Thanks, Scott!
Those at the convention who supported Wayne Root didn't leave empty handed. Wayne Root was elected as an At-Large member of the LNC. It speaks to the decorum and maturity of the Libertarian Party that even those who adamantly opposed his election as LNC Chair were willing to support him as an At-Large member. One such delegate, Nick Sarwark, even gave a nominating speech for him.
I was disappointed that John Jay Myers did not receive enough votes to reach the LNC this time around. He was definitely close, and had the support of the entire Delaware Delegation, but it was not quite enough. The other At-Large members selected were:
- Kevin Knedler
- David Nolan
- Mary Ruwart
- William Redpath
As the LNC Chair for the last two years, Bill Redpath was almost guaranteed to win himself a seat. I did not vote for him in favor of bringing more new blood onto the LNC, but I certainly don't begrudge him a seat considering his tireless efforts, generous contributions, and unquestionable dedication to the party. David Nolan was a founder of the party and creator of the now famous "Nolan Chart", which became "The World's Smallest Political Quiz". We certainly need to retain experience and wisdom on the LNC, and I can think of no finer example of both than David Nolan. Kevin Knedler is someone I am less familiar with, but he had the endorsement and recommendation of the Delaware State Chair, Jim Rash, and was instrumental in the creation of the LPStuff.com website and the organization of the Ohio state affiliate party. He had my support and I am glad that he won. Mary Ruwart is another old hand in the Libertarian Party and helped to raise over $55,000 at the banquet on the final evening of the convention. She was also an incumbent member of the LNC and runner up for the 2008 presidential nomination. I am sure that her contributions will be valuable and well received so I gladly supported her also.
I am less comfortable with the balance of power between the party's factions and the number of old-school members of the party elected as At-Large members of the LNC, but I am confident that they will serve the party well. We only kept a couple of incumbents and I am not really familiar enough with which factions these members may represent to make a completely fair evaluation, so we may have done just fine. I'm just less certain than I was yesterday of the officer elections.
The final elections of the convention were those for the party's Judicial Committee. The Judicial Committee is a very important but seldom employed committee within the Libertarian Party. They are responsible for determining when there have been infractions of the party's bylaws and rules and ultimately for preventing a takeover of the Libertarian Party by forces hostile to our message of liberty and responsibility. I was pleased that Nick Sarwark was re-elected. He had made a number of valuable contributions to the debate during the convention and made a strong impression on me as a knowledgeable and reliable libertarian who would serve the party well. Also elected were:
- Lee Wrights
- Bill Hall
- Jim Gray
- Robert Latham
- Bob Sullentrup
Many of these members I am not as familiar with as I would like to be, but I know of Lee Wrights and the numerous contributions he made during the convention, his history of service on the LNC, and his gravitas and respect within the party. I also recognize the contributions that Bob Sullentrup made to the party as secretary and look forward to his service on the Judicial Committee. I really do not know Jim Gray, Robert Latham, or Bill Hall, but I don't know anything detrimental about them either so I will defer to the wisdom of the crowd on their elections. There are supposed to be seven members of the Judicial Committee in total, but there was a tie between Ruth Bennett and Brian Holtz. The votes are being audited to ensure an accurate count of all votes, but Brian Holtz has graciously offered to withdraw his candidacy should the vote count stand. These are the types of people that make me proud to be a member of this party.
The convention has closed, and I'm on my way back to Delaware. I'm definitely re-energized and looking forward to getting back into the fight.
Thanks again, Scott, for reading and letting me know what you think. I hope I've served the Delaware Libertarian Party well as one of our delegates to the national convention and I look forward to serving again in this capacity during the next convention in 2012.
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