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.

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 ...

Please get out and vote for our Libertarian candidates tomorrow, and then drag a few friends out to vote also. Several of our candidates, most notably our Vice Chair, Dylan McDonnell, running for State Rep. District 24; First Congressional District candidate Joe Buchman; and I, running for Attorney General, have worked hard on this campaign. We need your help to show that effort does pay off.

And I am going to post here the audio of a conversation I had with Doug Wright on his KSL talk show last week. His topic was: How can anybody vote for Superdell for Governor? I am told that the conversation starts at marker 38:45 and lasts about 6 minutes. For what it is worth:

Here is the list of early voting places in Salt Lake County. As of today (Wednesday) the lines are not long. You might want to consider casting your vote early. If you need some information on other counties, call the party at 801 565-1988 or contact your county clerk.

Weekdays beginning October 21 through October 30

Hours 12:00 pm - 7:00 pm and on Friday, October 31 from 12:00 pm to 5:00 pm

NW Multipurpose Center - 1300 W 300 N, SLC
Murray City Hall - 5025 S State St, Murray
Holladay City Hall - 4580 S 2300 E, Holladay
Kearns Improvement District - 5350 W 5400 S, Kearns
Taylorsville City Hall - 2600 W Taylorsville Blvd (5330 S), Taylorsville

October 16, 2008

I received the following e-mail from the Salt Lake County Clerk today, October 16. If you are not registered, you may do so at the County Clerk's office before 5 PM on Monday, October 20. If you need contact information, call the party phone at 565-1988, and we will be glad to direct you. There is still time to get your friends who are not political to join in our effort. Drag them in to register today.

Dear Party Leaders,

The attached polling location notice card will be hitting the mail this week in Salt Lake County . One card is mailed to every household that has a registered voter. Another mailing will go out after the October 20th in-office registration deadline to all households that registered after the by-mail deadline. The card indicates the Election Day polling location for the household and also provides the early voting and in-office voting schedule.