LPKS 2009 State Convention

LPKS 2009 State Convention

Date: March 7th, 2009

Please add to your schedules and plan to be there! I am letting you know early so there will be no excuses. 8-)

Place: Emporia State University
ESU Union - Heritage Room
Emporia, Kansas
Time: 11 AM to 4 PM (if we need the entire time)

This meeting will have the elections of all officers, and this is the meeting where we have traditionally had the chance to change the state by-laws, statement of principles, and/or constitution. All proposed changes must be sent to the chair *in writing, so that we can prepare for the convention and to give all LPKS members as much notice of possible changes being discussed.

Note: ALL OFFICERS are up for election in 2009.
The eight voting officers today in the LPKS constitution today are Chair, Vice-Chair, Treasurer, Secretary, Congressional District 1 Coordinator, Congressional District 2 Coordinator, Congressional District 3 Coordinator, and Congressional District 4 Coordinator. These eight are the people who vote on all spending for the LPKS. They are also the voting members of any internal issues that come up between conventions.

Please note that the procedure for electing these eight people is split into two formats. All those LPKS members in attendance from across the state will elect the “name” officers. (Chair, Vice-Chair, Secretary, and Treasurer) Only those members that live in each district elect that District Coordinator to represent them.

If you have an interest in running for one of these positions – please let me know ASAP as we want to keep everyone notified of all possible candidates available.

For the party to grow at its most beneficial pace, we need competition for all officer positions, while it may be the easy way to elect officers without a competition – it is not necessarily the best way.

I have been asked by several people to run as chair again. At this time, I do not plan to run again. If I receive many solid commitments to work to grow the LPKS – I would look again at running for third term. Jason Peck (Vice-Chair) will not be running for another term.

With this in mind, we need many new people to step up, lead and help us grow. Keeping the same executive committee (repeatedly) has a tendency to trend to group complacency, and we must be vigilant that we keep growing and not become stagnant as an organization. New leadership always comes to a group with an enthusiasm missing from the old group and a sense of direction that may or may not have been there before.

If you have an interest in being an officer – please let me know ASAP, so I can compile a list of candidates to announce.

Thanks for all you do for the LPKS!

Rob Hodgkinson - Chair

It's a great time to be a Libertarian in Kansas!

Top 100 LP Blogs.... I am on the list!

Sarah Scrafford at WebPreneur Names Top 100 Libertarian Blogs

At least someone is noticing. Sarah has put together her list of the Top 100 Libertarian Blogs & I was told today that I made the list.

This is interesting to me as once we get past the internal LPKS party elections in March, I should have time to blog more than I have been doing.

I look forward to the challenge of growing the readership here.

Kansas election results

We elected one libertarian in Kansas in 2008. Fredrick Campbell was (re)elected to the County Attorney position in Anderson County.

We retained ballot access for another 2 years due to Randall Hodgkinson’s 3rd place showing gaining 2.1% of the vote (24,946) in the statewide race of US Senate.

Other good showings included Sheri Stearns (Gardner) who had just under 13% of the vote in a 3-way race with the R & D’s. The best showing we have had in a 3-way with the R’s & D’s in the race in a long while if not ever.

We are making progress (even if slow) to getting the message out that the Libertarian Party is not a protest vote but a good vote. This election showed that we need to concentrate on lower level races so we can start winning and take that success to higher levels as we grow.

Speaking of lower level races --- Now that the fall elections are over, it is time to start thinking about the spring races. These spring races are non-partisan meaning you do not run with an R, D or L after your name on the ballot.

These races include most City Councils, School Boards, Community College Trustee’s, Water Boards, and other races as well.

We need candidates for these races next spring.
Most of the filing deadlines are early January 2009 so you need to decide quickly.

If you plan to run in a non-partisan race this spring – please let the LPKS know.

Mark off March 7th and leave this as an open date on you calendars - why coming soon!

Rob Hodgkinson - Chair

It's a great time to be a Libertarian in Kansas!

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HOW TO DONATE TO THE KANSAS LIBERTARIAN PARTY
If you'd like to donate to the Kansas Libertarian Party just sign up by going to (click on): http://www.lpks.org/Donate/DonateToday/tabid/1061/Default.aspx
and choose a one time or monthly donation method. The donation website (PayPal) is encrypted and is a secure site.

Election Night Party!

You are invited to a LPKS PARTY!

Tell your friends and be there!

Join us at a Election Night Party to celebrate the hard work and our LPKS political successes in 2008!

Date: Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Time: 7:00pm - 11:00pm ??
Location: Granite City Food & Beverage
Street: 1701 Village West Parkway
City/Town: Kansas City, KS 66111

Granite City is in the Legends (by the racetrack) across from Nebraska Furniture Mart.

If you plan to attend - please RSVP to Rob Hodgkinson --- Chair@lpks.org

It's a great time to be a Libertarian in Kansas!