us a donation. Even 5 bucks helps. Know someone with deep pockets looking for a good place to spend some money? Here’s the link to become a Louisiana donor by Check,Bitcoin, Credit card, etc. We would be most thankful! http://www.lplouisiana.org/donate

1 0

A little good news
by Nicholas Sarwark 26 Nov '14

26 Nov '14

http://www.independentpoliticalreport.com/2014/11/libertarian-party-retains… -Nick

4 5

December Meeting Time
by Rich Tomasso 26 Nov '14

26 Nov '14

This is probably for the chairman. Is there an expected end time on Sunday for the December LNC meeting? I notice the flights leaving New Orleans get progressively more expensive later in the day.

4 3

Aaron Starr - final election results
by Scott L. 25 Nov '14

25 Nov '14

This is an interesting article on what are probably the final results in Aaron Starr's City Council race. http://citizensjournal.us/oxnard-final-election-results-show-perello-victori ous-in-city-council-race/ Note that the 2nd place candidate, who got the second and final seat on the Council, only beat the 3rd place candidate by 10 votes out of 6700. Scott Lieberman

1 0

Additional verification of Nov 2014 Libertarian electoral wins
by Scott L. 25 Nov '14

25 Nov '14

The name of the article says it all. Is this a good result for a political party that has been in existence for 43 years? http://www.independentpoliticalreport.com/2014/11/libertarians-won-8-partisa n-elections-on-114-but-all-but-1-were-by-default/ Scott Lieberman

2 1

How many Libertarians got elected in Nov 2014?
by Scott L. 23 Nov '14

23 Nov '14

According to my count, 17 Libertarians were elected or re-elected to public office in the November 2014 election. Of those, 7 were partisan offices, and 10 were non-partisan offices. It would be really helpful if LPHQ would tell us how many of those were incumbents, and how many were challengers; broken down by partisan and non-partisan. I tried to figure out the number of incumbents myself, but the list of elected Libertarians has already been updated to include the candidates who won earlier this month. This gives us an approximate winning percentage of 2%. It is difficult to recruit volunteers into a political party that has a winning percentage that low. Scott Lieberman

1 0

Re: [Lnc-business] LPHQ job posting - Editor & Technology Developer
by Scott L. 22 Nov '14

22 Nov '14

Follow-up: As many of you know, during the 4 year long quest to purchase a building or fraction of a building for LPHQ, several of us LNC members commented that we thought it was infinitely better for LPHQ to be on a single-floor, because that made it easier for employees to share ideas with one another, and it made it easier for the ED to perform his supervisory role. I found this quote in a magazine that I was reading while passing time before a dental appointment: http://discovermagazine.com/2014/march/11-designing-a-happy-workplace "Bank of America's reversal emerged from an experiment led by Ben Waber, then a doctoral candidate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT) Media Lab. To learn how workers' social patterns influence their satisfaction and productivity, Waber outfitted 80 bank operators with palm-size sensors to wear around their necks as they worked. The sensors tracked who talked to whom and for how long, giving Waber, and ultimately company executives, hard numbers that captured how important social interaction was to employee happiness and productivity. Data from the sensors have also highlighted that even a single flight of stairs is a powerful psychological barrier: People who work on different floors of a building almost never talk to each other, even if doing so would mean a walk of less than a minute." Scott Lieberman _____ From: Scott L. [mailto:scott73@earthlink.net] Sent: Thursday, November 13, 2014 9:01 AM To: 'lnc-business(a)lp.org' Subject: Re: LPHQ job posting - Editor & Technology Developer Exercise for the reader: Are there any lessons to be learned from the e-mail below with respect to the demand that some LP Convention Delegates have made of us that the Libertarian National Committee hold some or all of its sessions remotely via teleconference, rather than in-person? Is the Executive Director unfairly discriminating against potential Editor and Technology Developers who are unable or unwilling to re-locate to the Washington, DC metropolitan area? Scott Lieberman _____ From: Statechairs [mailto:statechairs-bounces@hq.lp.org] On Behalf Of Wes Benedict Sent: Thursday, November 13, 2014 8:09 AM To: statechairs(a)hq.lp.org Subject: Re: [Statechairs] LPHQ job posting - Editor & Technology Developer I've been asked "would we hire someone to work remotely?" We would prefer someone who can work at LPHQ in Alexandria, VA. However, we will consider people who would work remotely, at least for part of the work, and perhaps temporarily. This person needs to collaborate closely with the rest of staff. The Executive Director and Political Director often discuss the look and content of publications including blogs, LP News, the websites, who's doing what, etc. Publications seeking memberships and donations need to be coordinate with operations. We've had people work remotely in recent years. They've done a good job, but the teamwork and collaboration is not the same as being co-located where you can quickly ask others a question, collaborate, and help trouble-shoot things. To emphasize this point, I insisted that both Robert Kraus and Eric Dixon be located upstairs at LPHQ where Carla Howell and I have offices, even though there is more space on the main level and basement. That's because the close proximity for frequent in-person communication was more important than having extra office space for each individual. Obviously there are trade-offs to be considered. So, those wishing to apply that would not re-located should feel free to apply, but all things being equal, we'd prefer someone locally. Wes Benedict, Executive Director

1 0

2015 budget material
by Wes Benedict 21 Nov '14

21 Nov '14

Chairman Sarwark asked me to forward this early working draft budget preparation material to the LNC. The LNC-EC has not yet met to discuss and prepare their proposed budget to the LNC, but will probably do that within the next several days as they work on deciding an appropriate date and time for that. Thanks, Wes Benedict, Executive Director Libertarian National Committee, Inc. *New address: 1444 Duke St., Alexandria, VA 22314* (202) 333-0008 ext. 232, wes.benedict(a)lp.org facebook.com/libertarians @LPNational Join the Libertarian Party at: http://lp.org/membership

1 0

Re: [Lnc-business] State Chairs: review nationwide election results
by Scott L. 20 Nov '14

20 Nov '14

I don't see any designation for Incumbents. Is there such a designation? Scott Lieberman _____ From: Statechairs [mailto:statechairs-bounces@hq.lp.org] On Behalf Of Wes Benedict Sent: Thursday, November 20, 2014 12:52 PM To: statechairs(a)hq.lp.org Subject: [Statechairs] State Chairs: review nationwide election results State Chairs: Please review the attached spreadsheet that lists all the November 4, 2014 candidates and their preliminary election results. I think it's around 98% complete. Final vote totals for some races won't be available until early 2015 due to things like absentee ballots and write-in counting. At that time, we'll probably release an updated version. While vote counts often go up, usually the percentages don't change much for most candidates. Almost all of the election results numbers are based on figures found online at authoritative election results sources, not from candidates or others who emailed results to us. However, people who emailed us results helped us become aware of new candidates or become aware of candidates that did not make the ballot--so thanks for that. There are some code explanations starting at row 770 for those interested in extra details. The spreadsheet is pretty complicated. That's because we like to be able to calculate statistics in various ways, such as "best performance in a 2-way partisan race, etc." However, most of what you are probably interested in is column L (the number of votes), column M (percentage the Libertarian received), and column H (election winners). NY & OR, be aware that your fusion candidates are listed on rows 746-765. We'll be using this data to generate lists and statistics for LP News, the blogs and other places in the near future. If you see anything that needs correcting, please send it to me ASAP. I'll probably send another list with corrections on Wednesday. Thanks, -- Wes Benedict, Executive Director

1 0

Congratulations to the LP of Minnesota
by Scott L. 19 Nov '14

19 Nov '14

" https://www.lpmn.org/election-recap-for-libertarian-candidates-2014/ In the metro suburb of Crystal, Libertarian candidates Olga Parsons and Elizabeth Dahl won seats on the City Council, both handily unseating incumbents. Results <http://electionresults.sos.state.mn.us/Results/MunicipalRaces/20?districtid =14158> for Ms Parsons were 2133 votes (64%) vs incumbent John Budziszewski 1169 votes (35%). Ms Parsons credits her ability to doorknock every registered voter in her district twice. Similarly, Ms Dahl pulled in 1074 votes (61%) vs incumbent Mark Hoffmann 677 votes (38%)." If you go to the link immediately below, you will see a 2 minute YouTube video maybe one screen down from the top of the page. I suggest you watch the video - it describes how all 3 incumbents were turned out of office a few weeks ago. Notice that Ms. Parsons doesn't macho flash. http://www.olgaparsons.com/ (the entry is dated Nov 6, 2014) and if you go to her issues page, you will see that she really means what she said in that short clip: http://www.olgaparsons.com/?page_id=28 Since the LPMN now has two Libertarians on that City Council, that means they only need two more votes (out of other 5 members) to get ordinances passed. I hope that the LPMN uses their newly elected City Council members as motivational speakers to inspire other LPMN members to duplicate their success. I also hope that unlike the 2014 Libertarian National Convention, the 2016 Convention in Orlando uses elected Libertarians in a majority of the speaking slots, and only uses "movement" speakers to supplement the elected official speakers. Scott Lieberman

1 0