Welcome to hundreds of new people |
Welcome to those of you who are new to this newsletter! As a result of our outreach efforts in August, we have added hundreds of new contacts to our monthly mailing list. If you’re one of those new people, we welcome you! This mailing goes out once per month, and you can always unsubscribe using the link at the end of this email, if you want to leave the list. We hope that you’ll find this email informative of what the Libertarian Party of Kentucky, usually referred to as LPKY, is up to. We’re also working toward making these newsletters more locally-focused over the long-term, as well. So as time goes on, you’ll see more about what’s specifically going on in your part of the state. |
First 2014 Candidate Declares Intent |
| Libertarian David Patterson declared his intent to run for US Senate in 2014 as a Libertarian on Saturday, August 17th, at the annual “Nothin’ Fancy Farm” event held in Richmond, KY.Patterson had served as the Vice-Chair of the State Party from March of this year, until his resignation from the committee on Friday the 16th. He resigned in order to seek the office. David is known to many in the Bluegrass Region (6th District), and has announced his intent to use the time between now and when signatures can start to be collected (November 6th of this year) to reach out to other Libertarian groups throughout the state. If you’re considering a run for any office in Kentucky, get in touch with your most-local leadership — whether that’s county or district level. It’s easy to get started, and there are a lot of small, winnable, partisan offices out there! As with any office sought from within in the party, the party will not play favorites. Our primary will be held in March of 2014, after which the party will get behind those elected to run as a Libertarian! |
LPKY reaches out to hundreds of thousands |
LPKY ran multiple booth events in August. We had successes reported from each of the events. At Fancy Farm, some of our 1st District members set up a “rogue” booth at the event. The local party leadership had tried to reach the organizers multiple times, and were not successful in getting the organizers to return their attempts at contact. The rogue booth caught the attention of the organizers and the public alike, and we’ve been assured that we’ll be able to have a spot at future events. Fancy Farm is one of most — if not the most — important political event in Kentucky. Libertarians have been shunned from these events in the past, but as we continue to grow, we are becoming a force that cannot be ignored.  At the Boone County Fair, our general outreach was very successful. Despite being a heavily-Republican county, we were very successful at finding old and new Libertarians in the area. Many Republicans stopped by just to say “Ditch Mitch”, which we found to be very humorous and agreed with them. We handed out hundreds of LPKY tri-folds, Libertarian bumper stickers, and other goodies like Reason magazine, tri-folds from Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), material and stickers from AntiWar.com, and copies of the latest issue of Ballot Access News. Best of all, several people re-registered to vote as a Libertarian! The event was well-planned, well-executed, and successful, thanks to Cristi Kendrick of the Boone County LP, who did the bulk of the work to plan our presence at the fair.  At the Kentucky State Fair, we faced a new challenge; staffing a booth for 11 days in a row, including during the work week, during work hours. We succeeded. About 1,000 LPKY tri-folds were given out. We ran LPKY completely out of Libertarian bumper stickers. We helped fair-goers understand where we stand on issues. We had a couple of law enforcement officials come up and tell us that they agreed with us on everything, including the War on Drugs (and we gave them LEAP material in return). There were over 100 people who took the World’s Smallest Political Quiz. We took several voter registrations, and many others filled out their card on-site and took it home to mail it in themselves. All in all it was a good event with great outreach. Thanks to Laine Nunn (D2 Vice Chair) for organizing the event, and Jon Bartels (former D3 Chair) for letting us use his house as a materials staging area.  If you have some cash to spare, we could really use some financial help to cover the costs of all of the events we’ve done this year. We’d really like to do them again next year, but that can only happen if you help. Please help us by donating today. And as always, a huge “thank you” to all of those who have already helped contribute to these projects. |
Now is the time to start considering running for office next year. And there are lots of good reasons to run for any office. They all have some control over your life. With the rise in dissatisfaction with government, it’s easier than ever to build support for a legitimate campaign. Libertarianism is on the rise, and your campaign could bring in many new Libertarians into the movement. And, if you win, you can positively affect your community or Kentucky. There have been 4 people who have inquired about running for US Senate. This race is heating up now, so now is the time, if you want to jump in, to do so. However, there are many other important offices to seek. At this time, no one has inquired or declared for US Congress, yet 4 of our 6 US Congressmen voted against the Amash Amendment which would have reeled in the NSA and helped restore the 4th Amendment. Our State Senators and State Representatives haven’t done much to protect us from encroachment by the Federal Government. Our pension debt keeps ballooning. There are multiple bureaucracies, created by Frankfort that can only be reeled in by Frankfort. Our taxes are allowed to be increased by 4% per year, with no recourse. Over the course of a decade, that compounds into a whopping 52% increase in tax revenue! Who else gets a 52% raise over a decade? Our counties have plenty of elected offices, too. Some are corrupt to their core. Others just don’t really represent the people. Some take that aforementioned 4% increase every year, even though with some planning they wouldn’t have to. Some appoint bureaucracies. Some get to decide who gets arrested and/or prosecuted for what crimes. The point is that now is the time to get ready for 2014. You can’t start collecting signatures until November 6th, but you can lay the groundwork for your campaign now. If you don’t know where to start, contact State Chair Ken Moellman by email or by phone at 859-652-3575. |
Platform Committee starts work |
The Platform Committee had their second conference call on Sunday, August 11th. It was reported by committee chair Frank Harris that progress continues. The goal of the committee is to create a simple platform that embodies the ways we can create a better environment for liberty here in Kentucky. Frank Harris has said that he has 2 positions left open on the committee, and that if anyone would like to join the committee, they should contact him. |
LPKY’s 6th District has been incubating has several issues committees, and they’ve been doing some great work. Each committee has been formed to focus on particular issues. But these issues aren’t limited to just the 6th District — they go throughout the state. Clean Water Committee — Lead by Marla Vice, this committee is current engaging in a full investigation of the pollution of the Licking River by Kentucky and Federal government, because of sloppy toxic waste removal. Hemp Action Committee — Lead by Brandon Rowe, the Hemp Action Committee is all about promoting Industrial Hemp in Kentucky. Taxation Committee — Lead by Shannon Denniston, the committee investigates the way our state calculates and collects taxes at the county and local level, and works to hold local taxing entities accountable. Interested in getting active in an existing issues committee, or perhaps in starting a new one? Contact Bryan Short, who is the Chair of the overall Issues Committee in addition to his role as 6th District Chair. |
August 2013 LP Voter Registration Stats |
Here are our latest numbers showing that the LPKY is growing much faster than our ‘Old Party’ competition. We thank everyone who has registered Libertarian as we make the push to 5000. Between July and August of 2013: Democrats increased 0.03%
Republicans increased 0.26%
Libertarians increased 2.96% Annual growth has been great, as well. Between August of 2012 and August of 2013: Democrats increased 0.93% Republicans increased 2.95% Libertarians increased 37.91% We need this trend to continue. Many still don’t know how to register to vote as a Libertarian. If you’re not sure how to register Libertarian, you can find that here. NOTE: Kentucky law did not provide for tracking voters who sought to be registered as Libertarian, until January 1, 2006. The party first bought a copy of the statewide list in September of 2006 (the first data point), and has purchased copies in 2010 and 2012. LPKY continues to monitor and report our progress as we grow our numbers statewide. |
2013 might have been our best outreach year ever. We worked many outreach booths, which gave us exposure to hundreds of thousands of Kentuckians. We’ve been quite successful at finding new Libertarians, and helping others see why we’re the best answer to the problems faced by Kentucky, the US, and the world. But it takes money to fund these operations. At this point, we do not have enough money to do this again in 2014. That’s why we need your help! It’s very easy to donate. And in fact, the best way to help is with a recurring monthly dontation. These recurring donations help us keep a known-income monthly budget, so we can help plan their future events. Even if you can’t do a monthly donation, a one-time donation will help. It’s easy to donate. Simply go to our donation page on the LPKY website. We thank you in advance for your help in spreading the Libertarian message! |
Fixing registration problems across the state |
There have been a number of complaints lately of people who have tried to register to vote as a Libertarian and have simply been entered into the voter database as a generic “Other”. As such, the LPKY has been working since the end of March to get these problems solved. LPKY identified easy-to-spot problems in 15 counties, and has been working with those counties to resolve the problem. It would be a huge help if you can take a moment to complete the process at the end of this Newsletter to check your registration. Just let Mark Gailey or Ken Moellman know if you are incorrectly registered. Please, do not fix these problems on your own. We need to know and work with the clerk, so that we can ensure that similar mistakes aren’t made for other people in the county, as well. |
County Party Build-out Continues |
This is the year to focus on building our county parties. All politics are local and your voice is louder at the local level. Starting a county party is easy. You just need to contact your District Party and tell them you’re interested in helping get one started. Current county parties: Boone County- Formed 2012 Campbell County – Formed 2012 Jefferson County – Formed 2008 (incorporated in 3rd District Party) Kenton County – Formed May 2013 Counties with coordinators: Grant County – Coordinator named June 2013 (Brandon Simpson) Madison County – Coordinator named August 2013 (Brett Allen Clark) Montgomery County – Coordinator named August 2013 (Shannon Denniston) Pendleton County – Coordinator named June 2013 (Ame Vanorio) Trimble County – Coordinator named June 2013 (Mary Harmon) Counties in-progress: Christian County – Coordinator nominated June 2013. Counties with expressed interest, seeking a coordinator: Daviess County Fayette County Gallatin County Laurel County Marshall County Oldham County Want to see your county added to the list? We’re looking for volunteers at every level of the party, we’re just waiting for you to tell us that you’re ready to take an active role in the party. Just contact your District Representative on the LPKY website. |
Service Exemption work continues |
Our County Parties have begun to distribute LP door hangers, to spread the word about our party to people who vote, but are registered as an unaffiliated “Other” or as an “Independent”. The goal is to find new members, and potential new voters for our candidates. About four and a half hours of work can be substituted for annual membership dues. This exemption is open to anyone. If you are interested in taking advantage of either of these opportunities, you will need to work through your District Chair to get a list from which to work. You can contact them on the LPKY contact page. |
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I suggest you to try to get on T.V local news once every month to give its awareness of Libertarian Party of Kentucky all across counties of Kentucky including Bowling Green and the brief message what it means to be a Libertarian. I think it will be a wonderful idea to do…
Congratulations to the Libertarian Party of Kentucky!
Fixed, Richard!
I’m glad IPR posted this.
I keep thinking someone is going to fix the obvious typo in the title, the misspelling of Kentucky.