Document:Libertarian Party of New York News (2002)

The following news appeared on the Libertarian Party of New York's website in 2002.

Bill of Rights Day was December 15. Andrea Snell organized an event at Union Square (NYC), where we had an OPH booth (Operation Politically Homeless).

November 5: Election Day Scott Jeffrey, our candidate for Governor, needed to get 50,000 votes to gain ballot status for the Libertarian Party in New York. The results were officially certified December 13. We fell far short, with somewhat over 5,000 votes.

NYS Board of Elections certified results, mostly in PDF format.
On the resolution in NYC, LPNY member Robert Goodman writes: "It's not as good as having all elections IN NYC be nonpartisan, but it does create a nonpartisan election for mayor in case of vacancy. The primary is a big prop to the Democratic Party in NYC, and eliminating it will increase the chances of people other than organization Democrats to win."

LPNYer and Brooklyn school board member Gary Popkin offers a contrasting view, though: "As you know, I would like to see the mayoral succession changed to Speaker of the Council. Success of the proposed ballot question would eliminate that possiblity for another 100 years, so in my opinion success of this ballot question would make things worse."

October 29, 2002 The Manhattan LP chapter held a protest against the acts of eminent domain being committed for the NY Times in Times Square, Manhattan. Deroy Murdock of the Scripps Howard News Service covered the protest and background about the Times's victims..

October 10-11: Congress authorizes President Bush to use force in Iraq. Several New York representatives had the courage to vote no: Hinchey, LaFalce, Meeks, Nadler, Owens, Rangel, Serrano, Slaughter, Towns, and Velazquez. (complete House roll call) Both of our senators voted yes. A preëmptive attack violates the main libertarian principle of non-initiation of force.

September 11: Remembering 9-11.

September 3-4: Remembering Rainbow Farm--Tom Crosslin and Rollie Rohm were killed last year in Vandalia, MI by Federal Agents and State Police on their own property. Their crime was having a party where people smoked pot.

On the Ballot! Our state-wide slate and other candidates have made it on the ballot. We collected over 19,000 signatures in six weeks through mostly volunteer effort. Candidates Lee Monnet in the North Country and Jen Rog and Mike Farrar in the Mid-Hudson area contributed to the total with their combined petitions, and their work was rewarded with a ballot slot as well. Thanks to everyone who helped with this chore.

Petitioning Nearly Over Thanks to the volunteers who sweated out in the hot sun this summer collecting signatures. Our statewide slate has collected more than the 15,000 signatures it needs to be on the ballot, and they are making one last push to get enough signatures to make up for any invalid ones. If you can possibly help out in New Paltz this weekend (August 16-18), please contact Jen Rog at jrog@hvc.rr.com and ask her where you can help get signatures in her district.

If you've collected signatures, please send them in now to

Jeff Russell
55 Via DaVinci
Clifton Park, NY 12065-2903
LPNY members also received a paper copy of the petition with their July issue of FreeNY.
2002 Candidate and Petitioning Info
Petitioning Started July 9 Our statewide slate needs your help, and so do our local candidates. We'll need to collect over 25,000 signatures to be assured of getting our gubernatorial candidate, Scott Jeffrey, on the ballot, and we're trying start out running. Print out and copy your petition forms today so you'll be ready July 9. 2002 Candidate and Petitioning Info LPNY members will also get a paper copy of the petition with their July issue of FreeNY.

National Convention July 3-7 See Joe Dehn's LP Archive for an update on the business at the LP convention that was held in Indianapolis.

April 14, 2002 The LPNY 2002 New York State Convention was held this weekend in Rochester, NY. The big question was: who is going to try to get the 50,000 votes for governor necessary for the Libertarian Party to gain ballot status in New York?

Out of 41 credentialed delegates at the 2002 LPNY Convention, there were 23 votes for Scott Jeffrey on the first ballot, not enough to gain the party's endorsement (which requires a two-thirds majority). The three candidates tying for the lowest vote total (and one who garnered no votes) were dropped for the second round of balloting. Scott Jeffrey, from NYC, received 26 of the 37 votes cast in the second round, beating Don Silberger and NOTA (None of the Above) for the gubernatorial nomination. Jay Greco, a NYC-based lawyer who re-formed the NYC NORML chapter recently, gained the Lt. Gubernatorial nod. James Eisert, a previous LPNY candidate who is also from NYC, is our choice for Comptroller, and Dan Conti, a lawyer from Long Island, will be running as our Attorney General.

For the State Chair of the Libertarian Party of New York, Al Dedicke of Livingston County won 28 of the 38 votes cast on the first ballot to earn himself a one-year term. The rest of the new state committee was then elected: Vice-Chairs Jak Karako and Vince O'Neill; Treasurer Bill McMillen; Secretary Bonnie Scott; At-large Members John Clifton, Jim Harris, Steve Becker, James Eisert, and Jim Lesczynski

People who signed up to be delegates to the Indianapolis Convention were approved, but we have about another 20 slots open for interested volunteers, and probably a few alternates would get seated if we had them. Contact someone on the new state committee to be added to the list.

The bylaws amendments changes were considered. We ended up deleting Paragraph E from Article VIII, and amending Section C from Article VIII.

Paragraph E had only been inserted in 1998, and it formerly read: "No candidate shall appear on the Libertarian Party line for political office in New York State who is not a member in good standing of the Libertarian Party of New York." Section C of Article VIII describes how endorsements of candidates would be handled if they weren't running in an area covered by a local organization. Before, there were two options: by the State Committee or a body designated by 2/3 vote of the State Convention. This additional step added time to the business session of the convention, and it added to the logistics of candidate approval. It was confusing when elections came up nearly a full year after the convention had selected a committee. The State Committee will now approve the endorsements of candidates who are in districts not overlapping any LPNY local chapter. ??

LPNY bylaws changes need to be presented to the full membership of the Libertarian Party of New York about 30 days before the Convention, in the normal scenario (other methods of amending the LPNY bylaws).

On Sunday, activists and candidates gathered early to hear George Phillies and Dr. Jennifer Daniels speak on campaigning, followed by a panel of recent LPNY candidates. This was followed by a private tour of the house of the noted philanthropist George Eastman.

Coverage in Rochester's Democrat and Chronicle: April 15, 2002

NYSpecial Elections were held February 12 On January 3, a special election was called to replace some State Senators and Assembly Reps who are retiring or accepting other posts. Independent parties were given 12 days to collect signatures. Jak Karako and Sam Sloan made it onto the ballot anyway.
[Official PD F with more info about the special election]

The NY Post had an article about the open seats:

20th Senate District in Kings County,
19th Assembly District, Long Island
56th Assembly District, Brooklyn,
60th Assembly District, Staten Island,
100th Assembly District, Saratoga County,
118th Assembly District, Syracuse, 
and possibly (we'll know Monday), Roy Goodman's seat to be challenged by our own Jak Karako,
26th Senate District, New York County