Libertarian state reps defeated in NH, Nebraska

Libertarian State Sen. Laura Ebke of Nebraska Loses Re-Election Bid - Hit & Run : Reason.com - Brian Doherty:

November 7, 2018 - "Nebraska state Sen. Laura Ebke won office in 2014 as a Republican, but switched parties to Libertarian in 2016 because of her dislike for lockstep discipline in a party that she didn't think hewed to consistent small government principles. After coming in second in a three-way nonpartisan primary in May, with 33 percent for Ebke and 44 for Republican Tom Brandt, she lost to him tonight, 57-43.

Ebke was extraordinarily well-funded for a state legislative race in Nebraska. Due largely to big-money contributions from out-of-state libertarians, she raised nearly a quarter million, huge by Nebraska standards and more than twice Brandt's take....

"The Libertarian Party didn't put a lot of effort or time into Ebke's race, which seems fine with her. She wasn't stressing the party connection much in her campaigning or messaging; unless a voter directly asked her, she wasn't apt to bring it up.... Her campaign manager, Asa Bryant, agreed in an interview last month that trying to sell a voter on the entire L.P. package was less useful to them in a local campaign than just trying to sell the candidate. So he advised Ebke not to stress the party label and not to use the term libertarian in her promotional material."
Read more: https://reason.com/blog/2018/11/07/libertarian-state-sen-laura-ebke-of-nebr

Party-Switching N.H. State Rep. Brandon Phinney Gets Slaughtered as a Libertarian - Hit & Run : Reason.com - Matt Welch

November 6, 2018 - "Brandon Phinney was a model for one genre of elected Libertarian: The party-switcher. The New Hampshire state representative, elected to the 400-member body in 2016 as a Republican, switched to Libertarian in June 2017 after watching the machinery of allegedly small-government Republicanism up close.... He targeted archaic laws to be stricken from the books, helped effectively legalize visiting bands drinking beer on stage, and prepped for his first election wearing the 'L' right there on his sweater....

"He got trounced.... 'After two years of voting to protect personal freedom, control spending, provide transparency and after two years of proposing legislation to do the same (with two bills as a prime sponsor signed into law),' Phinney wrote on his Facebook page, 'my district rewarded me with 377 votes.... The Democratic candidate, who barely campaigned, received 1,548 votes. The Republican, who did NOTHING but put out yard signs, received 1,720 votes'....

"In another post, Phinney complained that 'voters care more about party than literally anything else and that's the biggest problem in this country.'" "
Read more: https://reason.com/blog/2018/11/06/party-switching-nh-state-rep-brandon-phi

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Elected Libertarians making a difference

How Elected Libertarians Are Making the World More Free - Reason.com - Matt Welch:

July 14, 2018 - "What exactly do Libertarians do? Wait — don't answer that. As someone who edited a small-l libertarian magazine for eight years, I know all your jokes.... But at least 169 of these exotic creatures also hold elected office across the [U.S.].... And what these critics of government power are doing once they acquire it may provide a flicker of whimsical hope in these dark and fractious times.

"Brandon Phinney, a 30-year-old Army vet who found libertarianism through Ron Paul, was elected to the 400-member New Hampshire House of Representatives in 2016 as a Republican. He then switched parties after discovering to his horror that elected GOP officials did not mean what they said about cutting the state budget.... Phinney ... pores through the ever-expanding state code, looking for laws that are anachronistic, impossible to enforce, and/or just plain wrong. [Then] he tries to remove them.

"For instance, the Live Free or Die State had on its books for more than a century a prohibition against reusing glass milk-delivery bottles for any other substance besides milk.... New Hampshire is one of the few states in the union where performers are barred from drinking alcohol on stage. Or I should say were, until Phinney tackled the problem....

"Phinney faces his first reelection with an "L" next to his name this November, which will be an important early indication of whether the L.P. is able to protect, and thus lure more of, its recent converts from the two older parties.

"Another key party switcher facing electoral challenge this year is Nebraska state Sen. Laura Ebke. Ebke, who transferred from the GOP to the L.P. two years ago over issues of civil liberties, achieved something this spring that libertarians have been talking about forever: occupational licensing reform. Like Phinney's bills, Ebke's passed with overwhelming bipartisan — nay, tripartisan — support....

"Having Libertarians play the honest, respected brokers between Dems and Repubs may seem far-fetched... But that's just what Mayor Jeff Hewitt has done in Calimesa [California].

"The swing vote on a split city council, Hewitt, a garrulous former swimming pool digger, convinced his small town to tackle one of California's biggest problems: The unsustainability of public sector pensions. Instead of contracting fire services from unwieldy Riverside County, with its top-down engine-staffing rules and defined-benefit pensions, Calimesa under Hewitt's tutelage opted out and created its own tiny fire department, saving taxpayers a bundle. Now Hewitt is running for a spot on the Riverside County Board of Supervisors....

"The Libertarian Party needs, and is finally getting, some demonstration projects about how to govern better. Getting more Jeff Hewitts in more important positions could transform the little party that couldn't into not just the country's leading third party (which it is already), but also a bloc that can at long last change the behavior of the top two."

Read more: https://reason.com/archives/2018/07/14/how-elected-libertarians-are-making-the
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Libertarian campaigns to watch in 2018

Here Are Four Major Electoral Opportunities for the Libertarian Party in 2018 - Andy Craig, The Jack News:

January 1, 2018 - "The most common criticism of the Libertarian Party is that it can’t win.... It’s not always the case that Libertarians can’t win, though.... In no particular order and with the New Year upon us,  here are [some] key opportunities for Libertarians in 2018:

1. "Nebraska state senator Laura Ebke ... switched her registration to the Libertarian Party in 2016.... Since then, Ebke ... secured the passage of a bill to ensure Libertarian ballot access in Nebraska, assembled a bipartisan coalition for occupational licensing reform, and was elected by her colleagues to serve as the Chair of the important Judiciary Committee....

"But Ebke still needs help from Libertarians nationwide, particularly in fundraising to match the spending-spree that [the GOP] is likely to go on.... Ebke’s re-election ... could set off a domino effect of other liberty-minded state legislators ditching the GOP....

 2. "Libertarian Party ... chair ... Nicholas Sarwark is making his first bid for elected office in a special election for Mayor of Phoenix, Arizona. A unique combination of circumstances and local notability give Sarwark some recognition. In a race that includes two Democratic members of the City Council, but no Republican, it is possible that Sarwark could make it into the top-two run-off....

"So far his campaign website shows that he has raised over $27,000 in online donations since announcing his campaign.... That’s not yet enough, but it’s a good start....

3. "In a belt of states across the Mountain West, and ... Upper Midwest, popular alignment with libertarianism runs higher than in most of the country.... As we get into the Spring of 2018, it will be worth keeping an eye on states like Wyoming, Montana, and North Dakota. If viable non-incumbent Libertarian candidates for state legislatures arise anywhere, it will probably be in this part of the country. Elections that ... go uncontested by one of the two major parties can be particularly ripe for Libertarians to target....

4. "In New Hampshire, the party already has three incumbent party-switchers ... – Caleb Dyer, Brandon Phinney, and Joseph Stallcop – [who] face very local elections, with low margins for victory under New Hampshire’s multi-member-district system..... The incumbent advantage is real, but voting trends for the NH legislature also tend to be sharply partisan, a real obstacle for even a Libertarian incumbent who doesn’t secure the endorsement of either local Republicans or Democrats....

"Next-door Maine also offers potential, thanks to having become the first state to adopt instant run-off voting, also known as ranked choice.... It’s not yet known whether IROV will actually be used during the 2018 elections, but if it is, it will provide a chance for Libertarians to test the theory that they could prevail if not hindered by the perception of 'wasted votes' and perpetual spoiler status."

Read more: https://www.thejacknews.com/politics/elections/four-electoral-opportunities-for-libertarian-party-2018/
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3rd NH legislator switches to Libertarian Party

Rochester Rep switches to Libertarian Party - fosters.com:

June 27, 2017 - "Rep. Brandon Phinney (Strafford 24-Rochester), formerly a member of the Republican Party, announced Tuesday on the State House steps he is changing his party affiliation to Libertarian.

"For the third time this year, a sitting state legislator has left his party and joined the LP. Rep. Caleb Q. Dyer (Hillsborough 37) switched to Libertarian from Republican in February, and Rep. Joseph Stallcop (Cheshire 4) left the Democratic Party in May.

"Darryl W. Perry, chair of the New Hampshire Libertarian Party, welcomes any others, unhappy with their party leadership, to join the LP.

“'When the Libertarian Party had ballot access in the 1990's, the Libertarian House Caucus had four members,' Perry said. 'It is my hope and desire that the civil libertarians, classical liberals, and philosophical libertarians in the New Hampshire General Court will show the same courage shown by Reps. Dyer, Stallcop, and, now, Rep. Brandon Phinney, and abandon the two-party system that has for so long burdened us with taxation, regulation, and legislation that has trampled our freedoms.'

"Phinney will work with Dyer and Stallcop in the N.H. House Libertarian Caucus to minimize state government, lower taxes, and eliminate barriers to conducting business, and will work hard to increase individual freedom and personal liberty while protecting the rights of individuals and businesses within New Hampshire....

“'We were elected to the people’s house to serve their will, their interests, and limit government interference in their lives,' Phinney said of his differences with the GOP. 'I was not elected to do the bidding of a political party at the expense of my principles. Establishment partisan politics do nothing to protect the rights of people, but instead only serve to prop up and expand government with arcane plans to irresponsibly spend our money and enact burdensome regulations on businesses, small and large alike. The Libertarian Party platform gives us, as legislators, the best possible framework to expand social freedoms, support a free-market economy, and ensure the checks and balances on government power are enforced.'"

Read more: http://www.fosters.com/news/20170627/rochester-rep-switches-to-libertarian-party
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