Libertarian Press Conference at the Capitol in Springfield

This past weekend was one of the busiest and most productive ones for the Libertarian Party of Illinois – and the DuPage Libertarians were involved throughout the process.

Monday, June 23rd was the deadline to turn in petitions to the State Board of Elections for ballot access for our seven statewide candidates in the Illinois November election for 2014. Political Division Director Lex Green and his wife, Membership Director Karen Green, hosted a weekend of petition gathering that involved everything from signature verification to punching holes and stamping numbers.

Collecting petitions from petitioners all across the state is laborious and tedious work. It cannot be overstated how much the Libertarian Party of Illinois owes to Lex and Karen for taking charge in the organization and implementation of this task.

Public Relations Director Steve Bosak wrote and published three press releases over the past few weeks to entice journalists in Springfield to attend a press conference that we had scheduled for 1pm in the media room inside the capitol building. Part of the offer promised a free Jimmy John’s lunch to those who attended, partially as a representation of our “freaky fast” press conference and also as an omen to large businesses who are leaving the state. Steve worked with our Communications Division Director Crystal Jurczynski to help put together all our information and talking points, with copies available to the attending journalists.

The second press release included this photo of our promised visual aid – our large petition stack along with representations of the petty requirements from the other two main parties in the state. It gained some traction and created quite a buzz, eliciting many comments of curiosity as well as the nickname “shroud of turn-in.” We would unveil our surprise at the conference.

On the morning of the deadline, the giant stack of petitions that we turned in to the State Board of Elections contained 43,921 signatures, gathered from all across the state of Illinois. It was large, it was heavy, and it was a lot of work! Everything went smoothly – there was no one else in the lobby, so we spent some time taking pictures while state officials worked through our paperwork. Candidate for Governor Chad Grimm, Lt. Governor AJ Cummings, Comptroller Julie Fox and US Senate Sharon Hansen were on site for the turn-in.

Afterwards, we headed toward the capitol for our 1pm Press Conference. After meeting up with candidates for Attorney General Ben Koyl and Treasurer Matt Skopek, we were then greeted by nine journalists in the media room. All photos were taken by DuPage Libertarians Chair Brian Lambrecht and Secretary Jennifer Floyd.

Our “freaky fast” press conference was planned to be brief and to the point, but journalists wanted to ask questions about ballot access and our lawsuit with the state on election fairness, and then proceeded to question our governor candidate about his vision for Illinois. At one point, our Attorney General candidate Ben Koyl was asked about his qualifications and what he thought about Lisa Madigan.

As you can see in the above photo, our visual aid was a representation of the signatures we are required to collect in comparison with those of the two major parties in Illinois. The striking contrast helps us illustrate how the rules are unfairly written to keep third parties out of the political arena in Illinois, and shows a perspective many people may have never realized about the political process in our state.

Almost 45 minutes later the press conference came to an end. Candidates were asked a few questions individually, business cards were traded and networking took place. Within hours half a dozen articles on our press conference were online.

Thanks to everyone who came out and helped make this happen. None of this could have been possible without the help from volunteer petitioners, members of our chapters, donors, those who helped assemble the petitions and paperwork, those who reached out to the media, our candidates for tirelessly working to get themselves out there, and everyone who was with us in Springfield. Thanks again.

Now, on to the campaigns!!

 

Photos taken by Jeni Floyd and Brian Lambrecht

Supporting Local Libertarians Has Never Been Easier

There is something for everyone to do with the DuPage Libertarians, and I do mean EVERYONE. You don’t need to have specialized technical skills, huge finances to run a campaign, or super-human powers to be an active member of a local political group. All you really need is a little free time and the willing drive to have some fun with like-minded people.

Being concerned about our state running up massive debt, the county abusing property rights or your village raising taxes doesn’t mean that our work is boring and complicated. Our meetings are not full of angry people rioting against the system and wrought with heavy discussion about Constitutional law. On the contrary – our meetings are generally full of fun discussions, craft beer and lots of laughter. Everyone who wants to be heard at our meetings has a voice.

So what have we done in the last month? Well, first there was the HUGE Petition Drive Fundraiser, where people from across the state came to meet our candidates and bid on unique and interesting items in an auction, while enjoying good live music. You can read all about it in our last blog.

There was also an antique weapons show, full of collectors of all kinds checking out guns from WWII and swords from the American Civil War to much of the modern stuff of today. We had a booth where we greeted people, introduced ourselves and even managed to score some signatures in these final weeks of the Petition Drive.

Members even met up for small petitioning events; a race in Darien, a train station in Downers Grove, a farmer’s market in Frankfort. Spending an hour or two with friends and fellow members to help out the party can be a great experience.

A few of us even met other local politicians, including Representative of the 11th Congressional District of Illinois Bill Foster.

The easiest and most fun filled event was hands down the Memorial Day Parade in the Village of Itasca. Four of our candidates came out and marched with us down the side streets of beautiful Itasca to greet her citizens. If there was ever an event for friends, members and volunteers to jump on board with, this was it. It doesn’t get much easier or more fun to promote your local political group than this.

Candidate for Lt. Governor AJ Cummings and candidate for Comptroller Julie Fox rode comfortably in the back of a convertible, waving to people and saying hello. Candidate for Attorney General Ben Koyl walked alongside the car, carrying signs and greeting people on the curb, while candidate for Secretary of State Chris Michel walked with his wife and three children – two of whom were on their bikes, whizzing around decorated in red, white and blue.

The rest of us supported them when needed and promoted the group – David carried our banner at the head of the fleet, Jay and Steve carried signs to support our troops, Thomas kept the American flag held high and I spoke directly with the people about who we were and what we stood for.

Claire and Linda, each who hold a title of Chair for their respective townships in DuPage, made cute matching outfits promoting the DuPage Libertarians and stuffed their pockets with candy to hand out to the kids. They barely had enough, running out just as we hit the end of the parade route.

Afterwards, a group of us met back at my place where we grilled some food and talked about the entire weekend, which also included a parade in Dundee with Julie Fox and the Fox Valley Libertarian Party. We all accomplished a lot.

We have more parades coming up on Independence Day, and in several towns increasing the chances of one being close to you. At the end of June, we have a press conference in Springfield inside the capital building. The five-day long DuPage County Fair is also coming up in late July. These are all great events to join in on and help spread the word of peace, liberty and honest government through the libertarians.

Come out and get active; our next meeting is Thursday, June 19th at the American Tap Pub & Grill @ 701 W. Lake St. in Addison, IL. The meeting runs from 7pm – 8:30pm, but the “meet and greet” starts as early as 6pm. Grab some food, have a drink, find out what projects and events we have coming up – and get involved!

 

Photos taken by Jeni Floyd and Brian Lambrecht