Welcome to the Libertarian Party of Delaware home page, representing the Libertarian Party in Delaware.


Please follow the links to the right for additional information or scroll down for news and updates. If you want to get more involved, in particular please check out our onboarding page.


More Information

We are very active on social media. Please make sure you're following our Twitter and Facebook feeds for announcements, info, and content to share with your network. Also please join our Discord Server to begin connecting immediately with other local Libertarians. You can also find contact information for your local county affiliate officers and representatives on our Staff and Meetings page or get more information about your county affiliate on their respective web pages:



News & Updates

Candidates!

The statutory deadline for nominating candidates has passed.  The following candidates have been nominated by the Libertarian Party of Delaware:

Please reach out to them through their websites, Facebook pages, or other contact methods to find out about volunteering and donating, and don't forget to vote for them on November 6th at your local polling place.

The county affiliates of the LPD have also endorsed the following candidates:
  • New Castle County: Bryan Rash, Representative District 25 (R)
  • Sussex County: Bryant Richardson, Senate District 21 (R)
  • Sussex County: Andrew Webb, US House At-Large (Write In)
  • Kent County: The Kent County LPD passed a motion encouraging voters to look into all of the write in candidates.  These candidates include:
    • Andrew Webb
    • Paul Johnston
    • Marvin Davis

2018 LPD Convention Minutes [DRAFT]

Called to Order at 13:00, March 24th, 2018.

25 credentialed Libertarians in attendance.

Review of agenda.

Agenda adopted by voice vote.

Minutes from last year posted online.

Motion to waive reading and accept passed by voice vote.

Treasurer's Report:
As of Feb 2018: $2,109.31 at Dover FCU, $1297.84 in PayPal, $3,407.15 total.  $105 donated at last state board meeting.  Report accepted by voice vote.

Introduction of officers.

Dr. James Lark, LNC Region 5 Representative.

Julia McVay, Chair of LPD Baby Caucus.

Sean Goward got jokes.


Chair's Report: Year in Review.
Need to better learn parliamentary procedure and Robert's Rules of Order to address issues from last year's convention.  Need to more diligently scrutinize Campaign Finance Reporting documents and processes.  Need to better understand Delaware Election Laws in Title 15.  "The Enemy is not in this Room".  The "enemy" is considering gun control and ignoring cannabis legalization in the General Assembly.  Resolve ballot access questions.  Focus on growth.  159,000 unaffiliated voters.  442,000/675,000 registered voters voted in 2016.  Need 5% to reach "major party" status.  35,000.  Grow from the bottom up.  Get involved in City and School elections that are non-partisan.  Nullification.  Hit the pavement.  Young Americans for Liberty unseated an incumbent in a Texas primary by hitting doors with 14 volunteers.  Nadine in NCCo has done well making phone calls to registered Libertarians in her county.  Share strategies from county-to-county and across the state.  Seek out strategic partnerships on issues of common interest.  Jimmy Brittingham has done well working with DCAN on legalization.  Develop the community.  Don't get personal and lose the moral high ground.  Be the change we want to see in our communities.  Be the example.

Presentation from Dr. Lark.
Honor to be in the presence of heroes.  20 years of attending LPD Conventions.  Next meeting in Denver, 21/22 April.  Things moving in a positive direction thanks to Democrats and Republicans.  Nominated horrible presidential candidates to LP benefit.  Got very lucky in 2016.  After 2014, things were not going in a great direction and then Donald Trump happened.  If Rand Paul had done better, the LP would be in trouble.  Seeing more interest, more and better candidates.  Libertarianism is a philosophy of love.  We may disagree, but as long as you don't interfere with my rights, I won't interfere with yours.  Philosophy of love.  Not just proud about it, smug about it.  International Alliance of Libertarian Parties.  Prospects for presidential campaigns in 2020 are still undetermined.  Adam Kokesh is taking steps.  Larry Sharpe would present a good face, but has made no indications.  Imagine if we'd had Harry Browne in 2016?  Gary was great, but didn't have the gravitas.  Harry Browne did.  Nick Sarwark would be a good successor to Harry Browne.  He's running for Mayor of Phoenix.  A lot of good people in positions that are more valuable.  Politics is a lagging indicator, so people advocating in other areas is potentially more important than running for president, etc.  We're in a 15 round prize fight against welfare-state liberalism.  Libertarianism is the up and coming philosophy.

Presentation from Bob Sigler regarding NORML Call to Action.
Special project for easy cannabis advocacy using NORML website.  Pre-addressed letters to legislators and special interest groups.  Bills are already circulating, public support is there, Canada is moving in that direction, election season is approaching.  NORML has a number of letters for different priorities, including Delaware's legislation.

Presentation from Jesse McVay regarding amendments to the Articles of Association.
Amendments have been posted online as required.  Also posted in the lobby for review during the recess.  Some amendments have already been approved.  Best mechanism for amendments this close to convention is to let the convention amend rather than the State Board.  If you don't understand, vote yes.  If you don't have a substantive complaint, vote yes.  Otherwise, let's talk, but writing a document by committee is difficult.  Some of the more significant changes include: formatting and ease of reading; new statement of purpose; affiliation statement; explicit allowance for ad-hoc state board meetings; limits on membership requiring LPD registration for at least 60 days; revisions to convention voting procedures; specifications of proper notice; disciplinary procedures; credentials committee.

Up or down vote after brief discussion following the recess.  Further amendments can be passed by the State Board for any issues.

Comments from Steve Stutzman about Libertarian leaning individuals in Milford who are community leaders involved in school and municipal arenas.  Civil disobedience opportunities.

Recess for 20 minutes.


Scott Gesty for RD7!

The Libertarian Party of Delaware and the New Castle County Libertarian Party of Delaware are proud to announce the nomination of former State Chair of the LPD Scott Gesty for the Delaware House of Representatives in Representative District 7.

Scott was nominated at the 2018 Libertarian Party of Delaware Annual Convention held on March 24th at the Patchwork Playhouse in Dover.  He has recently completed his nomination paperwork, and filed it with the New Castle County Department of Elections today.  He appears on their list of ballot qualified candidates.

Scott is a former State Chair of the Libertarian Party of Delaware and former Libertarian nominee for the US House of Representatives, as well as the recipient of the 2018 William Morris Liberty Award.  Please keep an eye out here and on the various LPD social media platforms for more developments as Scott spins up his campaign.  Good luck, Scott!


2018/Q1 State Board Meeting Minutes [DRAFT]

These minutes are a DRAFT.  They have not yet been accepted or approved by the State Board.  This will happen at the 2018/Q2 meeting.

Published Agenda

  1. Reading and Approval of Previous Meeting Minutes
  2. Treasurer's Report
  3. County Reports
  4. Old Business:
    1. ABC Update
  5. New Business:
    1. AoA
    2. Convention Planning
    3. Bill Morris Award
  6. Adjourn

Attendance

Sean Goward, Brad Thomas, Mary Pat McVay, Will McVay; Nadine Frost, Bob Wilson; Dominic Morrell, Jesse McVay; Wendy Jones, Bob Sigler.  Quorum is present.

Minutes

Meeting called to order at 13:15, February 10th, 2018.

Agenda adopted.

Reading of minutes waived, accepted by voice vote.

Treasurer reports $2109.31 @ Dover FCU, $1293.29 @ Paypal, $3402.60 Total.

NCC reports outreach efforts proceeding, good and productive meetings, new and recurring faces in attendance.

Kent reports consistent if low attendance, short official meetings, free beer, and that Dominic is in charge of outreach or we're cutting his pay.

Sussex reports reduced attendance due to weather.

County reports accepted by voice vote.

Brief recess.

Executive session to discuss ABC issues.

Four amendments to AoA adopted.

Convention planning finalized.

Bill Morris award recipient selected.

Adjourned.

A number of issues have been handled by the State Board in ad-hoc discussions via email and Facebook threads.
  • A Social Media and Marketing Committee has been formed with a monthly budget and John Machurek as an at-large member.
  • Use of a $10 credit from Facebook was approved for boosting a post from the LPD page.
  • Funds were allocated to attend the Delaware Outdoor Expo.
  • Funds were not allocated to attend "What Women Want" event due to cost and lack of response to FB event.
  • Upon the recommendation of the Kent County LPD, Will McVay was nominated for 34th District Representative, or alternatively sanctioned to party crash into either major party primary for that office.
  • Allocated funds to register lpdelaware.org and renew annually.

2017/Q4 State Board Minutes

These are the minutes of the 2017/Q4 State Board meeting, as approved by the State Board at the 2018/Q1 State Board meeting:

 Called to order at 13:16 on December 2nd, 2017.

 Attendance: Sean Goward, Brad Thomas, Mary Pat McVay, Will McVay; Nadine Frost, Bob Wilson (ABSENT); Dominic Morrell, Jesse McVay; Wendy Jones, Bob Sigler.  Quorum is present.

 Jimmy Brittingham was also present as an observer.

 The agenda was adopted by voice vote with an amendment to include a recess after the committee reports.  The minutes of the 2017/Q3 meeting were approved by voice vote.  The treasurer reported $3346.50 in total funds with one monthly subscriber, her report was accepted by voice vote.

 New Castle County reported on their outreach efforts, including the planned participation in the Elsmere Town Christmas Parade and requested the use of any banners that were available, as well as volunteers to join the LPD float.  Their monthly meeting location had stabilized and they have settled on using Nino's at 1663 Pulaski Hwy in Bear.  The County Chair had made over 300 phone calls to registered Libertarians in NCCo to inform them of the meeting time and location.

 Kent County reported the election of State Board Rep Dominic Morrell as Vice Chair.

 Sussex County reported that meeting attendance was good and they intended to participate in Apple/Scrapple.

 County reports were accepted by voice vote.

 After a brief recess, a discussion around the party taking ownership of Bob's Roadster took place.  Options are continuing to be researched.  Registered voters have increased by 21 since the last meeting, 15 of which were in NCCo.  The World's Shortest Political Quiz has been a draw at community outreach events.  71% of millennials say in a poll that a strong 3rd party is needed.  We discussed options for reaching out to young people, particularly in the Dover area.  Dom is going to look into options at DSU.  Conservatives are also disappointed in the Republican Party.

 A resolution was passed to schedule the 2018 convention for March 24th.

 A number of pressing amendments to the Articles of Association were endorsed by a voice vote for publication to be considered at the next State Board meeting.

 Meeting adjourned.

 The following resolutions were passed by an ad-hoc meeting via email on December 7th:

 Resolution #1

WHEREAS Dan Beaver has fraudulently formed political committees with the State of Delaware claiming to represent the Libertarian Party of Delaware and making use of its title, figures, and devices in contravention of 15 Del. C. § 3302; and

WHEREAS Dan Beaver has repeatedly disrupted the activities of both the Libertarian Party of Delaware and the New Castle County Libertarian Party of Delaware with dilatory, hostile, dishonest actions in contravention of the National Libertarian Party Platform; and

WHEREAS Dan Beaver has repeatedly, maliciously, and fraudulently claimed to speak on behalf of the Libertarian Party of Delaware in public settings without authorization from the party, the State Board, or the affiliates of any county;

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that Dan Beaver is immediately suspended from membership in the Libertarian Party of Delaware and all of its county affiliates.  His voting privileges at county membership meetings and at any state party meeting are revoked.  He may be removed from any such meetings at the discretion of the chairperson or any other officer.  This resolution shall be effective immediately but may be appealed at the next state convention or it shall remain in effect for a period of five (5) years.

Resolution #2

WHEREAS Ed Zielinski has conspired with Dan Beaver to fraudulently form political committees with the State of Delaware claiming to represent the Libertarian Party of Delaware and making use of its title, figures, and devices in contravention of 15 Del. C. § 3302; and

WHEREAS Ed Zielinski has repeatedly disrupted the activities of both the Libertarian Party of Delaware and the New Castle County Libertarian Party of Delaware with dilatory, hostile, dishonest actions in contravention of the National Libertarian Party Platform; and

WHEREAS Ed Zielinski has repeatedly, maliciously, and fraudulently claimed to speak on behalf of the Libertarian Party of Delaware in public settings without authorization from the party, the State Board, or the affiliates of any county;

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that Ed Zielinski is immediately suspended from membership in the Libertarian Party of Delaware and all of its county affiliates.  His voting privileges at county membership meetings and at any state party meeting are revoked.  He may be removed from any such meetings at the discretion of the chairperson or any other officer.  This resolution shall be effective immediately but may be appealed at the next state convention or it shall remain in effect for a period of five (5) years.

Resolution #3

WHEREAS James Christina has conspired with Dan Beaver to fraudulently form political committees with the State of Delaware claiming to represent the Libertarian Party of Delaware and making use of its title, figures, and devices in contravention of 15 Del. C. § 3302; and

WHEREAS James Christina has repeatedly disrupted the activities of both the Libertarian Party of Delaware and the New Castle County Libertarian Party of Delaware with dilatory, hostile, dishonest actions in contravention of the National Libertarian Party Platform; and

WHEREAS James Christina has repeatedly, maliciously, and fraudulently claimed to speak on behalf of the Libertarian Party of Delaware in public settings without authorization from the party, the State Board, or the affiliates of any county;

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that James Christina is immediately suspended from membership in the Libertarian Party of Delaware and all of its county affiliates.  His voting privileges at county membership meetings and at any state party meeting are revoked.  He may be removed from any such meetings at the discretion of the chairperson or any other officer.  This resolution shall be effective immediately but may be appealed at the next state convention or it shall remain in effect for a period of five (5) years.

LPD Store

We have created an LPD Store through CafePress. You can buy LPD branded items and a contribution will be made to the party with each purchase.

May 2018 Meetings

The monthly meetings are listed generally on the Staff and Meetings page of the site, but the specific dates for May 2018 are as follows:

We hope to see you there!

NOTICE: AoA Committee Report (April 25, 2018)

The following proposed amendments to the Bylaws and Articles of Association have been released by the State Board Articles of Association Committee with their unanimous endorsement. This post constitutes notice as required under Article X of the Articles of Association for any amendments to be adopted. The State Board may vote on them any time after May 25, 2018.

In addition to the amendments herein proposed, the State Board will also be asked to formally adopt the revised Articles of Association passed at the 2018 Annual Convention as they have been transcribed to the LPD website. No substantive changes were made during this transcription from those adopted at the convention, only minor modifications have been made to the formatting as necessary to display them on an HTML web page and facilitate easy reading. Adopting them directly as published here is a formality intended to ensure the exact published text is properly adopted in accordance with both the old and new Articles, and that the publicly published Articles can be relied upon by the membership to govern the party.

Please feel free to submit your comments on the proposed amendments below, or discuss them with your State Board representatives.

1. MEMBERSHIP

Amend Article VI:

Any person who is currently registered to vote in Delaware as a Libertarian and agrees to abide by the terms of these articles is a member of the LPD.

The previous AoA required members to agree to abide by the AoA. This provision was inadvertently left out of the revision and may prove critical to preventing a hostile takeover of the LPD by registered Libertarians who do not choose to abide by the rules and traditions of the party and break its continuity of leadership, jeopardizing our status as the “regularly organized and constituted governing authority of the party”.

2. NOTICE

Amend Article IX:

  1. Posting on the LPD Facebook page
  2. Posting to the LPD Facebook group
    3.
  3. Posting on the LPD webpage

Most people will not have the ability to post from the LPD Facebook page, to the webpage, or to the collected email list. Facebook notification settings also allow members to receive notifications when something is posted to the group. While it is unlikely many amendments or other processes requiring notice will be initiated without the cooperation of those who do have permission, allowing use of the FB group to constitute notice opens these processes up to the general membership.

3. DISCIPLINARY ACTION

Amend Bylaw 4:

To remain in effect any Any such sanction must may be reviewed and confirmed appealed at the next State Convention and overturned by a majority of the members present at the Convention with an up or down vote.

Conventions should not generally become forums for second guessing the disciplinary decisions of the State Board, particularly since State Board sanctions against members at large will be exceptionally rare and only used when a member has become exceptionally disruptive and/or detrimental to the party’s interests. A requirement to devote convention time to relitigating these issues would only serve to further damage the party’s reputation. If an offending member cannot find an advocate to appeal their case at the convention, we should not have to devote time to them. If they cannot convince members to overturn their sanctions on their own time, we should not overturn them.

4. CONVENTION VOTES

Amend Bylaw 3.D:

Voting for candidates, delegates, and officers of the executive committee will be by secret ballot. Uncontested elections may be conducted by voice vote with “nay” votes indicating a vote for None of the Above.

Amend Article VIII:

Delegates to the national convention shall be elected by each member writing their slate of desired delegates on a secret ballot and with the delegates receiving the most votes being selected. Uncontested delegate elections need not be conducted by secret ballot.

Conducting secret ballot elections for these positions when the elections are uncontested is unnecessarily time consuming, and the chair should have the discretion to conduct the elections by voice vote, with a majority voting “nay” indicating the selection of “None of the Above”. This is traditionally how uncontested elections have been managed and conforms to the process outlined in Article VI of the old AoA.

5. CREDENTIALING

Amend Article VII:

They shall be responsible for certifying that all voting members of the convention meet the criteria outlined in the Articles of Association for membership in the Libertarian Party of Delaware and reporting the names and numbers to the convention members for approval by a quorum of the State Board.

Reporting the names and numbers to the entire convention for the entire convention to approve creates a circular authority. If the members themselves are not yet credentialed, they are not qualified to approve credentialing. A quorum of the State Board can be presumed to be qualified and present at the convention.

6. MAJORITY VOTE

Amend Article IV:

Unless stated otherwise a simple majority of members voting will be required to pass measures before the State Board.

This change clarifies that an abstention or a non-vote/absence is not equivalent to a “no”. A quorum of 40% is still required, and a majority of those present and voting must approve.

7. ONLINE VOTES

Append Bylaw 6:

By-Law 6: Online State Board Meetings

Any votes conducted online shall remain open for 48 hours unless a sufficient number of votes has been recorded to determine the result of the vote as if the entire State Board had responded, in which case the Chair may direct the Secretary to record remaining votes at their discretion. After 48 hours, votes shall be ruled on based on the quorum of members who have responded.

Online votes shouldn’t stay open forever waiting for stragglers to respond. After 48 hours, if a quorum of members has responded, the measure should be ruled on. If enough members record their votes prior to the expiration of the 48 hours, the measure may be ruled on immediately but the Chair may direct the Secretary to record the remaining votes anyway for accountability, informational, and protest purposes.

8. DEMOCRATIC

Amend Article II:

The Republican and Democratic parties dominate the exercise of electoral politics in the United States.

Proper name, not Rush Limbaugh’s pejorative.

Everett Meredith Middle School PTA Vendor Fair

The NCCLP will have a spot at the Everett Meredith Middle School PTA Vendor Fair on May 5th, from 9am to 4pm at E.M. Middle School, 504 S. Broad St., Middletown, DE 19709. If you would like to help out, please e-mail the New Castle County Party. We could really use your help at our booth! Thanks again for all you do for the NCCLP and for liberty!

NCCLP Gong Karaoke Fundraiser

  • Gong Karaoke Fundraiser for the New Castle County Libertarian Party (NCCLP)!
  • To be held at "On the Rocks" in Newark on Saturday, April 28th from 6pm-10pm.
  • What is "Gong Karaoke"? It's when the Gong Show meets karaoke! 
  • $5 entrance fee, $1 per song.
  • If you don't like someone's singing, put in one dollar and stop them! They have to match your dollar with another dollar from their own pocket!
  • Really don't like someone's singing? You can't put in more than a dollar to stop someone, but you can get your friends to put in their dollars with yours. Whatever the amount is, the singer MUST match it to continue to sing!
  • Come out, have fun, and support the New Castle County Libertarian Party. You'll be glad you did!
On the Rocks

Happy 4/20

It will come as a surprise to no one that the Libertarian Party supports an end to the War on Drugs, and especially the War on Cannabis.  The Libertarian Party of Delaware's State Board has passed a resolution in support of HB110 to further this aim.

HB110 is far from perfect.  It does not allow for homegrown cannabis.  The regulatory structure and imposed taxes are exorbitant.  It is, however, a step in the right direction that will put an end to the suffering of countless individuals who are hurting no one, yet still being introduced to the criminal justice system in a way that is harmful to them, their families, and the state as a whole.

Once the blanket prohibition on the possession of cannabis has been lifted, when the sky fails to fall upon the State of Delaware, we hope that additional legislation can be passed to further liberate the cannabis market and Delaware in general.

Gun Control Legislation

The following bills are in or have passed the General Assembly regarding gun control.  Please leave a note in the comments if I've missed any or mischaracterized anything:

The Libertarian Party generally and the Libertarian Party of Delaware in particular opposes most Gun Control measures as "collective punishment" of peaceful, non-aggressive, and otherwise law abiding individuals.  It creates a new category of "victimless crimes" for the possession of an item which is primarily used for self-defense, hunting, and recreational shooting.

To my mind, the legislation increasing the penalties for Straw Purchases and the legislation particularly targeted at establishing a due process for removing firearms from those deemed by a mental health professional as a danger to themselves or others are reasonable.  Stiffer penalties for failing to adequately secure your firearms such that they are taken by unauthorized persons is reasonable.  The legislation ensuring that the background check system is accurate is probably not particularly effective at preventing gun violence, but nor is it destructive to an individual's right to self defense.

The other legislation is exactly as it was described earlier.  It is collective punishment.  Bump stocks, high capacity magazines, so called "assault rifles" functionally indistinguishable from other weapons, and restrictions on adults under the age of 21 create criminals out of peaceful, responsible, non-aggressive, and otherwise law-abiding individuals and should be opposed.  Criminals will not respect these laws.  Everyone else will find their choices restricted and their peaceful behavior criminalized, potentially at the cost of their lives if not just at the cost of their freedom.

Please contact your legislators using the contact information linked to the right and let them know how you feel about these bills.  It is too late for HB174, but all the rest of them are still in the General Assembly.

Re-Launch

We had been attempting to develop a custom website.  It left a lot to be desired.  We are reverting to a Blogger based website.  Development of this site is ongoing.

Please stand by and check back often as we implement additional pages and features.  Please follow us on Facebook in the meantime for up-to-date news, events, and info.