Libertarian Marc Victor polling at 15% in Arizona

In Arizona, Libertarian Party Senate Candidate Polls at 15 Percent | Reason - J.D. Tuccille:

October 14, 2022 - "Are Americans getting tired of the 'choice' between dictatorial Democrats and control-freakish Republicans? Many of us would like to think so, and evidence from the crucial Arizona U.S. Senate race suggests that at least some voters are looking for an option that doesn't represent a competing brand of authoritarianism. In that contest, Libertarian Party nominee Marc Victor is polling at 15 percent and may get a further boost from his appearance in a well-timed televised debate.

"'Live and let live. That's my position on every issue,' Marc Victor introduced himself during his opening statement at the October 6 debate, which was broadcast by PBS. 'Live your life however you choose, just let other people do the same thing'.... In a phone conversation this week, Victor expressed disappointment that he didn't get as much airtime as incumbent Sen. Mark Kelly (the Democrat in the race) and Republican challenger Blake Masters. But his appearance was enough for The New York Times to note 'he held his ground Thursday night, insisting that the moderator allow him to answer all the same questions as Mr. Kelly and Mr. Masters.' 'There could be a receptive audience for that message,' Jennifer Medina and Jack Healy added for the Times. "Roughly a third of Arizona's voters are not registered as Republicans or Democrats, and many view themselves as moderates or describe themselves as leaning libertarian." 

"In appealing to those voters, Victor, who also represented the Libertarian Party in the 2012 Senate race ultimately won by Republican Jeff Flake, emphasized the inclusive 'live and let live' message with which he opened.... 'We have the best message,' Victor told me. 'There's absolutely no question in my mind that if you are interested in freedom, in peace, in raising standards of living, we have the right message. So, I sit and scratch my head and say I've been a libertarian 30 years, why are we still in the minority?...  So, my mission, as a libertarian, has been to reboot the libertarian message. And I've done that, I've reformatted it into what I call the live-and-let-live message.'

"Ironically, one prominent Libertarian Party figure was turned off anyway. During the debate, Victor complained that 'our big problem with voting is that everything is up for a vote' and pointed to age of consent laws along with legislative representation as examples of the few issues that should be subject to political decision making. In response, Dave Smith, widely considered a contender for the 2024 Libertarian Party presidential nomination as part of the now-dominant Mises Caucus, endorsed one of Marc Victor's opponents. 'JFC,' tweeted Smith. "This guy is a clown who has absolutely nothing to do with us. He went outside the party and got the signatures to be on the ballot. Stupid AZ laws. I support Masters'....

"'If you want to see what's wrong with the Libertarian Party, look at what's going on now,' Victor told me of Smith's attack, and the prominent Mises Caucus figure's support for the very unlibertarian Masters (at last month's National Conservatism Conference in Miami, Blake Masters sniped 'Libertarianism doesn't work'). 'This is the kind of chaos that we need to get away from, and it only makes me want to separate from the Libertarian Party'....

"But, while Marc Victor is concerned about the political party, he hasn't lost faith in libertarian ideas. 'I'm putting out a very hardcore, pro-libertarian position in a very agreeable, non-threatening kind of a way,' he told me of his efforts through the campaign, which he intends to continue with a separate Live and Let Live organization. 'I think the future of this movement, whether you want to call it classical liberalism, the enlightenment, libertarianism, voluntaryism, anarcho-capitalism, whatever, I think it will be live-and-let-live-ism and that's what I'm trying to promote.'

"Arizonans, at least, seem receptive to that message. 'If the elections were held today, incumbent Democrat Mark Kelly sits at 46% support among likely voters, Republican Blake Masters at 33%, and Libertarian Marc Victor at 15%,' reports the Arizona Public Opinion Pulse Poll conducted by OH Predictive. 'Victor's 9% jump from the previous poll in early September, highly driven by Republican support, could be due to Blake Masters' struggle with his candidate image among likely voters,' add pollsters.

"The latest poll was conducted ... October 4-6, mostly before the televised debate took place.... The appearance should raise his profile, but third-party candidates tend to show up better in polling than they do on Election Day. Still, ballots are already being mailed to voters, and 89 percent of voters chose to vote early during the 2020 general election. That means Marc Victor may be gaining prominence at just the right moment to maximize support in a race that could decide control of the currently evenly divided U.S. Senate."

Read more: https://reason.com/2022/10/14/in-arizona-libertarian-party-senate-candidate-polls-at-15-percent/ 

AZ Libertarians appeal to SCOTUS to get on ballot

Libertarian Party tells Supreme Court state law keeps its candidates off ballot | News | tucson.com - Mamta Popat, Tucson Star:

December 21, 2019 - "The Arizona Libertarian Party is making a last-ditch effort to quash a state statute that it says was designed to keep its candidates off the ballot. In filings with the U.S. Supreme Court, attorney Oliver Hall from the Center for Competitive Democracy said the law pushed through the Republican-controlled Legislature in 2015 sharply increased — sometimes by a factor of 30 — the number of signatures needed for Libertarian candidates to qualify for the ballot.

"That wasn’t by accident. In fact the record shows that J.D. Mesnard, then a GOP representative from Chandler and now a state senator, told colleagues that Republicans would have been elected to two congressional seats had it not been for what he said were Libertarian candidates in the same race siphoning votes that otherwise would have gone to the GOP contenders. 'I can’t believe we wouldn’t see the benefit of this,' Mesnard said during a floor speech....

"Only one Libertarian qualified for the ballot in 2016 — and none at all in 2018. 'Arizona has relegated the Arizona Libertarian Party to a state of electoral purgatory,' Hall wrote. 'The party is ballot-qualified under Arizona law, but it cannot place its candidates on the ballot'....

"So far, Hall’s arguments have failed to sway federal judges. They concluded the wording of that 2015 law, strictly speaking, treats all parties equally in how they get their candidates qualified for the ballot. But it’s the way the system actually works that is behind the litigation.

"Prior to 2015, candidates for recognized minor parties could get on the ballot simply by submitting petitions with the signatures of one-half of 1% of those registered with the party. In 2018 for the Libertarians, a statewide candidate would have had to collect around 160 names.

"That year, the Republicans who control the Legislature lowered the requirement for all parties to one-quarter of 1%. But they engineered it so the figure was based not on party registration but on all who could sign a candidate’s petition. That added political independents to the base, who actually outnumber Democrats and run a close second to Republicans.

"So in 2018 the minimum signature requirement for a Libertarian running statewide was 3,153, about 10% of all those actually registered as Libertarians. Meanwhile the numbers for Republican and Democrat nominations remained close to what [they] always had been: 6,223 signatures for GOP candidates and 5,801 for Democrats, both a small fraction of each party’s voter registration."

Read more: https://tucson.com/news/arizona_news/libertarian-party-tells-supreme-court-state-law-keeps-its-candidates/article_d6f9288e-2251-5639-9c4a-9af705e75e0c.html
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AZ law designed to keep Libertarians off ballot upheld on appeal

Law Libertarians Contend Targets Their Candidates Upheld | Arizona News | US News - Associated Press:
May 31, 2019 - "A state law that the Libertarian Party contends was designed to keep its candidates off Arizona ballots has been upheld by a federal appeals court.... [The] 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected arguments from the Libertarian Party that the law increasing the number of qualifying signatures party candidates need violates their constitutional rights.

"The 2015 law backed by Republicans had a major impact. Only one Libertarian seeking to run for the state Legislature or Congress made the ballot in 2016 compared to 18 in 2004. Former Libertarian Party chairman Michael Kielsky has said Republicans created a law 'laser-focused' on his party because they believed Libertarians were draining votes from GOP candidates."
Read more: https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/arizona/articles/2019-05-31/law-libertarians-contend-targets-their-candidates-upheld

Ninth Circuit puts kibosh on Libertarian fight of Arizona election rules - Nathan Solis, Tucson Sentinel:
May 31, 2019 - "In 2015, Arizona changed its signature requirements to increase the number of signatures needed on nomination petitions to qualify candidates for placement on ballots. While parties with open primaries can collect signatures from registered party members, independents and unaffiliated voters, parties with a closed primary – like the Libertarian Party in Arizona  – can only take signatures from registered Libertarians....

"In 2017, a federal judge granted summary judgment to the state.... And ... on Friday a Ninth Circuit panel agreed. U.S. Circuit Judge M. Margaret McKeown wrote ... 'The state’s signature requirements are reasonable restrictions that impose, at most, a modest burden on the Libertarian Party’s First and Fourteenth Amendment rights, while directly advancing Arizona’s important regulatory interests'....

"The panel also rejected the party’s argument that the requirement is impossible since there are over 32,000 registered Libertarians in the state. 'Libertarian candidates can qualify for the primary ballot with signatures from 11% to 30% of party members in their jurisdictions, and no evidence suggests it is impossible to do so as a practical matter,' McKeown wrote."
Read more: http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report/053119_az_libertarians_case/ninth-circuit-puts-kibosh-libertarian-fight-arizona-election-rules/
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U.S. third parties marginalized in midterms

How Third Parties Are Getting Screwed This Election Season - Reason.com Matt Walsh & Alexis Garcia:

October 26, 2018 - "The 2018 midterms have been chock full of two-party shenanigans, all too often aided and abetted by journalists, pollsters, and the voters themselves.

"It all starts with ballot access. If a state government considers you a 'major party,' getting on the ballot is a snap. Worst-case scenario, you need to collect signatures from a tiny fraction of your own registered voter base. Best case, you just show up.

"Third-party and independent candidates, on the other hand, have to collect tens of thousands of signatures in some states – 15,000 to run for governor in New York, for example, including at least 100 in each congressional district. Arizona Republicans ... changed the law to say that Libertarians need to collect signatures not just from their own members but from registered independents as well. And by the way, the Green Party is subject to a less stringent set of rules.... Some states push their filing deadlines all the way back to a year before the election....

"New Hampshire this year herded all third parties under the same ballot line, confusingly titled 'Libertarians and Other Candidates.' New Mexico tried — and thankfully failed — to institute a 'straight party' ballot, meaning voters in this 3:2 Democratic state could automatically vote for all the candidates in one party by checking off just one box....

"Getting your name on the ballot doesn't mean it will be included in the polls. The Nevada race for U.S. Senate is universally rated a tossup, and yet the first three independent polls released this October failed to include Libertarian Tim Hagan...

"How about debates? Pennsylvania Senate candidate Dale Kerns was assured of a spot on stage, then uninvited. Texas gubernatorial candidate Mark Tippets was told he didn't have enough qualifying press, in part because his coverage in the Spanish-language media didn't count.... Iowa governor candidate Jake Porter, who's polling higher than any other L.P. statehouse contender, says his debate invitations were rescinded, in part because he refused to buy commercials.

"'The freer and more general the competition,' Adam Smith wrote in 1776, the more 'advantageous' it will be to the public. Competitors, he warned, will 'always' try 'to widen the market and to narrow the competition.' For too long we have allowed our system of government, that other glorious achievement from 1776, to be controlled by the market-rigging forces Smith warned us about. It's about time to make American politics competitive again."

Read more: https://reason.com/reasontv/2018/10/26/how-third-parties-being-screwed-this-ele
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AZ GOP gets Libertarian gov. candidate off ballot

Is the Arizona GOP at War with the Libertarian Party? - IVN.us - Shawn M. Griffiths:

June 29, 2018 - "Libertarian gubernatorial candidate Kevin McCormick is officially off his party’s primary ballot. He was the only libertarian candidate still in the race, until Arizona GOP Chair Jonathan Lines challenged the legitimacy of over 90 percent of his ballot signatures.

"McCormick ... said he found out 15 minutes before his hearing that he would be kicked off the ballot. The one hold up was Maricopa County. He said that because the county recorder’s office went beyond what was legally required, the recorder’s report had him 942 signatures short of what he needed. [Update: Kevin McCormick says his campaign has identified over 500 valid signatures as of Friday morning that were tossed by Maricopa County.]....

"Lines challenged the registration status of many of the voters, as well as the lack of city/town information on addresses. The most detrimental challenge to McCormick, though, targeted the party affiliation of many of the signers. McCormick ... was ... able to get signatures from hundreds of Republicans and Democrats. Because of this, though, the Arizona GOP was able to successfully kick him out of the gubernatorial race....

"Gaining ballot access is not easy for independent and third party candidates in Arizona.... The Republican-controlled state legislature also made things more difficult for Libertarian candidates in 2015 when they passed a ballot access law that raised the signature requirement to qualify for the Libertarian primary ballot.

"Richard Winger, editor of Ballot Access News and nationally-recognized expert on the subject, explained to me that the 2015 law based the party’s new signature requirement on total registered voters in the state, rather than the total number of registered libertarians. Winger noted that the law only hurt Libertarians.

"The Libertarian Party filed a lawsuit challenging the law. It failed in district court. However, the party is now asking the Ninth Circuit to overturn the law.

"In 2018, McCormick had to get 3,152 signatures versus the 133 required before the 2015 law. To put that in perspective, the new signature requirement is a little over 10 percent of the total number of registered libertarians in Arizona."

Read more: https://ivn.us/2018/06/29/arizona-gop-war-libertarian-party/
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Libertarian chair declares for Phoenix mayor

Libertarian Party Chairman Nicholas Sarwark Is Running For Mayor of Phoenix - The Jack News - Andy Craig:

December 11, 2017 - "Nicholas Sarwark, the chairman of the national Libertarian Party, has thrown his hat into the ring for mayor of Phoenix, America’s fifth-largest city. On Tuesday, Sarwark filed his paperwork with the city clerk’s office, and posted a video explaining why he’s seeking public office for the first time.

"Nicholas Sarwark, the chairman of the national Libertarian Party, has thrown his hat into the ring for mayor of Phoenix, America’s fifth-largest city. On Tuesday, Sarwark filed his paperwork with the city clerk’s office, and posted a video explaining why he’s seeking public office for the first time.

"The incumbent mayor, Greg Stanton, has announced that he is running for Congress as a Democrat in the 2018 elections. Under Arizona’s 'resign to run' law ... he must resign his current office no later than May 30. The timing of the special election, which is officially nonpartisan, will be determined by exactly when Stanton resigns....

"Sarwark is best-known to Libertarians as the party’s national chairman, including presiding over the convention last year in Orlando that nominated Govs. Gary Johnson and Bill Weld. Sarwark was first elected to the position in 2014, and was re-elected in a landslide in 2016.

"He is also an attorney, who worked for several years as a public defender, and the third-generation owner of Sarwark Consolidated Auto Sales, the largest and oldest independent car dealership in Phoenix.... A substantial chunk of the city’s population has done business with Sarwark, and everyone else has at least seen the ads featuring his memorable and unique surname....

"It’s an uphill fight, but Sarwark is putting together a team to take a serious run at it, bringing in both Libertarian and nonpartisan talent. As the national party chair, Sarwark has also developed a personal relationship with major donors, some of whom may now support his campaign.

"Because it’s a nonpartisan race, party labels won’t appear on the ballot, and both Democrats will face Sarwark in the general election. If no candidate wins outright with over 50% of the vote, a runoff election will be held between the top-two vote-getters."

Read more: https://www.thejacknews.com/politics/elections/libertarian-party-chairman-nicholas-sarwark-running-mayor-phoenixa1/
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Arizona Libertarians lose ballot law challenge

Law requiring more signatures for Libertarian candidates remains | State-and-regional | azdailysun.com - Howard Fischer, Capitol Media Services:

July 10, 2017 - "A federal judge has rebuffed a bid by the Libertarian Party to kill an Arizona law even its sponsors concede was designed to make it harder for minor party candidates to get on the general election ballot.

"Judge David Campbell acknowledged Monday the 2015 law sharply increases the number of signatures that Libertarian candidates need to qualify for ballot status. In some cases, the difference is more than 20 times the old requirement.

"The result was that only one Libertarian candidate qualified for the ballot in 2016, and none made it to the general election. By contrast, there were 25 in 2004, 19 in 2008 and 18 in 2012.

"But Campbell said the new hurdle is not 'unconstitutionally burdensome.' And the judge accepted the arguments that the higher signature requirements ensure that candidates who reach the November ballot have some “threshold of support'....

"In pushing for the change, GOP lawmakers made no secret they do not want Libertarian Party candidates in the race, contending that a vote for a Libertarian is a vote that would otherwise go to a Republican....

"Prior to 2015, would-be candidates qualified for the ballot by getting the signatures of one-half of one percent of all party members within a given area.... The new formula changed that to one-quarter of a percent — but for all people who could sign a candidate's petition. That adds political independents, who outnumber Democrats and are running neck-in-neck with Republicans, to the equation....

"Using that pre-2016 formula, a Libertarian could run for statewide office with petitions bearing just 134 names, one-half percent of all those registered with the party. But the new formula, which takes into account all the independents, required a Libertarian trying to get on a statewide ballot to get 3,023 signatures.

"To put that in perspective, that is close to 12 percent of all registered Libertarians. By contrast, the statewide burden for a GOP candidate, based on the number of registered Republicans, remains close to that one-half of one percent of all adherents."

Read more: http://azdailysun.com/news/local/state-and-regional/law-requiring-more-signatures-for-libertarian-candidates-remains/article_120fabb8-5436-5d50-af33-80e99fb1a32f.html
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Libertarians challenge Arizona voter-registration law

Libertarians: Minority party registration law unfair - Yoohyun Jung, Arizona Daily Star:

January 29, 2015 - "The attorney for the Libertarian Party is asking a federal appeals court to overturn legislation he argued makes it harder to register to vote as a member of a minority political party.

"Attorney David Hardy said limiting the checkboxes on voter-registration forms to just Republicans and Democrats is a 'self-re-enforcing cycle' on the part of the two predominant parties.

"'A person registering to vote is essentially told that there are two real political parties, and some unnamed "other" ones,' Hardy said in his opening brief to a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which conducted a special hearing Thursday at the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law.

"The Arizona Libertarian Party, along with the Green Party, sued Arizona’s then-Secretary of State Ken Bennett in December 2011 after the Legislature passed an amendment to an election statute, changing how voters could identify their party of choice.

"The paper registration form created under the 2011 amendment offers an option of “other,” with what Hardy calls a 'tiny' line to fill out voters’ party preference for those registering as anything other than Republican or Democrat.

"Prior to that, the form provided a blank write-in for all party preferences....

"According to the state’s voter registration report, during the 2014 general election, about 1.1 million Arizonans registered as Republicans and about 940,000 as Democrats. About 27,000 people registered as Libertarians.

Read more: http://tucson.com/news/local/libertarians-minority-party-registration-law-unfair/article_7a1bc66c-aac7-53d7-976c-2cf9f56478c4.html
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AZ Democrats promote Libertarian to conservative voters

Democrats send mailer backing Libertarian in tight congressional race - Rebekah L. Sanders, Arizona Republic:

"Democrats are mailing campaign fliers featuring a Libertarian candidate to conservative voters in a competitive Phoenix congressional race.

"The effort could help U.S. Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., stay in office. Libertarian Powell Gammill assisted Sinema to victory last election by siphoning votes from her Republican challenger.

"The mailers are part of the Democrats' political strategy, said D.J. Quinlan, executive director of the Arizona Democratic Party. But he says the mailers don't ask voters to support Gammill, they simply point out his positions.

"'It might be unconventional, sure, but deceptive it's surely not,' Quinlan said. 'It says right there: "Paid for by the Arizona Democratic Party".'

"A spokesman for Sinema's Republican opponent, Wendy Rogers, said the mailers are a desperate ploy."

"The mailers use language appealing to conservatives, pointing out that Gammill believes in eliminating foreign aid, funding for abortions and gun laws. "If he had his way, not a single cent of government money would go to fund an abortion for any reason," the mailer reads.

"Gammill has run for office multiple times. In 2012, he captured nearly 17,000 votes. Sinema won the 9th District seat by about 10,000."

Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/arizona/politics/2014/10/29/democrats-send-mailer-featuring-libertarian-ight-congressional-race/18144379/
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Hess beats GOP challenge to make Arizona ballot

Arizona Republicans lose court challenge to keep Libertarian off ballot - West Palm Beach Libertarian | Examiner.com - Karl Dickey:

June 20, 2014 -  "Yesterday, June 19, 2014, Arizona Republican Kevin McNeill lost his court case against Libertarian Party Gubernatorial candidate Barry Hess to keep Hess off the November, 2014 ballot. Hess said yesterday of the lawsuit, 'it's just another Republican attempt to try to win by exclusion'....

"The lawsuit centered around McNeill's allegation that Hess did not have enough valid petitions signatures to qualify him to be on the ballot. Yesterday, the court dismissed McNeill's case because it found the signatures in dispute were valid. Had McNeill been victorious in his anti-free market of ideas effort, Hess would have been short by five signatures to qualify for the ballot.

"This is not the first attempt by Republicans to show their true anti-free market colors. Last year, the Republican-led Arizona legislature passed HB 2305 which would have made it a near impossibility for the Libertarian Party candidate to get on the state's ballot.

"In September of last year, Hess led the largest and most diverse coalition in Arizona history to send HB2305 to the ballot, instead–by Citizen’s Referendum. It was the first successful such effort in almost 30 years, with almost as many attempts.

"Republicans were set back on their heels and scrambled to repeal their own legislation in an effort to hide the issue from the Voters in November."

Read more: http://www.examiner.com/article/arizona-republicans-lose-court-challenge-to-keep-libertarian-off-ballot
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GOP changes election laws to keep Libertarians, Greens off ballot in Arizona

Election-law change aims to block Libertarian, Green Party candidates - Howard Fischer Capitol Media Services, Arizona Star:

"Contending one and maybe two congressional races were stolen from them, Republican legislators have approved and Gov. Jan Brewer has signed a measure to finesse election laws to keep out the Libertarians who they say are taking votes from their candidates.

"The change, tucked into a much larger set of revisions to election laws, would sharply increase the number of signatures that Libertarian and Green Party candidates need to get on the ballot for their own legislative and congressional primaries.

"Barry Hess, the Libertarian Party's former candidate for governor, said in most cases the number of signatures required is far more than the number of people actually registered in most districts. He said unless these minor parties could find independents willing to help them get on the ballot, it would create an 'insurmountable obstacle' to any minor party candidate getting nominated, much less being on the general election ballot.

"But Rep. J.D. Mesnard, R-Chandler, admitted publicly that's precisely the purpose of the change. And the real goal is creating an easier path for GOP candidates to win."

Read more: http://azstarnet.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/elections/election-law-change-aims-to-block-libertarian-green-party-candidates/article_6956444c-3b8c-59a9-8ded-121daa2d47a2.html
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Libertarian Marc Victor Targeted in Arizona Senate Race by Wealthy Super PAC

Libertarian Marc Victor, of All People, Targeted in Arizona Senate Race by Wealthy Super PAC - Phoenix New Times - News - Valley Fever - Matthew Hendley::

October 31, 2012 - "One of the biggest 'Super PACs' in the nation is focusing part of its cash on the U.S. Senate Race that will undoubtedly be won by Democrat Richard Carmona or Republican Jeff Flake. However, the Ending Spending Fund -- which has spent $9 million in races this year, the 10th-most of any Super PAC in the nation -- is targeting Libertarian candidate Marc Victor....

"'Every morning, Harry Reid wakes up, eats his breakfast, and says a little prayer that Libertarians will vote for Marc Victor,' the ad we found on Facebook says. 'Harry is desperate to keep the Senate. And, polling at less than 5%, he knows that a vote for Marc Victor is really a vote for Richard Carmona'....

Victor tells New Times. 'I'm just promoting freedom.... Jeff Flake is pretending to be a Libertarian, pretending to be for freedom and free markets.... He can't even come out against the drug war,' Victor continues. 'For me, that's the easiest thing to come out against.'

"Victor says it seems like Flake's campaign wanted him to withdraw from the race, and he would -- 'if it were in the interests of freedom. If Jeff Flake says he'll end the drug war, I'll withdraw.'"

Read more: http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/valleyfever/2012/10/libertarian_marc_victor_of_all.php
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