Third Party Watch

The Following Report was submitted by Joe Magyer from this weekend’s Libertarian National Convention in Portland, Oregon. Joe is covering the event for Third Party Watch and we’ll be posting his dispatches as they’re received.

— DAY 1 / Part One ————————————————————

Greetings, 3rd party afficianados!

Right off the bat, I’d like to say I’m [...]

As most of you are aware, this weekend the Libertarian Party’s national convention will be held in Portland, Oregon.

Providing coverage of the event for Third Party Watch will be Joe Magyer, a volunteer and delegate from Georgia. If things go as planned he’ll be sending in nightly reports on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday [...]

It appears that the Green Party’s candidate for Indiana Secretary of State won’t gather enough signatures to qualify for a spot on the ballot. He’s already looking toward a 2010 run at the office, though he’ll continue this year as a write-in candidate.

There are some pretty annoying quotes in here from a Democrat and [...]

TODAY’S CANDIDATE OF THE DAY IS…

Stephen Spring, a Green Party member who is running for re-election to his seat on the Portland School Board in Maine.

Spring was first elected in November of 2003 with 55% of the vote.

Last year Spring was nominated to head the board’s Finance Committee, but was defeated at a controversial meeting [...]

From the Santa Monica Mirror…

After an investigation that has gone on for several years, former Santa Monica Mayor Mike Feinstein has been cleared of any wrongdoing by the Green Party of California.

The incident had to do with whether Feinstein properly handled funds from 2000 and 2001 for the Pico Blvd. Green Party office. The [...]

TODAY’S CANDIDATE OF THE DAY IS…

Chris Lugo, Green Party candidate for U.S. Senate from Tennessee.

Lugo is a 36 year old activist who’s worked with the Nashville Peace Coalition, Nashville Peace and Justice Center and Middle Tennessee Green Party.

He’s made nice use of multimedia on his campaign site.

The website: http://www.chris4senate.com

TODAY’S CANDIDATE OF THE DAY IS…

Richard Mack, the Libertarian for U.S. Senate representing the state of Arizona.

Mack is the former Sheriff of Graham County. In 1994 he was the first Sheriff in the country to file a lawsuit against the Brady bill, ultimately winning a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision. However, he was [...]

John V. LaBeaume is the new National Campaign Coordinator for the Libertarian Party. He was kind enough to share some of his thoughts on the upcoming mid-term elections, the new party website, and a new LP “get out the vote” tool that will be unveiled at this year’s National Convention in Portland.

TPW: Can you [...]

Looks like we may be able to add another name to the growing list of highly credible independent candidates for governor this year.

From the Lawrence Journal-World…

Former Wichita Mayor Bob Knight said he is considering running for governor as an independent candidate.

Knight, who ran as a Republican for governor in 2002 but lost to Tim Shallenburger [...]

Richard Winger of Ballot Access News reports that the Green and Constitution Parties have filed signatures in Illinois for their statewide candidates…

June 26 is the petition deadline for minor party candidate petitions in Illinois. Two parties filed: Green and Constitution. The state law requires 25,000 signatures for statewide nominees, but state law also says that [...]

TODAY’S CANDIDATE OF THE DAY IS…

Gerald Sanders, the Peace and Freedom Party’s candidate for California Treasurer.

He’s a former public school teacher and socialist activist. Ten years ago, Sanders came quite close to winning a seat on the Oakland School Board:

In 1996 Gerald Sanders was approached by some Oakland teachers who wanted a pro-teacher and [...]

Sorry for the lack of updates for the last few days, I took a long weekend and went down to Kennedy Space Center for a few days.

Fun trip, but it’s back to work now… so things will be returning to normal starting tomorrow.

New Hampshire LP chairman John Babiarz is running for the State Legislature, as a Democrat. Babiarz captured 1.14% of the vote in his 2000 campaign for governor and 2.94% in his 2002 run for the same office.

In his 2002 bid he actually polled better than 10% in a few small towns, one of which [...]

Disappointing news for independent Congressional candidate Steve Stockman who was seeking to replace Representative Tom Delay this Fall.

From Fort Bend Now…

Texas Secretary of State Roger Williams ruled Thursday that although Stockman had gathered more than 600 signatures in petitions aimed at putting him on the ballot, fewer than the required 500 signatures were valid.

Stockman is [...]

TODAY’S CANDIDATE OF THE DAY IS…

Jeff Toste, Green Party candidate for Rhode Island State Senate in District 5.

This is Toste’s third run for this Senate seat. In 2002 he received 22% of the vote in a one-on-one race and in 2004 he improved that to a 29% showing. This year, however, there’s a [...]

Great news from Texas as both Kinky Friedman and Carole Keeton Strayhorn have certified to appear on the Fall ballot. The Secretary of State’s office has determined that both candidates have turned in enough valid signatures to qualify.

From the Washington Post…

Maverick gubernatorial candidates Kinky Friedman and Carole Keeton Strayhorn learned Thursday that they had [...]

I’ll say it one last time for anyone who missed it the first 10 times. I am a registered Republican voter. I registered to vote in 1999 and went with the Republican designation so I could vote in the 2000 Presidential primary.

I voted for McCain. In November, I voted for Harry [...]

TODAY’S CANDIDATE OF THE DAY IS…

Dan Belforti, Libertarian candidate for U.S. House of Representatives in New Hampshire’s First District.

He was also the party’s nominee for New Hampshire CD-1 in 2000 and 2002, first winning about 2% of the vote and later improving to 3.3% two years later.

Belforti has a pretty solid resume as a former [...]

Looks like the New York Greens are getting some attention for their substantial growth in registered voters. From the NY Daily News…

The Big Apple is getting greener – and it has nothing to do with grass or cash.

The number of state voters registered with the Green Party more than doubled in the past five [...]

As a Green Party candidate for Governor in 2002, David Bacon received 26,465 votes or 5.47% in his 2002 race against Democrat Bill Richardson and Republican John Sanchez. Now he’s back and seeking a less prominant office.

From KOBTV…

The Green Party’s former candidate for governor is jumping back into the political fray.

David Bacon is running [...]

TODAY’S CANDIDATE OF THE DAY IS…

Chief Wana Dubie, a Libertarian candidate for Missouri State House of Representatives.

His platform focuses on Hemp legalization as the central issue, and apparently his girlfriend is currently in prison for a parole violation.

He also has links to a number of September 11th conspiracy sites and some other fringe causes… including [...]

The NYLP has nominated a slate of replacement candidates for Governor and Lt. Governor. They replace William Weld who had also been campaigning for the Republican nomination.

The press release follows…

By nominating John Clifton for Governor and Donald Silberger for Lt. Governor, the Libertarian Party of New York (LPNY) will restart its campaign for [...]

TODAY’S CANDIDATE OF THE DAY IS…

Dexter Kamilewicz, independent candidate for U.S. House of Representatives in Maine’s First District.

Kamilewicz is a former teacher and educational administrator with the Oxford Hills School District. His professional career has lead him to open his own real estate firm, the Acadia Bay Company. He’s also a peace activist [...]

Now this is a bit of inventive fundraising and a great media stunt as well!

Russ Diamond’s Lt. Governor candidate, Tom Lingenfelter, will auction off a piece of American history to help raise the funds needed for him to campaign full time. The official press release follows…

One of the Old West’s most historic guns – [...]

Ballot Access News has some updates on the efforts of various candidates are parties to obtain ballot lines in 2006.

First up, the United Party in Idaho qualified:

On June 16, the Idaho Secretary of State approved the name change of the ballot-qualified Natural Law Party, to the United Party. The United Party is a centrist party [...]