Party News – Page 4 – Franklin County Libertarians

FCLPO Central Committee Elections 2022

Please consider this the announcement for the 2022 Franklin County Libertarian Party of Ohio Central Committee election.

“In the event the Secretary of State denies ballot access as a recognized party, Central Committee elections shall take place at a central location, at a time and place agreed upon by the outgoing Central Committee.
Elections shall be held in even-numbered years in the same month as the official state primary election.”

The LPO Office will be open to the public for voting in the Central Committee Election from 9am to 6pm, May 3rd, 2022.

After 6pm the votes will be tallied and the new Central Committee will be announced.
At the discretion of the new Central Committee a meeting may be held immediately to elect Central Committee officers, a new Executive Committee, and conduct other party business.
If no meeting is held the election for Central Committee officers and Executive Committee will be scheduled for the next regular ExCom meeting on May 17th, 2022.The following current Central Committee members are running for election. (If you would like to be added for election, please reply to this announcement before April 2nd, and include reliable contact information; contact name, phone and email, so we can be in touch.)

John S. Stewart – Gahanna Ward 04
Drake Lundstrom – Gahanna Ward 04
Patrick J Hoffman – Madison Township
Kenneth D. Holpp – Worthington Ward 01
Michael Sweeney – Gahanna Ward 03
Jordan T Bertke – Hilliard Ward 04
David Nadolny – Worthington Ward 02

Franklin County Libertarian Party
c/o Ohio Libertarian Party
6230 Busch Blvd, Suite 102
Columbus, Ohio 43229

—
Michael Sweeney
Secretary, Central Committee, Franklin County Libertarians

Back On The Treadmill

We’ve got good news and we’ve got bad news.

The bad news is the Libertarian Party of Ohio has lost ballot access… again. The November Presidential election did not provide the votes needed for Libertarians to retain our status as a minor party. The Ohio Secretary of State released guidance regarding our ballot access in response to a Libertarian Candidate in Hamilton County that does not favor us.

What does this mean? Well, we’re back on the treadmill. We will need to collect ballot access petition signatures again to seek recognition for Minor Party Status. Based on the math we will need to collect 59,742 valid signatures from valid Ohio voters, at minimum, and with past experience on the matter, the more realistic number is over 100,000 signatures.

The good news is our Libertarian Party of Ohio Executive Committee has risen to the challenge and already formed a new Ballot Access Committee and produced a valid “Petition to Form a Minor Political Party”. This is the critical first step in our next adventure.

The better news is your Franklin County Libertarians have a plan. Over the past 4 years we have looked at how the petition process works in Ohio, how it works digitally in other states, and how we can take advantage of social media, outreach platforms and our amazing volunteers to facilitate and accelerate the laborious process of collecting and validating so many petitions.

Hint, we won’t be standing in front of BMV’s and libraries.

We can’t share our entire plan with you just yet, the FCLP Executive Committee has approved a framework to move forward and we will have more to share soon.

We are very excited about the opportunities this challenge provides, not just for Libertarians, but all issues and candidates that have burdensome petitioning requirements.

We’ll be in touch when we’re ready to share and appreciate all the hard work and dedication from our incredible volunteers. We are working to live up to your expectations and provide the best tools to get this important work done.

May Fortune Favor the Bold

Michael Sweeney

At Large, Executive Committee

Franklin County Libertarians

Rally for Jo Jorgensen on Saturday, Oct 24th!

Jo is coming to Columbus! Rally will begin at 6pm at LPO HQ and will be followed by an exclusive dinner with Jo, LPOs Congressional candidates, and major donors and volunteers.

Facebook Event | Directions

FCLPO Endorsements for Ohio 2020 Election

The Franklin County Libertarian Party of Ohio voted through their Central Committee to endorse candidates for the 2020 election.

Robert Leist for OH Assembly Representative District 72
https://www.leistforohio.com

Kevin Kahn – Congress Ohio District 1
https://kahn4congress.com/
https://votefreeohio.com/congressional-district-1/

Steven Perkins – Congress District 4
https://www.facebook.com/Perkins4Ohio
https://votefreeohio.com/congressional-district-4/

Oscar Herrera – State Representative District 96
https://electoscarherrera.com/
https://votefreeohio.com/congressional-district-6/

Brandon Lape – Congress District 7
http://www.lapeforohio.com/
https://votefreeohio.com/congressional-district-7/

Dyrone Smith – Council District 8
https://votefreeohio.com/congressional-district-11/

John Stewart – Congress District 12
https://electjohnstewart.com
https://votefreeohio.com/congressional-district-12/

Dr. Michael Fricke – Congress District 13
https://www.facebook.com/mikefricke2020
https://votefreeohio.com/congressional-district-13/

FCLPO Central Committee Candidate Endorsement

The Franklin County Libertarian Party has an opportunity to endorse candidates in our backyard and across the state.
Please be aware this is notice of special meeting for the Franklin County Libertarian Central Committee on Tuesday, Sept 22nd at 7pm.
We are starting the process to endorse candidates at the county party level.
Voting by email will be open _immediately_ and close at 8pm, Sept 22nd. You can vote by email or attend in person to vote during the meeting.
We will be scheduling interview opportunities so all County Central Committee members can speak with the candidates and become informed. Feel free to send along questions in writing as well, and they will be forwarded to the candidates.

John Stewart for US Congress OH District 12

https://www.electjohnstewart.com/

Robert Leist for OH Assembly Representative District 72

https://www.leistforohio.com

Oscar Herrera for OH Assembly Representative District 96

https://electoscarherrera.com/about

https://www.fclpo.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/FranklinCountyBylaws_rev20150924.pdf
Bylaw I – EndorsementsSection 3. The endorsement of candidates for public office shall be approved only in a special meeting of the Central Committee called for that purpose. The Chair with the aid of the Secretary shall provide notice of the meeting and must request endorsements of each candidate in writing in the notice. The agenda shall include an opportunity for any member of the Central Committee to request endorsement of a candidate from the floor. The Central Committee shall be careful to ensure that all information presented by the member from the floor has been verified and vetted, or should vote to not endorse the candidate. After the Special Meeting, but prior to the appropriate election, the Executive Committee may remove the endorsement of any candidate for sufficient cause without the necessity of calling for a special meeting of the Central Committee.

FCLPO Election Results

The following individuals were successfully elected for the following roles.

Central Committee

Chair – John Stewart

Vice Chair – Chad Harris

Secretary – Michael Sweeney

Treasurer – Jordan Bertke

Executive Committee

Chair – Christopher Gill

Vice Chair – Drake Lundstrom

Secretary – Ken Holpp

Treasurer – Pat Hoffman

At-Large
Michael Sweeney
John Stewart

Congratulations on a successful election and eyes on the future.

Learn about Chris Gill…

Do you have any experience you feel would suit you to this role?

Libertarian since 2009. Ran as a Libertarian for state rep same year.
I’ve been on the Franklin County Central and Executive committees, as well as the Ohio Central and Executive Committees at various times through 2016.
I have been a delegate to the Libertarian National Convention since 2010, and severed as the Delegation Chair in 2016.
I was in SC as a high school science teacher 2017-2019. I was active in the SCLP, although I was not an officer.

County Party Appointed Roles

There are also roles that are open for appointment. Directors and coordinators are appointed by the Executive Committee Chair, with input from the full Executive Committee, but not requiring a full vote. These roles do not need to be members of the County Central Committee or even members of the Libertarian Party (it would just be preferred). Each of these roles has an important part to play in a functioning county party.

Communications Director – Coordinate monthly email newsletter, update county party website, develop social media strategy with Social Media Coordinator.

Finance Director – Coordinate fundraising and outreach, develop and executive strategy for growing party funds

Political Director – Reach out to recruit local and countywide candidates, develop strategies for supporting candidates and issue campaigns, write and submit press releases for local and statewide news media

Legislative Committee Director – Solicit, research, compose, propose and seek endorsement for local and statewide issues campaigns.

Social Media Coordinator – Coordinate strategy for growing social media reach and exploring new platforms.

Events / Volunteer Coordinator – Work with Communications Director for outreach and develop volunteers for local, county and statewide events and volunteer to grow party membership and audience.

Information Technology Coordinator – Manage technology platforms, website, contact relationship manager, phone banking, video/phone conference, electronic voting and any other technology needs to support the county party members.

Learn about Drake Lundstrom

Do you have any experience you feel would suit you to this role?

My name is Drake, and i am a relatively young libertarian at 24. I have been involved with the liberty movement since 2014, and from 2014-2018, I was a member of a Young Americans for Liberty at the University of Cincinnati. I spent 1 of those 4 years as treasurer, and 2 as president, and brought a club that was on the verge of collapse with roughly 4 remaining members to over 15 members regularly attending meetings, hosting the largest political debate on campus every semester, and with an email list of hundreds of other students.
Since graduating, I have stayed in the liberty movement mostly by moonlighting as a researcher for the libertarian infotainment channel freedom toons, and I occasionally contribute article or am interviewed on libertarian podcast as a policy expert. I have done a small amount of volunteer work for the Franklin county libertarian party, tabling at a few different fairs and the gay pride parade, and am hoping to get more involved in the party in a position where I can make the most impact in pushing liberty forwards.
Other relevant leadership experience that I have had would be being the president of the UC kendo club for 2 years, UC marching band section leader for 2 years, and since graduating, I have been the rotary 6690 district outbound chair for youth exchange, and this last year joined the the executive committee of my local rotary club as a social media and youth services chair.
Please let me know if you have any question, and I would be happy to send links to interviews i have done if you want to hear about my positions on libertarainism in some more depth, and i have attached a photo of me, a photo of the YAL club I was part of at a state convention, and a photo of me with a few YAL friends at a Mises institute event, just to prove my libertarian street cred.
Thank you for your time,

Candidates for Central Committee and Executive Committee Roles

What are the Organizing Roles for Party Committees?

There are 4 roles open for the County Central Committee, and 7 roles open for the County Executive Committee. These roles are explained in the FCLPO By-Laws. Each of these roles has an important part to play in conducting party business.