You are invited to attend the Libertarian Party of California 2021 Convention, and I hope to see you there.  We have lots of important business to get done and some really exciting speakers!

Where: Visalia Marriott at the Convention Center, 300 South Court, Visalia, California
When: Friday, May 14 to Sunday, May 16, 2021

Agenda: In addition to conducting Party business, including elections, the Platform report, and the Bylaws report, there will also be speakers and panels. Speakers include:

• 2020 Presidential Candidate Jo Jorgensen
• 2020 Vice-Presidential Candidate Spike Cohen
• Wyoming State Representative Marshall Burt
  
• LNC Chair Joe Bishop-Henchman

There will be a campaign training panel, elected official panel, and a county affiliate roundtable. Reserve your spot today at https://ca.lp.org/convention/.

Volunteer Opportunities
Volunteers help make the convention experience better for everyone. We need volunteers for numerous things, but especially with AV.  Please sign up to volunteer at https://ca.lp.org/convention-volunteers/.

What will Spike Cohen’s badge say?
Help determine what Spike Cohen’s badge will read at the California convention on May 14-16. Donate now to vote for your favorite! Each dollar donated is another vote for the selected option.  Vote at: https://lpca.z2systems.com/np/clients/lpca/donation.jsp?campaign=23&

Electronic Voting - Bring a Device!!
We will be using the Porcupine app developed by our Interim Executive Director, T.J. Ferreira, for elections at the convention. Porcupine requires a web-enabled device (computer, tablet, or phone). While paper ballots will still be made available for those without access to a device, we encourage all voting State Central Committee members to bring such a device in order to streamline the process.

Electronic Voting - Training Sessions
There will be three training sessions conducted over Zoom to learn how to use this app.

• Saturday, May 1, at 3 PM, https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0ldOqgrzIpGdCmC9b45SsGdlxQJpawxrz_
• Tuesday, May 4, at 8:30 PM, https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUode6qqT4qE9CS-7jh1MTd_1dv-vv7hRsh
• Thursday, May 6, at 6:30 PM, https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMpd-Gopz4rGNclV4RKfTAHFu6Fl5nVpk1L

Please join us for one of these training sessions.

Yours in Liberty,
Mimi Robson, Chairperson
[email protected]

The California LP State Convention is coming next month, May 14-16, in Visalia. Everyone is welcome. Members are encouraged to come and should let the LPVC Chair know if they would like to attend as a voting delegate. All information is on the state site ca.lp.org. There are different levels of participation and pricing. (The basic level is free.) And be sure to make your reservation at the Marriott, the convention hotel. There will be speakers, vendor tables, breakout workshops, hospitality rooms and, of course, a business session. Hope to see you there!

Join us at the Pizza Cookery in Thousand Oaks on Friday evening April 2nd at 6:00 pm. You may also join in on Zoom. All are welcome. For more information click on "Events." 

Ventura City Council Position - Apply by Feb 8

We have now confirmed that our 2020 Presidential and Vice-Presidential candidates, Jo Jorgensen and Spike Cohen will be speaking. We have also confirmed that Marshall Burt, Libertarian member of the Wyoming House of Representatives and Apollo Pazell, Libertarian Party Campaigns Director will be speaking.  There will also be a panel of California's newest elected Libertarians and we will be announcing additional speakers soon!

We will also be taking care of business and there's a lot of business to get done at this convention!  We will be electing our Officers as well as At-Large members of the Executive Committee, working on important amendments to the Party's Bylaws and Platform and much more!

The convention is the highlight of each year, and this year's convention will be something you don't want to miss.  In addition to the great speakers and the important business, it's a time to gather with your fellow Libertarians and have some fun!

Mimi Robson, Chairperson

Don't forget to sign on to Zoom on Friday evening January 29 to elect a new executive committee for the LPVC. Members are encouraged; others are welcome. See full information on Events page. 

A message from our State Chair: Now that we are officially done with 2020, I wanted to take a look back.  Although the year was very difficult for many, there were also many positives.  I try to look on the brighter side of life, so I wanted to share with you some lowlights, but more importantly, many of the highlights of 2020 and what’s to come in 2021 for the Libertarian Party of California (LPC). But let’s start with what’s coming and what we have to look forward to!

Many of our LP county organizations, as well as the LPC, are getting more involved in ending the state lock-downs.  We will keep you posted on when and where these events will be held!

Our 2021 Convention will be held in Visalia over the weekend of May 14-16.  We have already confirmed that both Jo Jorgensen and Spike Cohen will be speaking, and additional speakers will be announced soon.  Through the end of January you can get our early bird pricing at https://ca.lp.org/convention/.

There are several special elections this year, and of course the 2022 midterm elections will be here before you know it.  We could really use your help to ensure we have many more elected Libertarians.  If you're interested in running for office please send an email to [email protected].  If you aren't running, your financial support will be vital for those who are. You can give at https://www.candidate.fund/, and setting up a recurring donation of as little as $5/month there  is easy and will mean so much! And now for a look back at 2020.

2020 started out pretty great, and seemed to be filled with tremendous opportunity.  Coming out of a record-breaking year for the state party, we held our Convention over Valentine’s Day weekend in Los Angeles and had one of the most successful and well-attended events in the party’s history.  We also, for the first time in many years, not only filled our delegation for the National Libertarian convention, but had a full slate of alternates! Most all of our Presidential nominee hopefuls were in attendance and we held a professional debate that was watched across the country.  We were also able to raise a substantial amount of money at the Convention that allowed us to help many of our candidates, including our presidential ticket, during the election season.

In March, as you all know, the nation shut down in response to the novel corona virus pandemic.  Covid-19, or more specifically the government’s response, has wreaked havoc in our country, and especially in California.  At the beginning of 2020 the LPC endorsed the effort to recall Governor Gavin Newsom that has gained momentum thanks to his overreactions to the pandemic, and many of our counties have held events to get signatures!  If you haven't already signed the petition you can download one at https://recallgavin2020.com/petition/.

Due to the pandemic and government responses to it, the Libertarian National Convention originally scheduled for the Memorial Day weekend in Austin, TX was cancelled.  Despite these difficulties we were able to get our candidates nominated on schedule, and were still able to hold an in-person convention!

An online nominating caucus was conducted over that original weekend in May, resulting in the nomination of Dr. Jo Jorgensen for President and Spike Cohen for Vice President.  Then in July the National convention was held in Orlando, Florida, where the delegates voted to allow remote participation and ratified the nominations of Jo and Spike.  This hybrid convention was a huge success.  I am especially proud, as a Libertarian, that over 400 of us gathered in Orlando from all around the country and not one attendee tested positive for Covid-19 or got sick!  It just goes to show that with voluntary cooperation we can all gather safely, following appropriate guidelines, and prevent virus transmission!

Over the summer and fall all focus was on the elections, and California had many wins!  There were several events in California for Jo and Spike, and all were huge successes!  Due to this, Libertarian Party voter registration is at the highest level in history, with almost 200,000 registered Libertarians in California -- a 14% increase in just one year and a 32% increase since the end of 2018.  Our state party membership is also at an all-time high and continues to grow daily!

All of this brought us to the November elections, and California had MANY wins!  Although Jo and Spike didn’t win, they had the second highest results for a presidential ticket, in every matrix, in the party’s history.

Here in California we knocked it out of the park! Nationally 27 Libertarians were elected, and seven of those wins happened right here!  Kalish Morrow won her seat on the Hanford City Council with 42.5% in a three-way race, winning against the incumbent!  The day after the election, Councilman Francisco Ramirez changed his voter registration to Libertarian after working with Kalish, and on the night Kalish was sworn in, Francisco was elected Mayor! Wendy Hewitt won one of three at-large seats in Calimesa, running against the three incumbents, coming in with the highest vote total.  Other wins were Bob Karwin, Menifee City Council; Mike Frost, Dana Point City Council; and Brian Holtz and Kate O’Brien were re-elected to their seats on the Purissima Hills Water District Board and Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District Board of Directors, respectively.  And finally, Ryan Kelley, Imperial County Supervisor, ran unopposed and was re-elected to his seat in March.

Last, but not least, I’m excited to announce that at the December LPC Executive Committee Meeting, Tim Ferreira was appointed as the Party’s interim Executive Director!  We are very fortunate to have someone with so much enthusiasm and expertise becoming such an important part of the LPC team!

So in looking back, although 2020 held many challenges, it was a good year for the party, and I’m looking forward to what 2021 will bring!

Yours in Liberty,

Mimi Robson, Chairperson, LPC

The Libertarian National Committee is soliciting applications for the Information Services Committee. The IS Committee shall:

• Work with staff and state chairs to identify the Information Technology (IT) needs of the LP;

• Discuss with staff and state chairs the anticipated IT needs and how to meet those needs;

• Survey the list of possible vendors and solutions to those needs and reduce the list to a small number;

• Recommend, by the LNC meeting following the convention, an implementation of the IT tools that will best satisfy those needs within the budgetary constraints of the Party;

• Monitor progress in the transition and implementation of any IT solutions pertaining to LPHQ;

• Monitor progress in the transition and implementation of any IT solutions pertaining to relations with the various affiliates; and

• Propose standards for transfer of data between LPHQ and the affiliates.

In order to apply, please fill out the application here: https://forms.gle/Epr8MwJ2EiYemPH38 The deadline to submit applications is January 10, 2020. If you are applying for more than one committee, please submit separate applications for each position sought. Thank you very much for your consideration.. If you have any questions at all, please contact me at [email protected] or by phone at 561.523.2250.

In Liberty,

Caryn Ann Harlos, LNC Secretary

An announcement from our national office that will be of interest to anyone considering running for office:
The year 2021 will be an exciting one for your Libertarian Party! With one of the most successful electoral and fundraising years serving as prologue, we plan to keep the momentum going. One of the several plans for capitalizing on our growth this year will be a ramp-up of the training of Libertarian candidates, staff, and state officers all over the country and at all levels of the Libertarian Party.

Spearheaded by Candidate Recruitment associate and sitting Burnsville, Minnesota city councilmember Cara Schulz, the program will be an intensive, introductory course held largely online on weekends to familiarize Libertarian candidates and staff with the basic elements of running a political campaign. 

Among the several areas to be covered in this valuable training are campaign management and leadership, campaign planning and strategy, and fundraising. Students of the course who approach it with no prior knowledge of campaigning will come away from it understanding how successful candidates plan and execute their campaigns with effective communication and proper staff and resource management.

In addition to classes for candidates, Cara will conduct a leadership program targeted at party leaders at the affiliate level. Running concurrently with the candidate training above, state party officers will be offered courses in the tasks of their positions as well as participating with the candidates in their training in classes relevant to both situations. In addition, the program will allow state officers to meet and mingle with officers in other states to network and share ideas. 

This valuable training has already been utilized in two of the LNC’s regions, instructing candidates on topics such as fundraising, volunteer recruitment and retention, and training on our relationship management system. Watch for upcoming training dates or visit www.lp.org