I received a call this week that a long time supporter of the Libertarian Party, Pat Hunt, had passed away at age 90. There is a photo of Mrs. Hunt on my website at www.andrewmccullough.org, next to a large sign she had made herself to support me in a campaign for Utah Attorney General. She was active in the party through her 80's, and will be missed.

Since she was a dedicated supporter, we decided, in lieu of flowers, to ask our supporters to join us in donating to the Utah Libertarian Party, in her name, to continue and expand our efforts to bring freedom to Utah. Use the PayPal account on this page, or send in your contribution to the party PO Box. We have passed the $100 mark in the first couple of hours, and we hope to raise a meaningful sum of money to pay tribute to Pat and to help our candidates compete. We will be sending a note to her family to let them know of our tribute.

At this time of year, I remind you that helping to build the Libertarian Party is as easy as finding the contribution box in the upper right corner of your Utah Income Tax form and inserting the letter "L" there. That gives us a $2.00 contibution, and does not increase your tax nor decrease your refund. And then tell a friend.

It is also important to remind you that our party cponvention will be on May 14. See the Calendar on this site for details. In order to particiapte fully in the convention, and to vote on officers and other matters of party business, you must pay your dues of $20 to the State party by April 15. Instructions for doing so are also on this site. If paying by mail, the postmark must be on or before the 15th. You may also pay by PayPal or bring the dues by the party office at 6885 S. State St. in Midvale. We get no money from the National party, and it is our job to keep the party on the ballot and to run candidates, so we need your support. Please get involved.

This year there is a major election, and we are hard at work supporting our candidates in several major races. Our candidates need your support as well. We need people to put up signs, hang door hangers, pass out flyers, make phone calls, go to Meet the Candidate events; and of course, we need contributions. Please find a candidate to support on our list on this site and do something to help that candidate expand his or her campaign.

The biggest problem for Libertarians is that voters do not know we are there. Anything that can be done to expand public awareness will help the cause. Talk to your friends, make sure they are registered to vote, and let people know what we stand for.

June 22, 2010

As Libertarian Party Chair, it is my job to make sure that the party continues to function, and that I have something of value to hand over to my successor next year. With that in mind, I am running for Governor, in order to make sure that we have enough statewide votes (a little over 2% of the statewide tally) to keep our ballot access. With this access comes the right to have supporters designate $2.00 of their tax money every year to assist the party with campaigns. I am fortunate to have Aric Cramer, a distinguished attorney in St. George, as my running mate for Lt. Governor. The ticket is strong; and we are qualified to fill the offices which we seek. I am confident that we will show well in the upcoming election, and that the Libertarian Party will continue to grow.

Membership & Dues

Over the last several months, the Utah Libertarian Party has added hundreds of names to our e-mail list and our Facebook site. This is important, as it helps us expand the number of people who know about our party, and are interested in voting for us. As we get closer to next year’s election season, however, it is more important that ever to increase our membership base. For those of you who are not familiar with the membership situation, I will hopefully make it simpler than it seems.

For many years, someone who wanted to officially join the Libertarian Party paid dues at the national level, of $25.00. This entitled them to membership in both the national and state parties. Dues collected by the national party were shared with the local parties. For a few years, in the late 1900's and early 2000's, the party tried to abolish membership dues, and base its income on donations. It didn’t work, and the party went back to a membership dues format a couple of years ago.

Today, in supposed honor of Independence Day, those opposed to taxes celebrated a TEA Party at the State Capitol. I was invited, at the very last minute, as Libertarian Party Chair, to make some remarks.

As I arrived, I saw a fairly good crowd, mostly right wing (think Sen. Buttars) Republicans. But I had a short message to give, that one can oppose the growth of government, and increasing taxes without being a "conservative" (one who hates gvernment when it bothers them, but wants it to bother all those who they don't agree with, which is most everyone). I checked in with the organizer and set up a little table for brochures. I signed up a couple of people for our mailing list and handed out several Libertarian brochures. While doing so, I listened to the head of the Utah Minutemen rail against foreigners, and then a couple of Republicans rail against most everything. I waited for my chance to say that Libertarians oppose governmetn interference in our lives at all levels, and envision a government that does not spend our money on wars, (including wars on drugs and free speech), and encourages all to support themselves and leave each other alone.

Last week many news sources took note of tax day protests, this year designated as "tea parties". They were well attended in Utah, despite the fact that most Utahns do not drink tea, on moral grounds. The idea behind this type of tax protest comes from Libertarians, though Utah Republicans jumped in to show their frustration with the tax policies of the new government in Washington. Frankly, I did not give these events the proper amount of publicity through our party website and newsletter. Despite this fact, there was good participation among our members, and some new members as a result. Next year, we will be in the forefront of this movement, where we belong.

February 21, 2009

Yesterday's tumult over the recent interview with Senator Chris Buttars, who characterized the gay rights movement as America's greatest threat, and the ACLU as having "black hearts", has many calling for his resignation from the Senate. As Libertarian Chair, I was asked by some on my executive committee to join that chorus. This morning's Tribune makes it clear he will not heed such calls; so perhaps they are not of great value. I think it is very telling, however, that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) felt it important to issue a rare statement distancing itself from his rantings.

Merry Christmas (and Happy Chanukah) to all; and especially Happy New Year to the Party and its supporters. This year we got over 55,000 votes for our State Auditor candidate -- over 55,000 people who want change enough to vote for it at least once. There is something kind of funny about the fact that the party can usually expect a larger vote for non-policy setting offices than for ones where change will be really felt. People want to express their support of our party, but not very much. Well, it is a start, and now it is our job to convince them to invest just a little bit more. And the chance for that is right now!

Below is a review of our election numbers from November 4, 2008. We did much better than necessary to keep our ballot access, and we thank everyone who helped in the effort. This means we will be eligible for State income tax checkoff money. Please be sure to check the Libertarian spot on your tax form this year, and ask your friends to do the same. The "major parties" have plenty of money. It is time we got our share. There will be further comments here about the election and the party, so keep checking.

Although the final election canvass will likely yield higher numbers and percentages for Libertarian candidates, using the unofficial results for the 2008 general election at the Lieutenant Governor's Office, some numbers ...