Libertarian Party of Oklahoma

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Libertarian Party of Oklahoma
ChairpersonTina Kelly
Founded1971
IdeologyLibertarianism
National affiliationLibertarian Party (United States)
Colorsa shade of Blue; Yellow
Website
www.oklp.org

The Libertarian Party of Oklahoma is the branch of the Libertarian Party in Oklahoma. It has been active in state politics since the 1970s, but due to what critics characterize as Oklahoma's restrictive ballot access requirements the party has been an "official" party during only portions of the last 25 years.

State party organization

State party chapters and chairs

The party has two local chapters: one in both of Oklahoma's two largest cities (Oklahoma City and Tulsa). The state party's chairman is Tina Kelly. Former state chairs include Steve Long, Seth Wheeler, Clark Duffe, Angelia O'Dell, Jimmy Cook, Steve Galpin, Chris Powell, Richard Prawdzienski, Robert Murphy, D. Frank Robinson, Tom Laurent, Gordon Mobley and Porter Davis. Other state officers are Vice-Chairman Tim Krahling, Treasurer Ron Phillips, and Secretary Christina Wright.[1]

Election history

Presidential election performance

The party has had the national party's presidential candidate on the ballot in 1980 (1.2% of the statewide vote was received), 1984 (0.72% of the statewide vote was received), 1988 (0.53% of the statewide vote was received), 1992(as an Independent) (0.32% of the statewide vote was received), 1996 (0.46% of the statewide vote was received), and 2000 (0.53% of the statewide vote was received).

1976

Oklahoma city restaurateur John Vernon finished second in the balloting for the vice-presidential nomination at the Libertarian National Convention. Running as an Independent, Porter Davis got 36% of the vote for State House in district 85. Davis would later be elected to that office as a Republican in 1982.[2]

1980

The party successfully petitioned for ballot access in the state for the first time and in addition to Ed Clark for president had four candidates for office including Jim Rushing and Frank Robinson who faced each other in the first Libertarian Party primary in Oklahoma. Rushing won with 54% of the vote.[3]

1984

After failing to get the required number of signatures for ballot access, the party sued and was ordered on the ballot for 1984. There were no primaries as the court order stipulated that the party nominate by convention.[4] In addition to David Bergland for president 15 Libertarians ran for office in the state. Agnes Regier received 2.2% of the vote in a three-way race for a Corporation Commission seat, and three state legislature candidates, Alice Cody, Paul Woodward, and Robert Chambers, finished with vote percentages in double-digits.[5]

1996

After getting Andre Marrou on the ballot in 1992 as an Independent, the party again successfully petitioned to run candidates in 1996. Agnes Regier defeated Michael Clem in a primary for the US Senate nomination[6] and earned 1.23% of the vote in the general election, finishing 4th in a five person race.[7]

2000

Successfully petitioning for ballot access again, fourteen Libertarians ran for office in the state alongside presidential candidate Harry Browne. Richard Prawdzienksi, Roger Bloxham and Whitney Boutin faced off in a primary for a seat on the Corporation Commission, resulting in Bloxham and Boutin heading to a runoff.[8] Despite finishing in first place with almost 42%, Boutin dropped out of the race allowing Bloxham to be nominated. This saved the state over $200,000 for the cost of the runoff election.[9] Bloxham would finish with 1.84% of the vote in the general election. The party ran candidates in all six Congressional races, besting the Democrats who only contested five. State House candidates Steve Galpin and Chris Powell both received double-digit percentages in their races.

Municipal electoral performance

The party has also experienced a fair degree of high vote counts in municipal races in the cities of Bethany, Bartlesville, Norman, Tulsa, and Oklahoma City, as well as other races at the local, state, and national levels.[1]

2016 elections

In 2014 the signature requirement to get a party on the ballot was changed from 5% of the vote for president or governor was lowered from 5% to 3%.[10] On March 21, 2016, the Oklahoma Election Board declared the Libertarian Party to have turned in enough petition signatures to attain ballot status.[11] In another legislative victory, on May 5 Governor Mary Fallin signed legislation reducing the number of votes necessary for a party to retain ballot access from 10% of the presidential or gubernatorial vote to 2.5%.[12] LP presidential candidate Gary Johnson is polling at 6% in the state.[13]

In addition to Johnson, there are seventeen Libertarian candidates for state or federal office in Oklahoma in 2016.[14] Robert Murphy defeated Dax Ewbank[15] for the U.S. Senate nomination in the only statewide primary for any party on June 28.[16][17] Sevier White is a candidate for Oklahoma's 4th congressional district seat held by Tom Cole while Zachary Knight[18] is running in the 5th district currently occupied by Steve Russell. Thirteen other Libertarians are running for Oklahoma Legislature.

See also

References

  1. ^ http://oklahomalp.org/leadership-2/
  2. ^ http://newsok.com/article/2001327
  3. ^ https://www.ok.gov/elections/documents/1980_RESULTS.pdf
  4. ^ http://newsok.com/article/2076529
  5. ^ https://www.ok.gov/elections/documents/1984_RESULTS.pdf
  6. ^ https://www.ok.gov/elections/documents/1996_Primary_Summary_Results.pdf
  7. ^ https://www.ok.gov/elections/documents/1996_General_Summary_Results.pdf
  8. ^ https://www.ok.gov/elections/documents/2000_Primary_Summary_Results.pdf
  9. ^ http://www.tulsaworld.com/archives/libertarian-drops-out-of-run-off-race/article_c4a11943-1234-551e-8d7a-6c6720c05fdb.html
  10. ^ http://okvoterchoice.org/tag/hb2181/
  11. ^ http://ballot-access.org/2016/03/21/oklahoma-says-libertarian-party-is-now-a-qualified-party/
  12. ^ http://ballot-access.org/2016/05/05/oklahoma-ballot-access-bill-signed-into-law/
  13. ^ http://newsok.com/article/5498100
  14. ^ https://www.ok.gov/elections/documents/2016Listbook.pdf
  15. ^ https://www.libertydax.us/
  16. ^ http://ballot-access.org/2016/05/03/libertarian-party-is-only-oklahoma-party-to-have-a-statewide-primary-on-june-28/
  17. ^ https://www.ok.gov/elections/support/ok_results_seb.html#LIBUSSEN
  18. ^ http://election2016.ezknight.net/

External links

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