Libertarian Party

Barr was a spoiler after all

ryanteaguebeckwith — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 10:38:59 -0500

Bob Barr was a spoiler in North Carolina after all.

Though the Libertarian presidential candidate made only token appearances in the state and received a miniscule number of votes in November, he still got more votes than the margin of difference.

Barr's 25,722 votes were more than one and a half times the 14,192 margin that made Barack Obama winner of the state over John McCain. Put another way, Barr had about 0.6 percent of the vote, while the margin was about 0.3 percent.

That puts Barr into elite company in North Carolina.

As previously noted, there have been five third-party candidates who earned enough votes to affect the race between the Republican and Democrat in North Carolina since 1908.

They are: George Wallace in 1968, Teddy Roosevelt in 1912, Ross Perot in 1992 and in 1996 and John Anderson in 1980. (Technically, Roosevelt did not earn more than the margin of Woodrow Wilson's win, but he came in second so we count him.)

However, Barr earned the smallest percentage of any of the other spoilers, and the number of write-in votes was close enough to the margin this year to almost qualify on its own.

Update: Greensboro blogger Ed Cone called it in mid-May.

Mungers zingers at UNC-TV debate

ryanteaguebeckwith — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 21:32:45 -0400

Mike Munger got a rare statewide platform tonight.

The Libertarian gubernatorial candidate made good use of his appearance at a debate on UNC-TV to get off a few zingers. (Mingers?)

On mental health reform: "There was an overhaul in 2001. To me, it looked more like a frat party."

On corporate incentives: "This focus on trying to pay companies to come here is basically economic prostitution that's not going to last in the long run."

On the veto: "I think of the veto like spanking your child. It means that you're a bad parent, that you haven't successfully used all of the things that should come before that. Now maybe it sometimes still happens, but it really means it's a failure for you, and it's a failure for the child."

On voting for third-party candidates: "Unless you have Jedi powers, you're not going to be able to control the way other people vote. You have one precious vote. Your decision on how to cast it will send a signal to our leaders in Raleigh."

Nader to hold Raleigh rally Saturday

ryanteaguebeckwith — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 16:46:05 -0400

Ralph Nader wants your vote, but first he'll need your signature.

The independent presidential candidate is coming to Raleigh Saturday to hold campaign rally, but he won't be on the North Carolina ballot in November.

So far, only one third-party will have a presidential nominee in North Carolina: The Libertarians.

The Green Party did not submit any signatures before the June 27 deadline to be re-recognized as a party. The two parties also lost a case in May in Wake County Superior Court to overturn the state's tough standards.

The Libertarian Party has filed an appeal.

Under state law, Nader can qualify as a write-in candidate for president by turning in a petition with 500 signatures by noon on Aug. 6.

As a write-in candidate in 2004, Nader received 1,805 votes — or one-tenth of one percent of the ballots cast in that race. He was the top write-in in North Carolina that year.

Correction: An earler version of this post misstated Nader's party affiliation and the status of a lawsuit.

Libertarians announce slate of candidates

ryanteaguebeckwith — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 08:56:56 -0400

The N.C. Libertarian Party will have 38 candidates on the fall ballot.

The newly re-recognized party formally presented its list of candidates for state and federal offices to the State Board of Elections Monday.

As previously announced, Duke University professor Mike Munger will run for governor. Phillip Rhodes of Chapel Hill is running for lieutenant governor and Mark McMains of Fuquay-Varina for commissioner of insurance. Twenty-four candidates are running for legislative seats.

Chris Cole, a contract postal worker who lives in Huntersville, is running for U.S. Senate. Five candidates are running for Congressional seats: Will Adkins of Cary, Maximillian Longley of Durham, Thomas Hill of Concord, Andy Grum of Matthews and Keith Smith of Bostic.

Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr will also be on the ballot.

State: Don't wait for Libertarian form

ryanteaguebeckwith — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 11:55:56 -0400

The State Board of Elections says to register as a Libertarian now.

Deputy elections director Johnnie Mclean says that registered voters can change their party affiliation to the Libertarian Party even though the widely available state forms do not include it as an option, simply by writing its name in.

"Anybody can do that now," she said.

State Libertarians have complained that the form does not include them, since it was created before the party was re-recognized, arguing it is slowing down re-affiliations. But Mclean said it could be months before new forms are available.

She told Dome that the state software's form-creating software has to be reset and new forms printed and sent to the U.S. Department of Justice, which preclears any North Carolina forms for potential civil rights violations.

The state board plans to print the new forms in the next two to three weeks, and it can take another 60 days after that for the federal government to OK them.

Currently, only 29 Libertarians are registered in North Carolina.

Munger: State dragging its feet

ryanteaguebeckwith — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 08:54:05 -0400

Mike Munger says the state is "dragging its feet" on Libertarian registrations.

The Libertarian gubernatorial nominee and Duke University political science professor tells Dome that the party had more than 13,000 registered voters in 2005.

When the Libertarians lost party status, those voters became unaffiliated, though they should be able to re-register now that it is a party again. But Munger says some of the state's largest boards of elections have not yet posted the forms online to allow it.

"How can we register people as Libertarian when they won't change the forms?" he writes in an e-mail. "The state is intentionally dragging its feet, in violation of the law, and the expressed will of more than 100,000 voters."

As of 8:45 a.m. today, the Wake County board of elections' online form did not include the Libertarian Party, listing only Democratic, Republican and unaffiliated. The Mecklenburg County form and the Guilford County form also lacked the Libertarian option.

The party was recognized in late May, but had only 29 registered members as of this morning.

Number of N.C. Libertarians doubles!

ryanteaguebeckwith — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 11:16:48 -0400

The number of registered Libertarians has more than doubled.

But don't get too excited — it's only gone from 5 to 11.

As recently as Monday, the State Board of Elections reported only a handful of people registered to the political party, which was only re-recognized in late May.

Deputy elections director Johnnie Mclean said that the state board only recently got the forms together to allow people to re-register, so it will take a while before the party bounces back.

No word yet on whether Mike Munger is one of the 11.

Towery: Barr hurts McCain in N.C.

ryanteaguebeckwith — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 11:24:59 -0400

Matt Towery says Bob Barr could hurt John McCain in North Carolina.

In an interview with the Washington Times, the Atlanta-based pollster and one-time adviser to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich noted a recent poll showing the Libertarian presidential nominee drawing 6 percent here.

"Barr does throw a monkey wrench in Republican plans in states people otherwise take for granted as Republican states," said Matt Towery, chief executive officer of InsiderAdvantage, an Atlanta-based polling and political analysis firm that conducted the Georgia poll, and one-time political adviser to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.
Mr. Towery said North Carolina and Georgia have large black populations that Mr. Obama can tap to boost his turnout numbers, and both have conservative-leaning voters whose dissatisfaction with President Bush could lead them to a third-party candidate.

The paper also quotes N.C. Republican Party spokesman Brent Woodcox saying "it's too early to tell" whether Barr will be a spoiler like Ross Perot or more like previous Libertarian candidates, who didn't crack 1 percent here.

McCain 43, Obama 40, Barr 6

ryanteaguebeckwith — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 11:21:33 -0400

Bob Barr could have an effect in North Carolina.

In a recent poll by Democratic firm Public Policy Polling, the Libertarian presidential candidate received six percent of the vote, drawing more from Republican nominee John McCain, who received 43 percent, than Democratic candidate Barack Obama, who received 40.

(In a match-up with Hillary Clinton, McCain received 39; Clinton, 34; and Barr, 6.)

Barr's strength was with independent voters, many of whom were strongly inclined for McCain in previous polls by the firm.

"It's a long way until the election but the early indication is that Bob Barr's presence on the ballot could be a good sign for whoever ends up as the Democratic nominee," said Dean Debnam, president of Public Policy Polling.

The automated survey of 543 likely voters was done on May 28-29. The margin for error is plus or minus 4.2 percentage points.

Previously: Will Libertarian Party swing N.C.?

Will Libertarian Party swing N.C.?

ryanteaguebeckwith — Thu, 22 May 2008 16:00:22 -0400

Will the Libertarian Party help make North Carolina a swing state?

Earlier this month, Greensboro blogger Ed Cone speculated that a potential run by former Congressman Bob Barr could draw votes away from Republican presidential nominee John McCain.

"Given the blue tide we saw in NC last week, the prospect of a relatively strong Libertarian in the race can't be comforting to McCain, who got less than 75% of the primary vote here, while Ron Paul and No Preference combined for more than 10%," he wrote.

Now that the Libertarians are officially a party, its presidential nominee will be on the ballot.

Brian Irving, a spokesman for the state party, said the state party is more focused on helping gubernatorial nominee Mike Munger get 2 percent of the vote so that it can continue to remain a political party.

In the past two elections, the Libertarian candidate has been the strongest third-party candidate in North Carolina's presidential race, though nowhere near enough to influence a race. In 2004, Michael Badnarik got 11,731 votes, or 0.3 percent. In 2000, Harry Browne got 12,307, or 0.4 percent.

In 1996, Reform Party candidate Ross Perot got 168,059 votes or 6.7 percent, while Browne got 8,740 votes, or 0.3 percent, and Natural Law Party candidate John Hagelin got 2,771, or 0.1 percent.

In a tight race, Barr wouldn't need Perot-like numbers to make a difference, but he would need to do better than the usual three-tenths of one percent.