neonvincent

I mentioned that minor parties were among my specialties when I wrote for Examiner.com. Here is the last example of that.

Michigan Libertarians announce 2016 candidates from President to Park Commission

Wednesday morning, the Libertarian Party of Michigan released its list of nominees for offices from U.S. President to Ypsilanti Township Park Commissioner. The candidates for state and local office had been nominated at the party's state convention in Lansing the weekend of May 14 and 15, while the nominees for President and Vice President were nominated May 29 at the Libertarian Party national convention in Orlando, Florida.

Two former two-term Republican Governors earned the Libertarians' nominations for President and Vice-President, Gary Johnson of New Mexico at the top of the ticket and William Weld of Massachusetts as Johnson's running mate. Combined, the two of them have more executive experience than either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton.

"I think the credibility of two past governors goes a long way with the media. It goes a long way with the general public," said delegate Michelle Pogue of Colorado was quoted by NPR. "It's a good way to get our message out to people. I'm afraid if we put somebody too radical up there, the people will be turned off. And they'll turn away."

Despite the experience of the two candidates as well as Johnson having been the party's nominee in 2012, it took two ballots to re-nominate him. It also took a second ballot to nominate Weld for Vice-President, as some delegates thought they were not Libertarian enough.

“He’s clearly not a pure Libertarian—no elected official really is,” Jason Sorens, a Dartmouth College lecturer and the founder of the Free State Project in New Hampshire, said of Weld to the Boston Globe. “You can’t stand by all the tenets of an ideology when you have to pay attention to election and reelection. But he is closer to a Libertarian than the vast majority of current and former state chief executives.”

Although it will be the second time Johnson has run as the Libertarian's nominee, it will be the first time he will be on Michigan ballots. In 2012, Michigan Secretary of State Ruth Johnson, no relation, disqualified him under the state's sore loser law.

A nearly full slate of nominees for Congress will join Johnson and Weld on Michigan ballots with candidates in all districts except the Third. In Washtenaw County, the Libertarian candidates are Ken Proctor of Charlotte in the Seventh District and Tom Bagwell of Wyandotte in the Twelfth.

Proctor has been a perennial candidate for this seat, having run for it in 1992, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2004, 2008, 2012, and 2014. He also ran as the Libertarian Party nominee for U.S. Senate in 1996 and Governor in 2010.

Before moving to Wyandotte, Bagwell lived in Ypsilanti, where he ran unsuccessfully in for Ypsilanti City Council in 2004 and 2006. In 2008, Tom was elected as a Libertarian in partisan contest to the Ypsilanti Township Park Commission where he served a partial term, making him one of the few Libertarian elected officials in the state at the time.

Michigan Libertarians also nominated nine candidates for statewide office, one for Michigan Supreme Court and two each for the State Board of Education and the three university governing boards. Kerry Lee Morgan is the party's nominee for Supreme Court Justice. He has run three times before for the position in 2006, 2012, and 2014. He also ran for state representative in 2004, Michigan Board of Regents in 2008, and U.S. Congress in 2010.

Several of the candidates for educational boards also have experience running for office. Scott Boman, who is running for State Board of Education along with William (Bill) Hall, began running for office as a Libertarian in 1994, when he was a candidate for state representative. Since then, he's run for U.S. Congress in 1996, Wayne State University Board of Governors in 1998 and 2000, State Board of Education in 2002 and 2004, Lieutenant Governor in 2006, Secretary of State in 2010, U.S. Senate in 2008 and 2012, and Detroit City Clerk in 2013. He most recently ran for Lieutenant Governor in 2014. Hall himself has previously run for the State Board of Education in 2008 and 2010.

Both nominees for the University of Michigan Board of Regents, John Hudler and James Jascob, ran for Regent in 2014. Hudler also ran for this position in 2010 and 2012.

One of the nominees for Michigan State University Trustee, Gregory Stempfle, is another experienced candidate. He ran for the State Board of Education in 2014, University of Michigan Board of Regents in 2012, Wayne State University Board of Governors in 2010, and U.S. Congress in 2006. For his fellow nominee Justin Burns, it appears to be his first run for statewide office.

Only one of the nominees for Wayne State University Board of Governors has run for statewide or federal office before. Bhagwan Dashairya ran for Congress in 2014. His partner on the Libertarian slate, Al Sedar, has never appeared on a ballot in Washtenaw County before.

Finally, the Libertarians nominated three candidates for Ypsilanti Township Park Commissioner, Elizabeth Ceader, Lawrence W. Johnson, and Kalyn Sterzik. Of this group, Johnson had previously run for Ypsilanti Township Trustee in 2012 and lost. He and the rest may have more success this year. There are currently four Democratic candidates on the August primary ballot for seven slots with no Republican candidates. Unless another party nominates candidates or an independent files for the office, all three appear likely to be elected, serving as the opposition to the Democrats.