Home News Politics James Gray, Libertarian candidate for vice president, endorses a ballot initiative to define marriage in Ohio as 'a union of two consenting adults.' He spoke at a rally Saturday. THE BLADE/ZACK CONKLE Enlarge Loading

Published: 8/5/2012 - Updated: 5 minutes ago

BY CASEY SUMNER BLADE STAFF WRITER

Libertarian party vice presidential candidate James Gray teamed up with same-sex marriage advocates Saturday to endorse a ballot initiative that would define marriage in Ohio's Constitution as "a union of two consenting adults."

About 15 supporters of gay marriage and the Libertarian party attended a news conference outside the Lucas County Courthouse, where Mr. Gray praised the "Freedom to Marry" amendment on behalf of himself and Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson, the former governor of New Mexico.

"Unlike Mitt Romney or President Obama, Governor Johnson and I believe the right to marry who we choose is a constitutionally protected right," Mr. Gray said. "Governor Johnson and I are proud to lend our support, and urge the good people of Ohio to put their state on the side of equality and against government being in the business of deciding who can marry whom."

Mr. Gray also criticized President Obama's treatment 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 doesn't have to do anything about it," he said. "It's shallow."

Ian James, co-founder of Free- domOhio, the organization proposing the amendment, also spoke to supporters at the event.

"Ohioans know marriage helps committed couples take care of each other and their families," he said. "Marriage matters because it's a public declaration of two adults' love and commitment for one another."

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V.P. candidate stumps in city

SEATTLE Gary Johnson, the Libertarian Party nominee for president, predicted Thursday that marijuana will be legal nationwide within the next four years.

Johnson, the former governor of New Mexico, said he thinks that pot legalization will be approved by voters in Washington and Colorado this fall, helping to spur other states to follow suit.

We are at a tipping point here on this issue, Johnson said in an interview during a visit to the Seattle area as part of his longshot campaign.

Johnson, who unsuccessfully pushed for marijuana legalization as governor of New Mexico a decade ago, has admitted to smoking pot as recently as 2008, when he was recovering from a paragliding crash.

He said, The world will be a better place when it is legal, because police will go out and fight real crime, court dockets wont get as filled up, and maybe we can reduce the highest incarceration rate in the world.

Recent polling has offered varying pictures of the prospects of Initiative 502, which would legalize and tax the sale of marijuana in Washington.

An Elway Poll released last week found that 46 percent of registered voters supported the measure, while 44 percent opposed it. But a KING-TV/SurveyUSA poll released days earlier found the measure with 55 percent support versus 32 percent against.

One thing is clear: The initiative has a better chance of passing than Johnson has of becoming president. His campaign has only raised about $1 million President Obama and his Republican rival Mitt Romney have each raised about $300 million and he isnt being included in most polling.

But Johnson, who touts himself as the only third-party candidate who will appear on the ballot in all 50 states, is likely to play a role in November by taking away votes from the major candidates.

The Obama campaign in particular is hoping Johnson will siphon off votes from Romney, The Associated Press reported earlier this week. According to The AP, the campaign figures Johnson will appeal to Republican voters, in part because he ran for governor of New Mexico as a Republican and sought the GOP presidential nomination before running as a Libertarian.

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Marijuana will be legal by 2016, Libertarian candidate predicts

by KING 5 News

KING5.com

Posted on August 2, 2012 at 5:34 PM

During his visit to Seattle Thursday, the Libertarian candidate for president said he wouldnt shut down I-90 for the Blue Angels. Leaving the bridge open fits into Gary Johnsons Libertarian philosophy of less government. KING 5s Robert Mak sat down with Johnson to talk about his campaign.

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Libertarian candidate Johnson: I wouldn't shut down I-90 for Blue Angels

Libertarian vice presidential candidate Jim Gray will be in Lafayette on Monday night as part of a four-day jaunt through Ohio and Indiana that began Friday.

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Libertarian vp candidate to visit Lafayette on Monday

Gary Johnson, the Libertarian Party nominee for president, predicted Thursday that marijuana will be legal nationwide within the next four years.

Johnson, the former governor of New Mexico, said he thinks that pot legalization will be approved by voters in Washington and Colorado this fall, helping to spur other states to follow suit.

"We are a tipping point here on this issue," Johnson said in an interview during a visit to the Seattle area as part of his longshot campaign.

Johnson, who unsuccessfully pushed for marijuana legalization as governor of New Mexico a decade ago, has admitted to smoking pot as recently as 2008, when he was recovering from a paragliding crash.

He said, "The world will be a better place" when it is legal, because "police will go out and fight real crime, court dockets won't get as filled up, and maybe we can reduce the highest incarceration rate in the world."

Recent polling has offered varying pictures of the prospects of Initiative 502, which would legalize and tax the sale of marijuana in Washington.

An Elway Poll released last week found that 46 percent of registered voters supported the measure, while 44 percent opposed it. But a KING-TV/SurveyUSA poll released days earlier found the measure with 55 percent support versus 32 percent against.

One thing is clear: The initiative has a better chance of passing than Johnson has of becoming president. His campaign has only raised about $1 million President Obama and his Republican rival Mitt Romney have each raised about $300 million and he isn't being included in most polling.

But Johnson, who touts himself as the only third-party candidate who will appear on the ballot in all 50 states, is likely to play a role in November by taking away votes from the major candidates.

The Obama campaign in particular is hoping Johnson will siphon off votes from Romney, The Associated Press reported earlier this week. According to The AP, the campaign figures Johnson will appeal to Republican voters, in part because he ran for governor of New Mexico as a Republican and sought the GOP presidential nomination before running as a Libertarian.

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Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson predicts pot will be legal by 2016

Gary Johnson, the Libertarian Party nominee for president, predicted Thursday that marijuana will be legal nationwide within the next four years.

Johnson, the former governor of New Mexico, said he thinks that pot legalization will be approved by voters in Washington and Colorado this fall, helping to spur other states to follow suit.

"We are a tipping point here on this issue," Johnson said in an interview during a visit to the Seattle area as part of his longshot campaign.

Johnson, who unsuccessfully pushed for marijuana legalization as governor of New Mexico a decade ago, has admitted to smoking pot as recently as 2008, when he was recovering from a paragliding crash.

He said, "The world will be a better place" when it is legal, because "police will go out and fight real crime, court dockets won't get as filled up, and maybe we can reduce the highest incarceration rate in the world."

Recent polling has offered varying pictures of the prospects of Initiative 502, which would legalize and tax the sale of marijuana in Washington.

An Elway Poll released last week found that 46 percent of registered voters supported the measure, while 44 percent opposed it. But a KING-TV/SurveyUSA poll released days earlier found the measure with 55 percent support versus 32 percent against.

One thing is clear: The initiative has a better chance of passing than Johnson has of becoming president. His campaign has only raised about $1 million -- President Obama and his Republican rival Mitt Romney have each raised about $300 million -- and he isn't being included in most polling.

But Johnson, who touts himself as the only third-party candidate who will appear on the ballot in all 50 states, is likely to play a role in November by taking away votes from the major candidates.

The Obama campaign in particular is hoping Johnson will siphon off votes from Romney, The Associated Press reported earlier this week. According to The AP, the campaign figures Johnson will appeal to Republican voters, in part because he ran for governor of New Mexico as a Republican and sought the GOP presidential nomination before running as a Libertarian.

Originally posted here:

Libertarian Candidate Predicts Pot Will be Legal by 2016

Moser

It's not really a race if there's only one person in it.

That's why Libertarian David Moser collected the 300 signatures he needed by Wednesday to run against Eugene DePasquale in the 95th House District.

"It's all about the options, really," Moser said.

Moser, 34, said he takes no real issue with DePasquale's performance as a state representative. Rather, he just wanted to give York City residents an option come November, particularly one that he believes will listen to Republicans and Democrats because "I get to be the common ground."

DePasquale was running unopposed in the 95th, but he is also the Democratic nominee for state auditor general. Republican Kyle King, who works in the district attorney's office, had announced his intention to challenge DePasquale in January but bowed out a few weeks later after being told his candidacy was a violation of the federal Hatch Act.

DePasquale has said he'll leave the 95th position if he wins auditor general and the 95th. A special election would have to take place in that event for the 95th. Moser acknowledged he'd have to start from scratch just like any other candidate at that point. But he's hoping the extra name recognition from being in the public eye this year will help.

Or, Moser said, people could vote for DePasquale for auditor general and Moser for the 95th, which would avoid the need for the special election cost to taxpayers and having the position vacant for a matter of months.

"Everybody gets what they want," Moser said.

DePasquale welcomed Moser to the now two-man race and said his legislative record shows he supports making it easier for people to get on the ballot.

Link:

Libertarian says he has enough signatures for ballot slot

Our story in Aug. 1 paper, Obama advisers see hope in 3rd parties, highlighted Gary Johnson, the nominee of the Libertarian Party. By coincidence, Johnson was in Seattle that day, and I spent 45 minutes with him.

The point of the story was that Johnson and another third-party candidate could draw away Romney votes in key states and hand the election to Obama. That is possible. It is what Ralph Nader did to Al Gore in Florida in 2000.

I asked Johnson if the prospect of being the Nader of 2012 bothers him.

It doesnt bother me a bit, he said.

Johnson, 59, was a Republican because he is for balancing budgets without tax increases and cutting back on the welfare state. As the Republican governor of New Mexico 1995-2002, he says, he vetoed hundreds of spending bills.

New Mexico is a blue state, 47% Hispanic. Johnson won the governorship the first time with 49.8 percent of the vote in a race against an incumbent Democrat and a third-party Green. He won the second time with 54.5 percent. In 2008 he supported libertarian Republican Ron Paul for president, and in 2012 Johnson announced a run himself. He would have had Pauls supporters this year, except that Paul ran again and kept them for himself.

Johnson was shut out of most of the Republican presidential debates. He told me several media organizations said they would include anyone with 2 percent, or 4 percent, in certain pollsand those polls didnt include him. He still fumes about that. In one case, he said, he had a 4 percent poll and was left out anyway. And without media attention, his campaign died.

Regrettably, you cant crawl out from under a culvert and run for president of the United States, Johnson says. (Maybe thats not so regrettable. I've had to listen to some culvert crawlers, and there is something to be said for shunning them.)

Late last year Johnson suspended his campaign as a Republican and went over to the Libertarians, who were glad to have him. In 2008 for president they ran another former Republican, Georgia ex-Rep. Bob Barr, but Barr had been a drug warrior not too long before and a lot of Libertarians had to hold their noses to accept him. Johnson is quite liberal on civil liberties. In an ACLU ranking on civil liberties, Johnson was rated good on 21 of 24 questions, which was higher than Ron Paul (18) or Barack Obama (16). On that survey, the ACLU rated Rick Santorum, Michele Bachmann and Mitt Romney at zero.

Johnson famously came out for legalization of marijuana when he was governor. Thats a radical position for a Republican, but not for Libertarians, whose standard position is to legalize them all. So I asked him: What about methamphetamine? I can imagine marijuana being a commercial product; at a dispensary less than a mile from my house, it already is one. But how about meth? Could it ever be a product of a company that a business license, a street address, paid taxes, bought insurance, and was invited to membership in the Rotary Club? (My answer: no.)

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Gary Johnson, Libertarian

Gary Johnson of the Libertarian Party and Virgil Goode of the Constitution Party are on quixotic runs for the presidency. While they are long shots, they conceivably stand a chance at influencing the election.

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In 3rd party candidates, Obama team sees promise

Today would be Milton Friedman's 100th birthday. Like a lot of libertarians, reading Capitalism and Freedom was one of the first things that began moving me from liberal towards libertarian. I think I will always be a libertarian in the Milton Friedman vein, in that I think libertarianism should be [...]

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Happy 100th Birthday, Milton Friedman

To get on a ballot in D.C., you need to gather a certain amount of signatures from registered votersand the people circulating those petitions have to be registered voters in D.C. themselves. The Libertarian Party wants that to change.

This week the political party sued the D.C. Board of Elections over nominating petition rules, saying that the residency requirements unfairly hamper the efforts of three Libertarian candidatesBruce Majors, running for D.C. Delegate to Congress, Gary Johnson, running for president and Jim Gray, running for vice presidentto get on the November ballot. According to the suit, which was first reported by the City Paper's Loose Lips, the Libertarian Party wants anyone, regardless of residency, to be able to collect signatures for nominating petitions.

The lawsuit isn't of much use to Majors, the D.C. resident challenging D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton who said that he already has the 3,000 signatures needed to get on the ballot. (He only learned of the suit 48 hours before it was filed; the Center for Competitive Democracy and the national Libertarian Party took the lead on filing it.) Rather, it is aimed to help Johnson and Gray, who have to gather close to 5,000 signatures by August 8 to get on the D.C. ballot. The lawsuit also squares with the libertarian philosophy that fewer rules are better.

Earlier this year the party filed a similar lawsuit in Virginia, where they were backed by the ACLU. The plaintiff in that suit was Darryl Bonner, a resident of Pennsylvania, libertarian and a paid professional petition circulator.

According to the suitposted belowVirginia's restrictions placed a "severe burden" on the Libertarian Party's "First Amendment rights by making it more difficult for them to disseminate their political views, to choose the most effective means of conveying their message, to associate in a meaningful way with the prospective solicitors for the purposes of eliciting political change, to gain access to the ballot, and to utilize the endorsement of their candidate which can be implicit in a solicitors efforts to gather signatures on the candidates behalf."

According to Majors, ballot access lawsuits date back to the 1980s. But in the most recent case in D.C., Johnson and the Libertarian Party will have to hope for judicial relief sooner rather than latersignatures are due to the Board of Elections next week.

20120514 Virginia Ballot Access Complaint

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Libertarian Party Sues D.C. Over Ballot Access Regulations

The Libertarian Party is suing the Board of Elections over a provision in city law that bans non-District residents from circulating nominating petitions.

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Libertarian Party Sues Board of Elections Over Petition Circulators

"We have a lot of common interests. We both need to break the two-party machine," said Dave Moser, chairman of the York County Libertarian Party.

York, PA -

John Schwab signed petitions to help get Green and Libertarian candidates on the ballot in the fall -- even though he doesn't think he'd vote for them.

"Democracy is supposed to be the great equalizer," said the 46-year-old York Republican. "...I believe they should be running just like anybody else."He was approached near the corner of West Philadelphia and North Beaver streets on Saturday, as members of the York County Green Party and the York County Libertarian Party were seeking signatures for nominating petitions outside York's Central Market.

Republican and Democratic candidates competed for votes in the April primary. But the process for others, like members of the Green and Libertarian parties, to get candidates on the ballot in the fall is different. They have until the end of the day Wednesday to submit paperwork with enough signatures to the state. The signatures can also be challenged.

"We're out here on the streets, one person at a time, one ounce of sweat at a time," said Dave Moser, chairman of the York County Libertarian Party.

He's seeking enough signatures to challenge state Rep. Eugene DePasquale, D-West Manchester Township, for the 95th state House seat. And he's also been helping Mike Koffenberger, of Stewartstown, get enough signatures to appear on the ballot as the Libertarian candidate in the 4th Congressional District race for retiring Congressman Todd Platts' seat.

Members of the York County Green Party on Saturday were helping with a statewide effort to get presidential candidate Jill Stein, a physician from Massachusetts, and vice presidential candidate Cheri Honkala, an anti-poverty advocate who ran for sheriff in Philadelphia 2011, on the ballot in Pennsylvania.

Some rejection was part of the gig.

"Hi, guys. Do you have a second?" asked Britt Beachley, who was sitting at a table with info about the Green Party.

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With deadline looming, members of local Green and Libertarian parties make push for signatures

After more than a year of gathering signatures, a Beverly Libertarian feels confident he will have more than enough to put his name on the November ballot next to the Democratic incumbent, Rep. John F. Tierney, and fellow contender, Republican Richard Tisei.

A newcomer to the campaign trail, Daniel Fishman, 44, said the current state of

the country has propelled him to run for Congress.

There is a real disconnect between what is happening in Congress and common sense, said Fishman.

Taxes arent being collected for enormous defense spending, he continued, and since he doesnt think takes should be increased unless thats the consensus of the country, the government needs to find a way to spend within the confines of what it has.

You cant spend more than you can bring in, said Fishman. We have to work toward a balanced budget.

The Beverly software architect left the Republican party 20 years ago. He will run as a Libertarian, saying government power is increasing with every battle between the Democrats and the Republicans, whether it is a disagreement over increasing the debt ceiling or health care.

Furthermore, said Fishman, the governments winner take all philosophy just isnt working.

We were not meant to be 50 unified states, said Fishman, but 50 united states.

For instance, the health care plan that Mitt Romney passed made a lot of sense for Massachusetts, said Fishman, but it might not be the best course of action for Texas.

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Libertarian plans entry to 6th District congressional race

Plainfield resident Dan Reale said he expects to be on the ballot this November as the Libertarian Party candidate for Congress in Eastern Connecticuts 2nd District.

Reale, who is also chairman of the Libertarian Party of Connecticut, has collected 2,606 signatures, more than the 2,440 required, he wrote in an email recently. He has submitted 1,660 of those signatures to the office of Secretary of the State Denise Merrill.

Reale also said he expects former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson, the Libertarian Party nominee for U.S. president, to be on the Connecticut ballot in November. Johnson is expected to have 12,000 signatures by Aug. 8, more than 7,500 valid he needs to get on the ballot. The party has submitted 2,300 signatures to Merrill on behalf of Johnson, Reale said.

Reale ran as a write-in candidate for Congress in 2008 and 2010 because of difficulty in getting signatures validated. The Libertarian Partys 2008 presidential nominee, former Georgia congressman Bob Barr, was not on the Connecticut ballot that year.

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Plainfield Libertarian expects to be on congressional ballot

July 24, 2012 Updated Jul 24, 2012 at 6:27 PM CDT

PEORIA,Ill -- A libertarian candidate with his eye on the 92nd district seat will not be on the ballot in the November general election.

The Peoria County Officers Electoral Board has ruled that more than 1,100 signatures gathered by three volunteers for Libertarian Candidate Chad Grimm are not valid. That's because the volunteers did similar work for candidates in the Democratic party during this election season which violates state law.

"The law is the law and I take full responsibility for that as the candidate. But what is then the process of verifying the validity of what you are told by a citizen?" Grimm said.

"I think it's difficult obviously for an independent party candidate not have a circulator who has previously voted or participated in either of the main political parties. But the law imposes that obligation on the candidate," said Attorney Tim Howard.

Chad Grimm says he does not plan to appeal the decision, but will see what his options are for continuing his campaign.

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Libertarian Candidate petitions ruled invalid

The Libertarian party's candidate has little hope, if any, of winning in November. Is that reason enough to keep him off the stage?

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Does Gary Johnson deserve a spot in the presidential debates?

A panel ruled Tuesday that Republican-turned-Libertarian Chad Grimm cannot remain on the ballot for the November general election.

Grimm sought to oust Democratic incumbent state Rep. Jehan Gordon-Booth.

At a hearing held in the Peoria County boardroom, the three-member Peoria County Officers Electoral Board decided Grimm's petitioners broke state election laws because some who circulated nominating petitions for Grimm also worked for state Sen. Dave Koehler, a Democrat.

"I told the panel I did my due diligence by asking them point-blank if they had ever circulated petitions in this election cycle, and they told me no," said Grimm. "It's a completely unreasonable law, and they threw me off on a technicality because Jehan Gordon-Booth did not want to run a campaign and she wants to assume the seat she holds is her seat, not that of the 92nd District."

The challenge to Grimm's candidacy wasn't filed by Gordon-Booth but by Patricia Kenny, a political ally.

When reached Tuesday evening, Gordon-Booth said allegations that she didn't want to run a campaign were "ridiculous" and pointed to her voting record over the past three years, saying she represented all the members of her district.

"There is a process in place, and there are people who successfully get on the ballot every year," she said. "I understand that he may have a degree of frustration, but there are literally hundreds or thousands of people in this state who get on the ballot."

Grimm maintains it is virtually impossible to check if anyone ever circulated a petition for a different party because that would mean going to Springfield, pulling petitions for every non-Libertarian candidate in any race and checking the names against those who circulated petitions for him.

The decision isn't final until a written order is entered by the board, which is likely to come on Thursday. Grimm will have five days from then to appeal. If he chooses to appeal, a local judge will likely hear the matter and could possibly rule before the ballots are printed this fall.

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Panel: Libertarian candidate can't run

Enlarge Photo

Libertarian Party presidential nominee Gary Johnson said Monday that he wont release his tax returns, joining his voice to that of presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney, who has declined to release more than the two most recent years.

In a meeting with editors and reporters at The Washington Times, Mr. Johnson said he hadnt previously been asked to release his forms, but said he understood Mr. Romneys reluctance. Mr. Johnson, a former New Mexico governor who built a contracting company from the ground up, said he hasnt owed taxes to the federal government in recent years because he has suffered heavy losses and he speculated that may be the same reason Mr. Romney has declined to release his own.

I think the consensus is, is that hes trying to hide the fact that hes made a whole lot of money, as opposed to that he actually probably didnt pay any tax because he lost so much money. Thats my guess. Because Im in the same camp, Mr. Johnson said.

Asked specifically whether he would release his returns, the candidate said he would respectfully decline.

Mr. Johnson, who won the Libertarian Partys nomination in May after dropping out of the GOP race late last year, said he is asking voters to give him and his party another look and said he is counting on dissatisfaction with both major parties to push voters into his corner.

A lot more people say they are libertarian than vote Libertarian, so what Im trying to tap into is: Vote Libertarian just this one time and really give me a chance to really make a difference, he said.

He said his only path to victory is to gain attention by being allowed into the presidential debates, where he can raise his profile and try to build a coalition of voters who tend to be fiscally conservative and socially accepting.

The only way that I win is if I am on the national debate stage with Romney and Obama, and the only way I do that is if Im in the polls that determine who gets in the debates. And right now, only three polling organizations out of 18 are including my name, he said.

Mr. Johnson meets the age and citizenship qualifications to be president and will appear on enough state ballots to be able to win the electoral votes needed to claim the White House two of the criteria the commission that sponsors the debates requires.

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Johnson to voters: Give Libertarian a chance

Youre all thinking it, so Im just going to say it: a presidential debate between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney is going to be incredibly dull. However, a third person may be joining them on the stage, because the executive director of the Commission on Presidential Debates told U.S. News Washington Whispers that Libertarian party nominee Gary Johnson might end up debating the two leading candidates, because he is close to meeting the full criteria that allow certain candidates to appear in debates.

RELATED: Libertarian Candidates New Ad Pleads: Be Libertarian With Me This One Time

This news comes a week after Johnson supporters launched a Blackout CNN movement to protest the network from not giving Johnson enough airtime. The commissions executive director, Janet Brown, said that the decisions for which candidates will appear on stage have not been finalized yet.

Whispers runs through the list of qualifying factors needed to get in the debates, showing that so far, Johnson is two for three.

Johnson, of course, fulfills an age and nationality requirement, and he has recently met the second criterion as well: That a candidates name must appear on enough state ballots to have at least a mathematical chance of securing an Electoral College majority in the 2012 general election.

But the third requirement could lead to Johnsons exclusion. The commission requires a candidate to secure at least 15 percent in selected polls, which Johnson has not yet done. (Gary Johnson polled at 5.3 percent in a poll earlier this month by JZ Analytics; an April Public Policy Polling poll showed him at 6 percent.)

Johnson campaign spokesman Joe Hunter told Whispers of the 15 center benchmark: Were certainly working towards that and hoping to achieve it.

h/t U.S. News

Follow Josh Feldman on Twitter: @feldmaniac

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Libertarian Candidate Gary Johnson May End Up Appearing In Presidential Debates