This Memorial Day weekend, The Libertarian Party of Georgia sent 28 delegates to attend the Libertarian Party’s National Convention at the Renaissance Grand Hotel in St. Louis, Missouri. Entitled “Gateway to Liberty,” the convention promised to be packed with activity, including a hotly-contested race for Chair of the Libertarian National Committee and a keynote address from 2008 Presidential candidate and former Georgia Congressman Bob Barr.
This year’s convention saw an interesting formation of a “triple region” for Region 1, to include the states of Alabama, Arkansas, California, Georgia, Mississippi, Oklahoma, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Texas. In that region, the Georgia delegation nominated both a Representative and an Alternate to the Libertarian National Committee, both were selected to serve Region 1, with Doug Craig and Brad Ploeger as the Representative and Alternate, respectively. Additionally, Georgia delegate, Alicia Mattson, was selected by the body to serve as Secretary to the LNC. In the aforementioned race for LNC Chair, after three ballots, Mark Hinkle from California was elected to serve as chair, replacing outgoing Chairman, William Redpath. The remaining officers include newly-elected Vice Chair, Mark Rutherford from Indiana, and Treasurer, James Oaksun of Maine.
If you are interested in seeing some of the pictures from the convention taken by attendees, please take a look at the LP Georgia Flickr and Facebook. As they come in, more pictures will be posted to both accounts.
On an exciting national note, there are currently 632 Libertarian candidates declared for the November 2 elections, including 172 candidates for U.S. Congress. Here in Georgia, the Libertarian Party has 10 statewide candidates ready to qualify on June 29, with two State House candidates still seeking the necessary signatures to challenge for the 51st and 59th districts.
