Libertarian Senatorial candidates set vote records

Joe Miller Shatters Libertarian US Senate Record While 8 Others Set New State Party Marks | Smart Politics - Eric Ostermaier:

November 20, 2016 - "The nation’s third largest political party notched by far its most successful election cycle in races to the nation’s upper legislative chamber....

"Alaska’s Joe Miller ... was an 11th hour recruit by the Libertarian Party in September 2016 and his brief, two-month campaign won him an impressive 29.4 percent of the vote in the general election.... Miller not only far exceeded his polling numbers (which usually had him in the mid- to high teens), but he demolished his party’s mark for its all-time best showing in a race for the office....

"Party records were also set in:

• Arkansas, Frank Gilbert (3.98 percent): Gilbert nearly doubled the 2.03 percent won by Nathan LaFrance in 2014. Gilbert and LaFrance are the only two U.S. Senate candidates to get on the general election ballot in the state under the Libertarian Party banner. 
• Colorado, Lily Williams (3.61 percent): Williams, the seventh U.S. Senate nominee for the party in state history, eclipsed Gaylon Kent’s 2.59 percent record from 2014 by just over a point. 
• Florida, Paul Stanton (2.12 percent): Stanton more than quadrupled the support received by the party’s only other nominee for the office in state history – Alexander Snitker in 2010 (0.46 percent). 
• Georgia, Allen Buckley (4.16 percent): Buckley broke a 20-year record held by 1996 nominee Jack Cashin (3.60 percent). Libertarians have fielded U.S. Senate nominees in 10 elections in the Peach State since its first nominee in 1992. 
• Iowa, Chuck Aldrich (2.71 percent): Aldrich, the seventh nominee fielded by the party for the office, broke 2010 nominee John Heiderscheit’s record (2.27 percent)....
• North Dakota, Robert Marquette (3.08 percent): Marquette almost doubled the party’s previous best showing in the state in a U.S. Senate race – Keith Hanson’s 1.63 percent in 2010. 
• Oklahoma, Robert Murphy (3.00 percent): Murphy – the first nominee to gain ballot access under the Libertarian banner in 20 years for the office – crushed the party’s previous best mark of 1.23 percent set in 1996 by Agnes Reiger. 
• Wisconsin, Phil Anderson (2.96 percent): Anderson bested Joseph Kexel’s 2012 campaign (2.07 percent) by nearly a full point. None of the other seven U.S. Senate Libertarian nominees in the Badger State over the decades had reached one percent.... 

"An additional six other 2016 nominees turned in the second best Libertarian U.S. Senate performance in their respective states: Robert Garrard in Kansas (5.52 percent), Edward Clifford in Pennsylvania (3.84 percent), Sean Haugh in North Carolina (3.56 percent, 0.18 points shy of his own record), Kent McMillan in Illinois (3.22 percent), Richard Lion in Connecticut (1.14 percent), and Alex Merced in New York (0.65 percent).

 "Libertarian U.S. Senate candidates outperformed their party’s presidential nominee, Gary Johnson, in seven states: Alaska, Arkansas, Kansas, Indiana, Georgia, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania. "

Read more: http://editions.lib.umn.edu/smartpolitics/2016/11/20/joe-miller-shatters-libertarian-us-senate-record-while-8-others-set-new-state-party-marks/
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Libertarian Williams in Colorado Senate debate

In a first, Libertarian candidate in Colorado’s U.S. Senate race qualifies for major debate – The Denver Post - John Frank:

September 6, 2016 - "Colorado’s U.S. Senate race begins in earnest this week with a major surprise: The Libertarian candidate will participate in the first debate.

"Lily Tang Williams will join Democrat Michael Bennet and Republican Darryl Glenn at the Club 20 debate Saturday in Grand Junction — a significant opportunity to boost the Libertarian Party’s exposure in Colorado in a year in which voters are looking for alternatives to the major party candidates at the top of the ticket.

"The 52-year-old small businesswoman and Chinese immigrant is the first third-party candidate in recent memory to qualify for a major U.S. Senate debate in Colorado, said Libertarian Chairman Jay North.

"I’m going to tell people that I offer a real third option,' Williams said in an interview. 'The two-party duopoly in our country has not worked well.'

"Williams qualified for the debate after new figures released Tuesday showed the Libertarian Party reached 1 percent of registered voters in Colorado — the threshold to participate in the Club 20 debate, which serves as unofficial kickoff of the fall campaign.

"Just days ago, the Western Slope civic organization told Williams that she could not participate after mid-August voter registration numbers put the Libertarian party at 0.977 percent, just 0.023 percentage points shy of the threshold.

"The Libertarian Party, which originated in Colorado, now counts 37,551 registered members, or 1.02 percent of the 3.68 million total voters in the state.

"The addition of 1,802 voters to its ranks in August is part of a small but steady defection from major parties in recent years, boosted this year by dissatisfaction with the Republican and Democratic presidential candidates, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.

"Floyd Ciruli, an independent Colorado political analyst, said qualifying for the debate is a big step: 'If you’re not on the stage, nobody sees you.'"

Read more: http://www.denverpost.com/2016/09/06/lily-tang-williams-libertarian-candidate-colorados-us-senate-debate/
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Gary Johnson getting 15% in Colorado polls

Small but growing number of Colorado voters shift to Green, Libertarian parties – The Denver Post - Mark K. Matthews:

August 22, 2016 - "Lauren Brillante of Broomfield ...  is one part of a small but growing shift among Colorado voters toward the Green and Libertarian parties. Between August 2012 and August 2016, the number of registered Libertarian voters roughly doubled — from 18,233 to 35,731 — while the Green Party rose to 11,383 voters, an increase of about 2,600....

"As of Aug. 1, Republicans and Democrats together accounted for roughly 2.3 million voters in Colorado — split basically in half between them. Individually, however, each major party claims fewer Colorado voters than the number of residents who don’t register with any party. Activists with the Green and Libertarian parties say this pool of about 1.3 million unaffiliated voters is ripe for recruits....

"A poll released Wednesday by Quinnipiac University found that 16 percent of Colorado voters would back Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson for president and 7 percent would support Stein of the Green Party.

"Both these totals are higher than what was found in Iowa and Virginia — the other two states surveyed by Quinnipiac. A separate poll by NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist put Johnson at 15 percent and Stein at 6 percent in Colorado....

"Even now there is a smattering of third-party officials in the state. Beau Woodcock, the mayor of Milliken, is Libertarian, and Art Goodtimes of the Green Party serves as a commissioner in San Miguel County.

“'It really comes down to local empowerment, freedom and citizen engagement,' Woodcock said. 'Unfortunately, both the Republicans and Democrats have strayed from this in favor of big centralized government, which has proven to be ineffective in both preserving freedom and being able to address the needs of the citizens and communities.'

"Nearly 30 Coloradans are running as Libertarian this year, and a handful have taken up the Green banner as well. "Among them: Libertarian Lily Tang Williams and Green Arn Menconi — both of whom are trying to play spoiler in a Senate race....

"'People have been fed up for a while. This is just a breaking point,' said Williams, who also noted the unpopularity of Clinton and Trump. 'That’s why third-party candidates this year are shining.'"

Read more: http://www.denverpost.com/2016/08/22/third-parties-election/
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Republican Forum endorses Libertarian for Senate

El Paso County GOP group endorses a Libertarian for U.S. Senate | The Colorado Independent - Corey Hutchins:

April 28, 2016 - "A group of Colorado Springs Republicans Wednesday endorsed Lily Tang Williams, the Libertarian candidate running in Colorado’s U.S. Senate race.

"The nod from the El Paso County Republican Strategy Forum was the first time in its 13 years the group has endorsed a third-party candidate, says its chair Sheryl Glasgow.

"Williams spoke to the group Wednesday for more than an hour about her former life under Chairman Mao’s rule in Communist China, a place 'without any civil liberties, privacy, and economic freedom.' Her message resonated with the Republican group, which is neither affiliated with the El Paso County Republican Party nor the state GOP....

"Glasgow said her group has been disappointed with the large GOP field for U.S. Senate this year, especially after state Sen. Tim Neville was knocked out of the running at the Republican Party’s April 9 state convention.

"None of the other candidates for U.S. Senate have spoken to the group about their bids, she said.
'We all personally know Darryl Glenn, and I think he’s spoken to our group in the past'.... She declined to elaborate on Glenn, saying news that her group, which has the word 'Republican' in its name, endorsed a Libertarian would be 'explosive enough'.

"The only other Republican so far who has made the GOP ballot is former CSU athletic director Jack Graham, and the group is not fond of him, Glasgow said. The Libertarian Williams found herself on the group’s radar when one of its members heard her speaking elsewhere .... 'so he said, "Well, you guys ought to hear her," and we were all just in awe of her,' Glasgow said of Williams.

Williams, 51, hopes the recent endorsement will generate buzz around her third-party bid. 'I think some Republican officials aren’t going to be happy,' she told The Independent.

"She’s running for U.S. Senate because she opposes big government, the Common Core educational standards, corporate welfare, and the nation’s surveillance programs. Coming from China, she says she’ll have no problem calling out her Senate colleagues as communists if she has to. She’d limit herself to two terms."

Read more: http://www.coloradoindependent.com/159041/el-paso-county-gop-group-endorses-a-libertarian-for-u-s-senate
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Colorado Libertarians choose Williams for Senate

Libertarians nominate Lily Williams for U.S. Senate in Colorado | The Colorado Independent:

March 12, 2016 - "Gambling tables, booze, and attendees sporting 1920s speakeasy-themed attire were the backdrop to this year’s state nominating convention of the Colorado Libertarian Party.... Men in white suits, hats and bow ties mingled with women in flapper-wear. A three-piece band playing in the background competed with the sound of gambling chips bouncing off felt tables around the room. There was a silent auction for a 1922 phonograph machine....

"Nationally, the Libertarians are the third largest political party, and that’s also true in Colorado. There are about 25,000 active members in the Centennial State. (For comparison, the Green Party has about 7,000.) And while their ranks in government here include posts on local water and sanitation boards, no Libertarian holds a state or federal office in Colorado....

"[T]wo Libertarians gave speeches, stumping for their party’s nomination in the big Colorado U.S. Senate race.... Lily Tang Williams, an immigrant and real estate investor from Parker, Colorado, ... gave an impassioned speech to the crowd in which she called herself a former 'slave' from Communist China who will turn Washington upside down.... Williams, 51, was running for the nomination against Gaylon Kent, 50, a humorist writer from California who lives near Steamboat Springs.... In 2014 he got a record 2.6 percent of the vote in the U.S. Senate race between Democrat Mark Udall and Republican Cory Gardner....

"Williams received more support than Kent, who later chose to run successfully for the nomination as the Libertarian Party’s choice for the 3rd Congressional District. Williams was considered again for U.S. Senate, and received unanimous support, so she’ll be on the ballot in the fall.

"In an interview with The Colorado Independent, Williams said what she meant by being a slave is that when she came to America at 24 she realized that’s what she’d been while in China.  'I did not know I was a slave,' she said. In China she couldn’t vote, and couldn’t own guns or private property. When she first came to America, she said, if she’d taken a political quiz she would likely have identified with being a statist.

"'When you are brainwashed all your life you do not know the difference,' she said. 'You don’t know how to think out of the box.'

"Then she met her husband, a Libertarian. It took him 20 years to 'really reverse my indoctrination,' she said. She became a Republican, but left the party after the Bush years and came into the Libertarian fold. She’s running for U.S. Senate because she opposes big government, the Common Core educational standards, corporate welfare, and the nation’s surveillance programs. Coming from China, she says she’ll have no problem calling out her Senate colleagues as communists if she has to. She’d limit herself to two terms.

“'I think I’m a mainstream American who cares about freedom,' she says. 'If I have a chance and the press treats me fairly about my race, reports about my race, if they invite me to the debates, I think I can win because my message is universal.'”

Read more: http://www.coloradoindependent.com/158261/lily-williams-libertarian-colorado
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