Constitution Party of Illinois news

Sent to [email protected] by Rob DePublic. Posted to IPR by Paulie.

Constitution Party of Illinois News

Dear Friends, Family & Fellow Constitutionalists,

Wow! Wow! Wow! And just in cast you missed it the first three times, WOW!! We have had an awesome week and it’s been a fantastic way to start the new year.

Southern Illinois Regional Meeting

On Tuesday, January 13, Southern Illinois held a regional meeting at the Civic Center in Herrin. Ray Mileur, who coordinated the event, opened the meeting with a moving and emotional speech. We heard from the Chairmen of our newest County Chapters, Devin Johnson from Jackson County and Scott Kossack from Johnson County. Tim Pearcy, the acting Southern Regional Chairman, who was the spark that started this flame in Southern Illinois, spoke on behalf of Massac County and the Southern Illinois Region.

One of our visitors who came to the meeting with a whole lot of skepticism, Will Stevens of WXAN, a Christian radio station, summed it up best when he said, “I feel good, leaving here tonight.”

There was an overwhelming sense of enthusiasm in spite of the daunting tasks that we face in getting principled men and women elected, who are dedicated to the preservation of innocent life and a restoration of Constitutional Principles.

Special State Convention

There were similar reactions coming out of the State Special Convention that was held on Saturday, January 17.

Speakers

Undoubtedly, the most important thing to come out of this meeting was a renewed sense of HOPE. Hearing from Senator Chris Lauzen

helped us to see that there is still a remnant of good, principled people involved in the political process. In a day and age when the word “politician” seems more often than not, a four letter word, I would ascribe the word STATESMAN

to the Senator. Senator Lauzen talked about the importance of building bridges and alliances with like-minded people as well as some important legislation that is being proposed this year.

Hope was further instilled by Christina Tobin of the organization Free and Equal Elections (FREE) as she helped us realize that we are not alone in our quest for equal access to the ballot box. FREE is a national, non-partisan organization dedicated to helping “Independents” and “third parties” gain equal access and footing in a political landscape that is anything but resembling a free and open democracy. In a society that screams for a free and open market, politics is closed to the concept. We have laws against monopolies and in the words of Ms. Tobin, we have a “Duopoly” making the rules. FREE was responsible for the Presidential and Vice-Presidential debates that were aired on CSPAN just before the November 4th elections. Unlike all the other debates, ALL Presidential Candidates were invited to the debate that FREE hosted. Because of FREE, the Constitution Party Presidential Candidate, Chuck Baldwin and the Vice-Presidential Candidate, Darrell Castle had national air time that would not have otherwise been afforded to them. Of course this was true of the other third party and independent candidates who took advantage of the opportunity for debate. You can view the debates on the FREE website at www.FreeAndEqual.org

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Business

On the business side of things, the Constitution Party of Illinois will change its name, effective May 1, 2009. After that date, the party will no longer carry “of Illinois” as a part of its name. It will simply be, Constitution Party. It was discovered during the election of 2008, that the Constitution Party of Illinois was listed differently on ballots across the state. Some counties listed the party as “Constitution Party of Illinois” in a font so small, you could barely read it; while others abbreviated the name to “CPI.” Now how many people looking at that abbreviation knew what it stood for? More importantly, how many people did not? And just what did it stand for, exactly — Crazy People of Illinois??? Maybe. I guess you have to be a little crazy to get involved in this business. Anyway, I digress. From now on, just like the other parties, you should only see a one word name, “Constitution” on the ballot here in Illinois.

Appointments/Confirmations

Several appointments were made to fill staff positions that were confirmed by the Executive Committee in accordance with our bylaws.

* Southern Illinois Regional Chairman – Jeff Trexler
* Public Relations Committee Chairman – John Smith
* Political Action Committee Chairman – John Vanderbilt
* Clinton County Point of Contact – Corey Heugen
* Metro-East Regional Chairman – Mike Hensley

Candidates

The Constitution Party of Illinois has two candidates that are running for office. One is in a partisan race and the other is in a non-partisan race.

* Isabel Township Supervisor in Fulton County – Constitution Party – Greg Juergens
* North Pekin Village Mayor – Non-partisan – Viola Musgrave

Greg is already holding the office of Isabel Township Supervisor as an Independent. Once he heard about the Constitution Party and what we stand for, he contacted Brad Carter (2nd Vice-Chairman) to see about running as a Constitution Party candidate.

Viola has been a member of the party since 2006 and helped collect signatures for the governor’s race. In 2007, she was elected as a North Pekin Village Trustee. In 2008, Viola was elected as the secretary for the Constitution Party of Illinois. Now she is running for Mayor of North Pekin and she just told me that she is going to win.

New County Chapters

Since December, four new counties have become fully organized:

* Massac – Chairman, Mark Chambers
* Johnson – Chairman, Scott Kossack
* Jackson – Chairman, Devin Johnson
* Williamson – Chairman, Ray Mileur

Future Meetings

The Metro East Region which includes Madison, Bond, St. Clair, Clinton, Washington, Randolph, and Monroe counties will be holding a regional meeting on February 7; meeting time and place to be determined. More information will be coming out by the end of the week.

The Constitution Party of Illinois will be holding a State Committee meeting in the month of May. The meeting will be open to the public. However, only members of the State Committee will be able to vote on issues and conduct business. Members of the State Committee are the Executive Committee plus two delegates from all counties that are fully organized and/or one delegate may be appointed by the state chairman from counties that are not organized (in accordance with our bylaws).

Other meetings are being planned and will be announced when the information becomes available.

Look out Missouri. Here we come!

For the past couple of years, the Constitution Party in Missouri has lead the Nation in party building. Under the leadership of Donna Ivanovich, they gained ballot qualification and provided a complete slate of candidates, and because they got a high enough percentage of the votes last year, gained “Established Party Status.” And for her work and dedication, in October of 2007, she received the well deserved “Joan Johnson Servant Leadership Award.” And with her team of fellow patriots and constitutionalists, the Missouri Constitution Party has place themselves in the position of “Party to beat.”

Well, Illinois is not only stepping up to the plate, we’re getting base hits and even a few doubles. (We’ll consider it a home run, when we get our first Constitution Party Candidate elected, which could happen in a few months with Greg Juergens.

Yours in Liberty,
Randall C. Stufflebeam

Chairman, Constitution Party of Illinois

www.ConstitutionPartyIL.com

[email protected]