ODESSA -- In an attempt to gain more supporters and increase polling numbers ahead of the presidential debates, Libertarian presidential nominee Gary Johnson began a weeklong tour of Texas on Tuesday.

The third-party candidate gave a 20-minute stump speech before answering questions from a couple dozen West Texans at Dee's Bistro & Grill. After stating his credentials as a former small business owner and two-term governor of New Mexico, Johnson spent the majority of his time defining his nuanced view of issues that face America.

"I'm socially accepting and fiscally responsible," Johnson said. "I believe the majority of Americans fall into this category."

The Libertarian told supporters the biggest problem facing his campaign is a lack of exposure. He admitted that if he were to have any chance in the general election, he would need to be on the podium with President Barack Obama and Republican nominee Mitt Romney during the debates. But therein lies the problem, he said. To be invited to the national debates, which are viewed by millions, Johnson would need to poll at least 15 percent nationally. As it stands now, only three of the 18 major polling institutes have him on the questionnaire, and he is only polling about 1 to 2 percent nationally.

"We should readdress how the (election, polling and debate) system works, but the Commission on Presidential Debates is run exclusively by Democrats and Republicans and they have no interest in reworking presidential debates," Johnson said.

Johnson said that not only was he the only third-party candidate on the ballot in all 50 states, but that he was the only candidate who cared about civil liberty issues and a sound fiscal policy. Johnson rattled off a list of his Libertarian credentials to an enthusiastic crowd: Support for a balanced budget, equality for all Americans to marry, abolishment of federal income taxes, support for bringing the troops home from Afghanistan, the willingness to call the drug war a failure and to refuse to bomb Iran.

"I've always supported issues first and politics last," Johnson said about his willingness to tackle contentious issues such as entitlement reform and immigration.

Several in the crowd asked Johnson's opinion an array of subjects, and the former governor provided detailed, nuanced explanations instead of the typical 30-second sound bite. During most explanations, like immigration, he said there wasn't a simple answer or a one solution fix. He said the country needed to readdress its worker visa program, end the war on drugs to take away the black market profitability, offer a path to existing illegal immigrants in America, abolish racial and ethnic immigration quotas, end federal income taxes and allow the markets to decided how many jobs low-skilled immigrants could perform in America.

He described the Federal Reserve as a group of "crony capitalists" and called the bailout scheme an "inside job" that was tantamount to grand theft from taxpayers.

Charlotte Dameron brought her 10-year-old son, Michael, to teach him about the importance of integrity and leadership when considering political candidates.

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Libertarian presidential candidate optimistic about uphill fight

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Paul Ryan Has Kept Close Ties to Conservative and Libertarian Donors

Many entrepreneurs and VCs claim pure libertarianism is the only political position that makes sense. Here's why that doesn't work.

Flickr/Gage Skidmore

Rep. Ron Paul on the campaign trail earlier this year.

The task of the state consists solely and exclusively in guaranteeing the protection of life, health, liberty, and private property against violent attacks. Everything that goes beyond this is an evil. -- Ludwig von Mises

Silicon Valley is having a libertarian moment. When I say libertarian, Im referring to the purist strain most prominently embodied by Rep. Ron Paul and family, embraced by an increasing number of entrepreneurs and VCs.

But theres something uneasy about Silicon Valleys libertarianism, because the purist theory behind it doesnt quite square with the facts. The theory is that Silicon Valley doesnt need the government. The Pauls, in fact, recently wrote up amanifestoarguing [t]he true technology revolutionaries have little need for big government and never have.

The facts suggest otherwise. The government has funded a wide variety of research critical to the technology industry and, more recently, supported a flourishing Internet sector with a very important piece of legislation requiring net neutrality. However, with the major exceptions of the foregoing, the government also has been problematic in its attempt to control Silicon Valleys new technologies and freedoms. Libertarianism may offer the single best ideological response--but only with important concessions to the role of government.

The Problems With SV Libertarianism

Lets stipulate that the government is an imperfect partner. SOPA, export controls, a medieval immigration policy, an IP system designed by Kafka, and incoherent tax policies provide plenty of libertarian ammunition.

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Silicon Valley's Libertarian Problem

Governor Gary Johnson, Libertarian Candidate for President Swings Through Texas

AUSTIN- This week, former New Mexico Governor and Libertarian candidate for President of the United States, Gary Johnson will make 13 stops throughout Texas in 6 day. From Midland to Houston, Governor Johnson's "Texas Swing" offers voters an opportunity to meet & greet the only candidate for president who has a proven track record of lower taxes, respect for individual rights, and decreasing the size of government.

While governor, Johnson turned a half-billion dollar deficit into a billion dollar surplus, and he did it by cutting taxes on the citizens on New Mexico fourteen times, with no tax increases or new taxes. Johnson earned the nickname "Governor Veto" because during his time in office he vetoed 744 bills, more than all the governors of the other forty-nine states combined.

Now running for President, Johnson will share his vision for reversing our nation's fortunes and righting the ship of state. The Governor will also answer questions and be available for photos and/or autographs.

Tuesday, August 14th at 2pm (Free Event)

Dallas- Meet/Greet & Book Signing at The Free Man

Wednesday, August 15th at 7pm

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Governor Gary Johnson, Libertarian Candidate for President Swings Through Texas

Libertarian Candidate for the United States House of Representatives has been named and he is Paul Drgos, Jr of Pasadena, Maryland.Pasadena, MD (PRWEB) August 13, 2012 Libertarian Candidate for the United States House of Representatives has been named and he is Paul Drgos, Jr of Pasadena, Maryland.A single father of four, Paul has worked a computer programmer for the last twenty years. Having ...

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Paul Drgos, Jr. Announces His Candidacy for Libertarian Representative of Maryland’s 3rd Congressional District

Gary Johnson is interviewed Tuesday at the Reno Gazette-Journal. / Liz Margerum/RGJ Libertarians approach politics based on the moral principle of self-ownership. Each individual has the right to control his or her own body, action, speech and property.

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Libertarian Party can't get traction; despite Nevada's leanings, party lags in registration

Shelby Mood, 32, here speaking during a Henderson County Board of Commissioners meeting Wednesday, is leading the charge to revive the local Libertarian Party.

They represent less than a quarter of 1 percent of registered voters in Henderson County, but Shelby Mood is seeing to it that the Libertarian Party voice here is heard loud and clear.

Believing Democrat and Republican leaders to be out of touch with the average American, Mood, 32, has sparked a revival of the local party following a period of dormancy.

"I was in the military for seven years; I did tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan," the Edneyville resident said. "And when you're serving in a place like that, you really start to think about what's really going on in the world. And I did some soul searching and realized a lot of what's going on in our country we're going about in the wrong way.

"We've got to stop these endless wars. We've got to end this war on drugs our prison population has exploded. We need to reform our education. We need to get back to focusing on the person rather than trying to bring everyone else down."

So Mood called and wrote letters to all 177 registered Libertarians in the county. On Tuesday, a handful of people attended the county party's first organizational meeting, including state Libertarian Chairman J.J. Summerell of Greensboro.

Summerell said the state party is helping 25 to 30 county chapters get up and running again after "peetering out" in the past three to seven years. He said the number of registered Libertarian voters in the state 15,000 grew 10 percent in the past two weeks.

"It's on fire," he said.

According to Summerell, his party's recent growth is due to two major factors: presidential hopeful Ron Paul putting the Libertarian brand in front of the American people "more effectively than anybody else I know of in my lifetime" despite running on the Republican ticket, and young voters in particular becoming discouraged by Democrats' fiscal irresponsibility and Republicans' misguided social policies such as their support this year of the state constitutional ban on gay marriage.

"So they find themselves politically homeless," Summerell said of young voters, "and they're starting to find a home with the LP."

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Man revives local Libertarian Party chapter

Copyright 2010. The Associated Press. Produced by NewsOK.com All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Libertarian Party presidential candidate Gary Johnson could be on Oklahoma's presidential ballot this year. But he won't be listed as being with the Libertarian Party.

Oklahoma members of the newly formed American Elect party met recently and they agreed to have Johnson and his vice presidential running mate, James Gray, listed as their party's nominees.

But officials with the national Americans Elect party aren't happy about the development. They have notified Oklahoma election officials that the party will not have a presidential or vice presidential candidate or any other candidates on the Nov. 6 ballot.

Kahil Byrd, a director of the Americans Elect party, said the party wrote election officials Monday that the party is withdrawing its ballot line on the Nov. 6 ballot and is terminating its status as a qualified party in Oklahoma.

Tuesday, Rex Lawhorn, Oklahoma chairman of the Americans Elect Party, submitted his party's seven electors for the presidential election, putting state Election Board Secretary Paul Ziriax in a quandary.

This is a very unusual situation, so we are seeking legal advice from our counsel at the attorney general's office about how to proceed, Ziriax said.

Ziriax won't comment further. Regardless of how the attorney general's office advises, it's expected either the national or state group will file a legal challenge.

Ziriaz said he expects to get a legal recommendation in the next couple weeks. State election officials have to send ballots by early September to printers in order to get them mailed to military members and others living in other countries by Sept. 21, or 45 days before the Nov. 6 election, to comply with federal law.

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Group seeks to get Libertarian Party's presidential candidate on Oklahoma's ballot

Porter, an Albany Republican, is now circulating petitions in a bid to get on the Libertarian ticket.

The catch is: There is noLibertarianParty line on the ballot because the party fell just short of the 50,000 votes needed in the 2010 gubernatorial race to secure a spot on the ballot.

As a result, Porter and others seeking to carry the Libertarian flag in November have to get on the ballot via independent nominating petitions, which requires he secure 1,500 signatures three times the number of GOP signatures he would have needed.

The upside is that they need not be members of any specific party, they only need to be registered to vote and have not signed another candidates petition. Hes got until Aug. 21 to file them.

Incidentally, Porter said he attended Guilderland High School with Warren Redlich, the former GuilderlandTown Board member who ran for governor as a Libertarian in 2010 before moving to Florida.

He said he still plans to make the prospect of a legislative pay raise one of his central issues.

I did 21 years in the Marine Corps, and I think if I added up all my raises over those years they wouldnt equal 25 percent, Porter said of chatter that lawmakers will look to bump their pay from $79,000 to $100,000. Its almost criminal to think they should get a pay raise the way the economy is.

If he makes the ballot, Porter will face off against the winner of a six-way Democratic primary as well as Guilderland Republican Ted Danz and Conservative Party member Joseph Sullivan.

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Robert Porter seeking ‘Libertarian’ line in 109th Assembly District

Fishman

Sun staff photos can be ordered by visiting our MyCapture site.

BOSTON -- The race between U.S. Rep. John Tierney and Republican Richard Tisei is now a three-way contest, with Beverly Libertarian Daneil Fishman reaching the signature requirement to appear on the ballot.

The 6th District race has been the most hotly contest Congressional contest in the country to this point, with Tisei and Tierney lobbing attacks at one another on a seemingly daily basis.

Fishman's presence throws a potential monkey-wrench into a contest that could be decided by just a handful of votes.

The 44-year-old software engineer has never run for public office. His campaign slogan is "Common Sense Requires Common People."

"I'm often asked who my candidacy hurts the most. I'm running to restore power to the people, not to weaken any candidate," Fishman said in a statement. "Both sides are angry with me because professional politicians resent it when we the people intrude on their two-party tea party."

Fishman previously lived in Texas, but he has family members who have lived on the North Shore since the early 1900s.

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Libertarian in race for 6th District

The Biggest Little City is adding to its list of recent presidential campaign visits -- with a stop from Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson Tuesday.

During his brief visit, Johnson did something unusual for the campaign trail: he scaled the 70-foot first level of CommRow's outdoor climbing wall. It was a fitting metaphor for the uphill battle facing the third-party candidate.

"This is an uphill climb," Johnson said, "and I am going to argue that I'm not the third choice; that I'm the only choice in this race."

Johnson is gearing up not just for a difficult climb, but for a challenging campaign season. The two-party system in the United States makes it very difficult for a third-party candidate to get elected.

Johnson was the Republican governor of New Mexico from 1995 to 2003, and was selected by the Libertarian party to be their candidate this election season.

Johnson said as a member of a third party, he can challenge both Democrats and Republicans on major issues, like civil liberties and the economy.

"Have that challenge," Johnson said, "as opposed to what you've got now, which is no compromise on two issues that are really important to Americans."

The third party perspective is what Mimi Garner says won her over to Johnson's fan base.

"I think we need somebody that's third party," Garner said, "that can cut through the pointing fingers and say 'This is what we're going to do, and how we're going to go about doing it.'"

Johnson said his ultimate goal is to win the election, but first he wants to be allowed to participate in the presidential debates, which traditionally only feature the two candidates from the major parties.

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Libertarian Candidate Takes on Uphill Climb in Reno

Coming Sunday: Can Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson play spoiler in the battle ground state of Nevada? Also: A look at Nevada’s Libertarian Party.

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Libertarian presidential candidate climbs CommRow

Home > Updates

BEVERLY A Beverly man will challenge Democrat U.S. Rep. John Tierney and Republican candidate Richard Tisei for the Sixth Congressional seat this fall after he received enough signatures to appear on the ballot as a Libertarian.

Daniel Fishman is a Beverly native and first-time candidate, according to his website, Fishman For Congress. He announced his candidacy for the Sixth Congressional District in an email Monday night.

The district, which stretches from Lynn, Saugus and Nahant north to Amesbury and west to Billerica, is one of the most closely contested races in Massachusetts this fall, with polls showing Tierney and Tisei mostly even.

View a map of the Sixth Congressional District, and read Wednesday's Daily Item for more about how this news will affect the race.

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Libertarian enters 6th District race

Gary Johnson, triathlete, business owner, self-professed handyman and two-term governor of New Mexico doesn't mince words when talking about his candidacy for U.S. president.

"Gut it," the Libertarian Party candidate told Citydesk. "Gut the whole federal tax code."

Johnson insists that eliminating every conceivable federal tax would be the biggest job-creating engine the nation would ever see.

"We need to immediately strip down to a consumption tax," said Johnson, pointing a tall latte at a BODO coffee shop Monday night.

"For instance, take that cup of coffee. Whatever you paid for it, well that price is bundled with all kinds of taxes on the ingredients and services that made up the price tag," said Johnson. "So, eliminate all those taxes and that instantly brings down the price of practically everything. Then you let the people who are consuming pay for the goods they buy. And all of this would be budget neutral."

Simply put, that means wholesale cuts to federal services, departments and agencies. And yes, that includes the biggest, such as the Pentagon.

"You bet, I would cut the Pentagon's budget by 40 percent in my first year of office," said Johnson.

But when pressed, he hedged on veterans' benefits.

"No, I wouldn't cut veterans benefits. That's a promise that we made that we have to keep," said Johnson.

The candidate, who abandoned his Republican Party roots to seek and secure the Libertarian nomination, begins most weekdays at 6 a.m., usually flying to a city to spread his message. Johnson spent Monday evening courting votes and donations in downtown Boise. But he was back on a plane at the Boise airport this morning at 6.

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Libertarian Presidential Hopeful Gary Johnson: Gut Federal Taxes

Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson, the Libertarian Party candidate for president this year, will climb BaseCamp, the tallest man-made wall at CommRow, on Tuesday.

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Libertarian presidential candidate will climb CommRow wall Tuesday

SANTA FE New Mexicos Libertarian Party has a lot at stake in the general election with former Gov. Gary Johnson running as the partys presidential nominee.

A strong finish by Johnson would deliver a big boost to the Libertarians under terms of state election law, potentially making it easier for the partys candidates to secure a place on the ballot starting in 2014.

Libertarians have a chance at becoming a major political party in New Mexico the same as Democrats and Republicans if Johnson wins at least 5 percent of the total vote in November.

Thats a significant prize because it would remove hurdles that make it difficult for most third-party candidates to get on the ballot in the state.

It certainly would improve things for the Libertarian Party, said Richard Winger, editor and publisher of Ballot Access News, which tracks election laws nationwide. I think you would see a lot of Libertarians run for office.

Even if Johnson finishes strongly, theres still one more step for Libertarians. They would be required to increase their voter registration to make it more than one-third of 1 percent of New Mexicos total registered voters by early 2014.

There are now about 2,430 registered Libertarians in New Mexico roughly 0.2 percent of the 1.2 million voters in the state.

If Libertarians become a major party, they would select their nominees by holding a June primary election along with Democrats and Republicans. Candidates file petitions to run in their partys primary, and the winner is automatically on the general election ballot.

Minor political parties use a different system, which has been the subject of much criticism and an unsuccessful lawsuit by Libertarians.

To initially qualify as a political party in New Mexico, groups such as the Libertarians are required to submit petitions with a certain number of voter signatures. After a so-called minor party selects its nominees at a convention, the candidates must file separate petitions with election officials to get on the general election ballot.

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Libertarians Hope For Boost From Johnson

Jim Gray is campaigning in the Midwest, drumming up support to get Libertarians included in national debates.

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Libertarian VP candidate visits Lafayette

The Libertarian Party of Connecticut is planning on opening a campaign headquarters in Canterbury this month, something state Chairman Dan Reale called a first.

A location has been selected but the address is being withheld pending completion of a lease agreement, Reale said in an email to party activists. Reale, who lives in Plainfield and is running for Congress, said details for a grand opening will follow after the lease is signed.

This location will provide office space for the Libertarian Party of Connecticut, my own congressional campaign, and the Gary Johnson (presidential) campaign, the chairman wrote.

The party, known for its small-government positions, is also planning on establishing a headquarters in western Connecticut, Reale said. The western office will direct efforts for U.S. Senate candidate Paul Passarelli and 5th District Congressional candidate Robert Lombardo, according to Reale.

The Eastern Connecticut office will be staffed fulltime, he said. The party will be getting an official phone number, something it hasnt had since 2005. A phone bank is expected to fully operational by October, Reale said. Acquisition of a campaign bus is being considered, he said.

Its been a great year, Reale said by telephone. Were getting ambitious. Were looking to buy a bus.

The Connecticut branch of the party has broken its annual fundraising record by collecting more than $40,000 this year, Reale said. The party is looking to hire additional fundraisers, he said.

The presidential campaign of Johnson, a former New Mexico governor that visited Norwich in March, has collected at least 10,000 Connecticut signatures with a goal of hitting 12,500 by Tuesday. Reale, who ran as a write-in in 2008 and 2010 because of difficulty with gathering and validating signatures, has collected about 4,303. Both amounts, if validated by Secretary of the State Denise Merrill, will be more than enough to place both men on the November ballot. Reale said both campaigns plan to submit all signatures by Wednesday.

The Aug. 5 email states that Reale expects to raise $500,000 for his congressional campaign.

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Libertarian Party plans campaign HQ in Canterbury

Libertarian Party Vice Presidential nominee Judge Jim Gray today urged Ohio voters to place the proposed Freedom to Marry amendment on the 2013 statewide ballot and to approve it. Gray endorsed the measure on behalf of both himself and presidential candidate and former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson. Judge Gray announced the Libertarian ticket's support for Freedom to Marry at a news conference Saturday morning at the County Courthouse in Toledo.

Gray said, "Unlike Mitt Romney or President Obama, Governor Johnson and I believe the right to marry who we choose is a constitutionally protected right. People of different faiths and different beliefs are free to follow those beliefs when it comes to embracing or opposing same-sex marriage within those faiths and beliefs. However, it should not be the purview of government to impose one set of beliefs over another. And government absolutely should not sanction discrimination against gay Americans who choose to marry.

See the Full Story at FitsNews

Find more articles and gay wedding resources.

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USA: Libertarian Ticket Says Yes to Marriage Equality

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Published: 8/4/2012 - Updated: 9 hours ago

BY CASEY SUMNER BLADE STAFF WRITER

Libertarian Party vice presidential candidate James Gray teamed up with gay-marriage advocates today to endorse a ballot initiative that would define marriage in Ohios Constitution as a union of two consenting adults.

About 15 supporters of "marriage equality" and the Libertarian Party attended a news conference outside the Lucas County courthouse, where Mr. Gray praised the proposed amendment, which supporters plan to put on the 2013 general election ballot -- provided they can gather the necessary signatures.

Its a question of liberty and commitment, said Mr. Gray.

The vice presidential candidate also took the opportunity to criticize President Obama's handling of the issue.

President Obama came out in support of gay marriage, but then he calls it a state issue. What does that mean? It means he doesnt have to do anything about it, he said. Its shallow.

Ian James, the co-founder of FreedomOhio, the organization proposing the amendment, also spoke to thank the Libertarian Party for their support. Weve found a wonderful working relationship with the Libertarian Party, he said. Its a match made in heaven.

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Candidate Gray pushes for 'marriage equality'