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the Nov. 4, 2014 Mid-term Elections « Libertarian National Committee
Libertarian
National
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November 5, 2014
Each race where a Libertarian threatens to affect the outcome of an election puts pressure on the old parties to move in a Libertarian direction by reducing government's size, scope, and authority.
It's also a sign that more Americans reject the argument that there's any substantial difference between Democratic and Republican politicians. Voters are seeing that which of the two wins is of little consequence.
At least six Libertarians beat the spread between the Democrat and Republican by a two-to-one margin or greater: Robert Sarvis for U.S. Senate in Virginia, Dan Feliciano for governor in Vermont, Adrian Wyllie for governor in Florida, Sean Haugh for U.S. Senate in North Carolina, Carolyn ("Care") Clift for governor in Alaska, and Steven Laird for the 2nd U.S. House district in Nebraska.
Here are preliminary vote totals for some U.S. Senate, U.S. House and governor races where Libertarian votes exceeded the spread between the votes of Democrats and Republicans. Note that some of the below results reflect less than 100 percent reporting, and many House races are not yet included in this tally as of midday on Nov. 5.
A Reason
analysis suggests that a significant portion of Sarvis's
support may have come from independents who would have otherwise voted
Republican. In contrast, Haugh's support may have pulled more from
those who would have voted for the Democrat.
Dan Feliciano in Vermont won the endorsement of key Republicans in the GOP primary as a write-in candidate, suggesting his presence in the race swung the victory to the Democrat.
These strong results in key races show that no amount of Democratic or Republican spending is going to change steadily growing support for Libertarian campaigns.
November 7, 2014
The LP attained ballot access in North Dakota for the first time, and lost ballot access in South Dakota, Ohio, and the District of Columbia. The Hawaii and Maryland LPs met the vote test for party retention for the first time in their histories. Both state parties had retained ballot access through petitioning in past years.
In Alaska, the party appears to have retained its party status, as the gubernatorial candidate needed to get 3 percent and appears to have received 3.00 percent.
In Connecticut, the party retained ballot access for the 2nd U.S. House seat for 2016, as the candidate obtained 1.1 percent and 1 percent was need for retention.
In Georgia, the party can continue to run statewide candidates, as several candidates received a number of votes greater than 1 percent of the registered voters in the state.
In Hawaii, the party retained ballot access and met the vote test for the first time, as the cumulative vote of the state Senate candidates exceeded 4 percent of the total votes for all state Senate candidates in Tuesday's election.
In Idaho, the party retained ballot access by running at least three candidates for state or federal office.
In Indiana, the party retained ballot access as the candidate for secretary of state got 3.4 percent and 2 percent was necessary for retention.
In Kansas, the party retained ballot access as several statewide candidates received at least 1 percent.
In Maryland, the party retained ballot access and met the vote test for the first time ever as the gubernatorial candidate obtained 1.4 percent and 1 percent was needed for retention.
In Michigan, the party retained ballot access as several candidates received more than 1 percent of the vote from the 2012 secretary of state race.
In Nebraska, the party retained ballot access as several statewide candidates got 5 percent.
In Nevada, the party retained ballot access, as several candidates obtained at least 1 percent of the votes cast for the U.S. House races in the state.
In North Dakota, the party attained ballot access for the first time ever as the candidate for secretary of state received 5 percent.
In Texas, the party retained ballot access as several statewide candidates got 5 percent of the vote in their respective races.
In Wisconsin, the party attained ballot access as several statewide candidates obtained 1 percent.
In Wyoming, the party retained ballot access and became a recognized major party (and thus can nominate by primary) as the candidate for secretary of state received 10 percent.
In Iowa, the party narrowly missed attaining ballot access for the first time in its history, as the gubernatorial candidate got 1.8 percent, and needed 2 percent for ballot access.
In New York, the party did not attain ballot access for the first time as hoped. The gubernatorial candidate received 15,585 votes, but 50,000 votes were needed. The party came close to hitting this mark in 2010, possibly because a "weak" Republican was on the ballot that year, which was not the case this year. Election officials may also have suppressed votes by placing the Libertarian's name in an odd position on the ballot that many voters may have overlooked.
In Illinois, the party almost got ballot access for statewide candidates in 2016, as the candidate for comptroller received 4.8 percent of the vote, just short of the 5 percent necessary.
The Libertarian Party now has ballot access in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia (statewide candidates only), Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
Thanks to Richard Winger, publisher of Ballot Access News, for his assistance in compiling this list.
November 5, 2014
Libertarians play key role in highly contested races
Libertarian candidates may have decided the winner in at least six federal and governor races, despite record-shattering spending levels in support of the Democratic and Republican candidates.Each race where a Libertarian threatens to affect the outcome of an election puts pressure on the old parties to move in a Libertarian direction by reducing government's size, scope, and authority.
It's also a sign that more Americans reject the argument that there's any substantial difference between Democratic and Republican politicians. Voters are seeing that which of the two wins is of little consequence.
At least six Libertarians beat the spread between the Democrat and Republican by a two-to-one margin or greater: Robert Sarvis for U.S. Senate in Virginia, Dan Feliciano for governor in Vermont, Adrian Wyllie for governor in Florida, Sean Haugh for U.S. Senate in North Carolina, Carolyn ("Care") Clift for governor in Alaska, and Steven Laird for the 2nd U.S. House district in Nebraska.
Here are preliminary vote totals for some U.S. Senate, U.S. House and governor races where Libertarian votes exceeded the spread between the votes of Democrats and Republicans. Note that some of the below results reflect less than 100 percent reporting, and many House races are not yet included in this tally as of midday on Nov. 5.
| Libertarian | State | Office | Libertarian Votes |
D-R Spread |
Ratio: LP Votes to Spread |
| Robert Sarvis | VA | U.S. Senate | 53,595 | 12,353 | 4.3 |
| Dan Feliciano | VT | Governor | 8,444 | 2,333 | 3.6 |
| Adrian Wyllie | FL | Governor | 222,659 | 70,489 | 3.2 |
| Sean Haugh | NC | U.S. Senate | 108,183 | 48,511 | 2.2 |
| Care Clift | AK | Governor | 6,745 | 3,165 | 2.1 |
| Steven Laird | NE | 2nd U.S. House | 8,391 | 4,132 | 2.03 |
| Matthew Hess | CO | Governor | 35,108 | 25,463 | 1.38 |
| Corvalan | TX | 23rd U.S. House | 2,960 | 2,465 | 1.20 |
| Mark Fish | AK | U.S. Senate | 8,358 | 8,149 | 1.03 |
| Keen Umbehr | KS | Governor | 33,704 | 33,029 | 1.02 |
| Steve Brown | NV | 4th U.S. House | 4,117 | 3,635 | 1.13 |
Dan Feliciano in Vermont won the endorsement of key Republicans in the GOP primary as a write-in candidate, suggesting his presence in the race swung the victory to the Democrat.
These strong results in key races show that no amount of Democratic or Republican spending is going to change steadily growing support for Libertarian campaigns.
November 7, 2014
LP gains and loses ballot access in states, overall remains strong
The Libertarian Party is on the ballot in 30 states after Tuesday's general election.The LP attained ballot access in North Dakota for the first time, and lost ballot access in South Dakota, Ohio, and the District of Columbia. The Hawaii and Maryland LPs met the vote test for party retention for the first time in their histories. Both state parties had retained ballot access through petitioning in past years.
In Alaska, the party appears to have retained its party status, as the gubernatorial candidate needed to get 3 percent and appears to have received 3.00 percent.
In Connecticut, the party retained ballot access for the 2nd U.S. House seat for 2016, as the candidate obtained 1.1 percent and 1 percent was need for retention.
In Georgia, the party can continue to run statewide candidates, as several candidates received a number of votes greater than 1 percent of the registered voters in the state.
In Hawaii, the party retained ballot access and met the vote test for the first time, as the cumulative vote of the state Senate candidates exceeded 4 percent of the total votes for all state Senate candidates in Tuesday's election.
In Idaho, the party retained ballot access by running at least three candidates for state or federal office.
In Indiana, the party retained ballot access as the candidate for secretary of state got 3.4 percent and 2 percent was necessary for retention.
In Kansas, the party retained ballot access as several statewide candidates received at least 1 percent.
In Maryland, the party retained ballot access and met the vote test for the first time ever as the gubernatorial candidate obtained 1.4 percent and 1 percent was needed for retention.
In Michigan, the party retained ballot access as several candidates received more than 1 percent of the vote from the 2012 secretary of state race.
In Nebraska, the party retained ballot access as several statewide candidates got 5 percent.
In Nevada, the party retained ballot access, as several candidates obtained at least 1 percent of the votes cast for the U.S. House races in the state.
In North Dakota, the party attained ballot access for the first time ever as the candidate for secretary of state received 5 percent.
In Texas, the party retained ballot access as several statewide candidates got 5 percent of the vote in their respective races.
In Wisconsin, the party attained ballot access as several statewide candidates obtained 1 percent.
In Wyoming, the party retained ballot access and became a recognized major party (and thus can nominate by primary) as the candidate for secretary of state received 10 percent.
In Iowa, the party narrowly missed attaining ballot access for the first time in its history, as the gubernatorial candidate got 1.8 percent, and needed 2 percent for ballot access.
In New York, the party did not attain ballot access for the first time as hoped. The gubernatorial candidate received 15,585 votes, but 50,000 votes were needed. The party came close to hitting this mark in 2010, possibly because a "weak" Republican was on the ballot that year, which was not the case this year. Election officials may also have suppressed votes by placing the Libertarian's name in an odd position on the ballot that many voters may have overlooked.
In Illinois, the party almost got ballot access for statewide candidates in 2016, as the candidate for comptroller received 4.8 percent of the vote, just short of the 5 percent necessary.
The Libertarian Party now has ballot access in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia (statewide candidates only), Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
Thanks to Richard Winger, publisher of Ballot Access News, for his assistance in compiling this list.
Copyright © 2014 Eric M. Appleman/Democracy in
Action.
All rights reserved.