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Libertarian Party of Illinois State Convention Recap

By Jennifer Floyd

Election years often see new members flocking to alternative parties and the Libertarian Party is no exception. Opening night of the 2016 Libertarian Party of Illinois State Convention hosted over one hundred attendees in a standing-room-only event to watch seven of the party’s presidential candidates debate before the nominating convention in April.

The candidates who participated were; Dr. Marc Allen Feldman, Cecil Ince, former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson, Austin Petersen, Derrick Michael Reid, Rhett Smith, and Shauna Sterling. The event was moderated by Libertarian Party of Illinois State Chair Lex Green, video blogger Julie Borowski, and talk radio host from WMAY 970 AM in Central Illinois Greg Bishop. The event was live-streamed via YouTube and is available for viewing through the Metro East Libertarian YouTube page offering a second look at the alternative options in leadership.

Saturday featured a luncheon presentation by Julie Borowski and her topic “Why You Should Be Optimistic” speaking about how libertarian ideals are gaining traction and the strides we have made to be a more tolerant society. Other events included a presentation honoring the memory of Mark Agnini, a pivotal member of several northern chapters who died in a car accident last fall, workshops on interviewing and petitioning, and entertainment in the form of Libertarian-themed Jeopardy.

The convention closed out with the annual business meeting and the nomination of state party candidates. Claire Ball secured the nomination for Comptroller and is the only trained and active accountant seeking the position. Scott Schluter was nominated for the 117th District in the Illinois General Assembly, and Jake Leonard will be running for the 95th District of the Illinois House. Finally, by a narrow margin, Kent McMillen won nomination for the US Senate candidacy over Chris Michel.

All the candidates must now begin to petition for the right to be on the ballot this fall in Illinois. Libertarians, as “new party” candidates, according to state law, must gather a minimum of 25,000 signatures to gain ballot access whereas Republicans or Democrats must only gather 5,000. This year, however, has seen a small change with the recent court decision striking down Illinois’ full slate requirement, opening the door to the Libertarians and other parties in running for election.

Libertarian Party of Illinois State Convention

By: Jennifer Floyd

While the media might be focused on the antics of Clinton, Trump, and Sanders, parties like the Libertarian Party are quietly gathering their supporters and prepping their candidates. One such group is the Libertarian Party of Illinois which will host their annual State Convention on March 11-12^th, 2016 in Springfield, IL.

Just like the Republicans and Democrats, the candidate pool for president is quite large. At the time of writing this article 4 of the 8 presidential candidates will be participating in a debate. Slated to attend are Dr. Marc Feldman, Cecil Ince, Steve Kerbel, and Austin Petersen. The debate will be moderated by Julie Borowski, a blogger, writer, award-winning YouTube host, and Policy Analyst for FreedomWorks.

The convention, while a fantastic way for members to network and grow, also serves a very important purpose; the nomination and selection of candidates for state-wide offices and delegates to the national Libertarian Convention. This fall, the positions of U.S. Senate and Comptroller will be up for election. Current announced candidates for nomination; Claire Ball for Illinois Comptroller and Chris Michel for U.S. Senate will be presenting. The party will also recognize candidates for local elections seeking endorsements from the Libertarian Party in their run for office. Unlike other parties in Illinois, Libertarian candidates are nominated directly at the conventions and approved by vote at the annual business meeting.

However, when a group of Libertarians get together, there will also be entertainment and education. Julie Borowski will be the luncheon keynote speaker, presenting her topic “Why You Should Be Optimistic.” The trivia contest dubbed Libertarian Jeopardy makes its return, there will be an auction to raise funds, and a regional beverage competition. Two workshops will be held on Saturday; “Who’s Driving?” a simulated interview to hone the presentation skills of candidates, and a Petitioning Workshop to help educate members who will participate in signature collection to get Libertarian candidates on the ballot.

One of the hot topics for discussion this year will be the recent court decision striking down the “full slate” requirement imposed on third party (or “new party” as they are referred to in IL) candidates in Illinois. Originally imposed in 1931 probably to keep communist party candidates off the ballot, it was declared unconstitutional in an order on February 12 by U.S. District Court Judge Andrea R. Wood. This created a massive obstacle for new party candidates running for local office since they would have to find people to run for every open spot in local elections and diluting the efforts of the state party when they would have to run 7 candidates just to run for governor.

The Libertarian Party of Illinois State Convention will be held on March 11-12^th, 2016 at the Hilton Garden Inn, 3100 S Dirksen Pkwy, Springfield, IL. Attendance is free and open to the public on Friday, March 11^th. Attendance at the Saturday workshops and luncheon requires registration available at LPIllinois.org.

It’s Officially An Election Year, Now…

First off, I would like to congratulate Steve Dutner on being elected as the new Vice Chair for the DuPage Libertarians. Continuing to serve in the other roles are Jennifer Floyd as Secretary, Todd Zimmerman as Treasurer, and myself as Chair.

So there were plans to have a huge blog written and ready for the beginning of the year, but that didn’t pan out, because we have been WAY too busy. Is this a good thing, or a bad thing? I don’t know yet; everyone is too exhausted to make a judgment call…

The biggest event coming up is obviously the state convention in March. On Friday, March 11th and Saturday, March 12th, the Libertarian Party of Illinois will hold its annual state convention at the Hilton garden Inn in Springfield. The event includes some pretty amazing highlights, including the Friday night debate between several of the leading Libertarian presidential candidates, including Steve Kerbel, Austin Petersen, Marc Allan Feldman, and Cecil Ince. Attending this event means you may have a chance to personally ask a question from one or all of these candidates.

The keynote speaker for Saturday is Julie Borowski, who (as the rumor mill goes) may also be moderating the debate on Friday night. You can also expect to hear speeches from Claire Ball and Chris Michel, and as a state party member, have an official vote in making them the official Libertarian Party of Illinois candidates for the November general election.

The next big event is the one occurring right after the convention, and the one that requires the most help – our Petition Drive. The good news about the petition drive is that you can get ALL the information from your source right here, or at our Facebook page. That information includes weekday and weekend events where candidates and volunteers will go out to collect signatures. We can pretty much guarantee that there will be an event going on every weekend through the 90 day period, and that we will be reaching out to volunteers to help us collect as many signatures as we can from registered Illinois voters. You are all invited to help us out.

The Petition Drive will be made up of multiple smaller events throughout the state, such as kickoff parties, campouts, and festivals that you can join in on.

So yes – we haven’t been bored. Everyone has been working tirelessly to put these events together and to coordinate our efforts to make it all happen. If you are someone who would like to get involved, this is a damn good year where we could definitely use your help.

Leaving Behind 2015, Here We Come 2016…

Before we get into the meat and potatoes of this article, I first want to thank all the members of the DuPage Libertarians, and surrounding chapters, who came out and made our charity holiday dinner party the huge success that it was. We filled several large boxes and bags of canned and dry goods to donate to our charity of choice, the local affiliate of Loaves and Fishes, a charity that ensures 97% of all it raises goes directly to those who need it, while getting less than 1% of their funding from government. Our members are awesome and generous; thank you all.

So… what is happening now?

A lot. Way more than we were anticipating; quite frankly.

On Sunday, December 13th, Chairwoman of the College of DuPage board of trustees Kathy Hamilton surprised everyone by announcing that she was stepping down from the board, for personal reasons.

Whatever those reasons may be, the board of trustees at COD is now in chaos – worse than usual. Two days after Hamilton made her announcement, the college was put on academic probation by the Illinois Higher Learning Commission. This probation period lasts two years, in which time the board must prove that they have made the necessary corrections to the issues at the college… or the college could lose its accreditation.

The remaining six board members are split with regards to how to handle issues, stemmed from the incident over the last 18 months with ex-president Robert Breuder. They now have less than 60 days to appoint a seventh trustee to the board, or the Illinois Community College Board will appoint someone.

Before you ask, the answer is yes – many have been reaching out to ask if Claire Ball will apply for the position, and many have been publicly calling on her to step forward.

So what has been her official response? As of this point, she has not decided if she will apply or not. With a brutal campaign over the next ten months for Illinois Comptroller, combined with wrapping up her studies to earn her CPA, the girl is a bit overwhelmed at the moment – and we here at the DuPage Libertarians do not want to stretch her too thin, as her race for Comptroller will be a hard one.

However, taking on the role of trustee at COD would be a great way for her to directly make a positive impact on the community, while also helping demonstrate to the state of Illinois just how honest and effective a libertarian in office can be. The opportunity is one to not let slip away.

So as you can see, there is a lot happening with the DuPage Libertarians, and volunteers have been coming from everywhere to help support us in the election next year, including working on the campaign teams for Chris Michael and Claire Ball. There is always room for more, and all our members and readers are more than welcome to jump in at any point and help us along the way to make Illinois a better place to live and do business.

Claire has made one thing clear; if she does decide to apply for the position and is chosen by the board (also a long shot), she will continue to be the Libertarian Party of Illinois candidate for Comptroller. As soon as she earns her CPA early next year, she will be a force to be reckoned with.

No wonder the two parties are terrified of her.