California Convention 2020
| LPC Convention 2020 | |||
| Convention | |||
| Dates: | 14–17 February 2020 | ||
| Location: | Culver City, California | ||
| |||
An annual convention of the Libertarian Party of California was held 14–17 February (Presidents Day weekend) 2020 at the DoubleTree LA Westside in Culver City.
Major business of this convention was consideration of amendments to the LPC Platform and Bylaws, election of state party officials, and election of the California delegation to the 2020 LP presidential nominating convention. In addition, there were a number of activities relating to the upcoming presidential nomination.
Bylaws
The Bylaws Committee published a report prior to the convention. In addition, several other proposals were made, with advance notice, independent of the Bylaws Committee. Many of the proposals in both categories were never considered, due to issues of time and quorum. Amendments were adopted on the following topics:
- minor correction to voting rule for Executive Committee at large members
- expanding section regarding parliamentary authority to cover multiple documents
- add language authorizing Executive Committee to meet by electronic communication
- require Platform Committee to be appointed earlier and publish a report prior to convention
- reword the "Purpose" to give emphasis to winning elections
- establish "due process" requirements in membership suspension cases
- specify that membership suspension action be done in open session if accused member requests that
Platform
The Platform Committee presented a report offering many options—a number of proposals to replace the entire Platform with something else, and a number of amendments of the traditional sort to individual planks. The convention was asked to select one of the options to be considered first, and the proposal to replace the entire Platform with the national Platform had the most support. But this proposal did not have enough support to actually be adopted, and the convention recessed without considering any of the other options. Another proposal made on the last day to make a minor change to one plank also failed. So the net result was no change to the Platform.
Elections
Election to Fill Four Executive Committee At Large Positions
| Eduardo Flores | 69 |
| Jillian Olsen | 69 |
| Rachel Johnson | 64 |
| Angela McArdle | 62 |
| Richard Fast | 44 |
| Mark Herd | 36 |
| Dawn Brosius | 28 |
| Jonathan Jaech | 24 |
Election of At Large Alternates
| Richard Fast - 1st alternate |
| Dawn Brosius - 2nd alternate |
Election of Judicial Committee
| Bob Weber | 68 |
| Alicia Mattson | 67 |
| David Bowers | 60 |
| Kevin Shaw | 59 |
| Chuck Hamm | 55 |
| Mark Hinkle | 33 |
| Gail Lightfoot | 21 |
| Roger Clark | 21 |
| Jonathan Jaech | 1 (write-in) |
Election of LNC Representative and Alternate
Election of National Convention Delegates
California was eligible to name 107 delegates to the national convention. There were more than twice as many people seeking these slots. Because the set of nominees included many from out of state, proposals were made to modify the selection process to give preference to California residents, but none of these proposals was adopted and the selection was done using the procedure outlined in the standing Convention Rules.
Note: Voting was done by ballot on the final day of the convention, but the results have not yet been announced.
Business Relating to Presidential Nomination
A number of candidates for the LP's nomination for President were present and actively campaigning during the convention, and several had tables in the exhibit area. The central event relating to the presidential nomination was a debate.
There were fifteen candidates present and interested in participating in the debate. Each was allowed a few minutes to introduce themselves during a session late Saturday afternoon. The delegates selected which six would be able to participate in the actual debate by casting up to five "tokens" each.
The debate itself was held on Sunday evening, 7-9pm. The moderator was Matt Welch. Video
Two straw polls were conducted, an "informal" poll immediately following the debate in which everyone present was allowed to vote, and the formal poll the following day in which only registered delegates could vote.
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Jacob Hornberger | 51 | 39.2% |
| Adam Kokesh | 22 | 16.9% |
| Lincoln Chafee | 19 | 14.6% |
| Jo Jorgensen | 15 | 11.5% |
| Mark Whitney | 13 | 10.0% |
| Vermin Supreme | 8 | 6.2% |
| NOTA | 2 | 1.5% |
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Jacob Hornberger | 30 | 36.6% |
| Adam Kokesh | 19 | 23.2% |
| Lincoln Chafee | 10 | 12.2% |
| Jo Jorgensen | 8 | 9.8% |
| Vermin Supreme | 6 | 7.3% |
| Mark Whitney | 3 | 3.7% |
| Sorinne Ardeleanu | 2 | 2.4% |
| John Monds | 2 | 2.4% |
| Arvin Vohra | 2 | 2.4% |
Committees
Bylaws Committee
- Rick Dawson
- Chuck Hamm
- Brandon Nelson, Chair
- Kenneth Brent Olsen
- Jillian Olsen, Secretary
Platform Committee
- John Davis Ward (Coordinator, initial Chair)
- Richard Fast (Alameda, temporary interim Chair)
- John J. Ferrero (Alameda alternate)
- Joshua Smith (Contra Costa)
- Trevor Carr (Fresno)
- Wesley Martin (Humboldt)
- Tyler Braaten (Kings)
- Joey Joslin (Kings alternate)
- Tim Ferreira (Los Angeles, Chair as of final report)
- Jose Castañeda (Los Angeles alternate)
- Michael Mahoney (Orange)
- David Ahrens (Placer)
- Jia Christopher (Placer alternate)
- Dawn Brosius (Riverside)
- Vince Puccio (Riverside alternate)
- James Just (Sacramento)
- Christina Lind-Weyer (Sacramento alternate)
- Joseph Lubinski (San Diego)
- Starchild (San Francisco)
- Gail Lightfoot (San Luis Obispo)
- Marvin Byrd (San Luis Obispo alternate)
- Harland Harrison (San Mateo)
- Ed Wimmers (Santa Clara)
- Mark Hinkle (Santa Clara first alternate)
- Kennita Watson (Santa Clara second alternate)
- Matyas Homer (Solano, Secretary)
- Geraldo Guinto (Solano alternate)
- Michael Tishler (Sonoma)
- Jon Prosser (Tulare)
Documents
- 2020 Bylaws Committee Report, 1 November 2019
- 2020 Bylaws Proposals with Advance Notice, 7 December 2019
- 2020 Platform Committee Report, 14 February 2020
Exhibitors / Vendors
The vendor/exhibit area was locate in the lobby immediately in front of the main meeting room. Participating were several presidential candidates as well as other kinds of organizations.
