On Sunday March 22, 2020 the Libertarian Association of Massachusetts (also known as the Libertarian Party of Massachusetts) held its annual convention for 2020. The convention was held as a virtual event due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.We had 33 members sign up for the virtual convention as well as 25 guests.
Elections
A new state committee was elected with Don Graham as the chairman of the Libertarian Party of Massachusetts, Cris Crawford as the Treasurer, and Derek Newhall as the recording Secretary. In addition Andrew Moore, Charlie Larkin, Jonathan Drury, John Dixson, and Michael Burns were elected into the State Committee. Daniel Riek will continue to serve as Technology Director.
Elected state delegates for the LP National Convention are
- Cris Crawford
- Derek Newhall
- Michael Burns
- René Ruiz
- Peter Everett
- Michael Isenberg
- Charlie Larkin
- David Blau
- Irwin Jungreis
- Andrew Moore
- Marc Mercier
- Susan Ruiz
- Ashley Shade
- Erik Sawyer
- Jason Brand
- Vermin Supreme
- Lucas Thayer
- Michael Coombes
In addition, members of the State Committee may serve as delegates.
The Convention adopted two resolutions:
- The Libertarian Party of Massachusetts is calling for the immediate release of all persons incarcerated for victimless crimes, as the current COVID crisis and the expected spread among prison and jail populations with inadequate access to health care puts people in immediate danger who should not be incarcerated at all.
- The Libertarian Party of Massachusetts also calls for easier ballot access. The current COVID-19 crisis has made petitioning in person a public health risk, aggravating the challenges for third parties, ballot initiatives, and individual candidates. Rhe Libertarian Association of Massachusetts proposes that because of the COVID-19 crisis, that all candidates for elective office this year can substitute a filing fee in lieu of nomination signatures to qualify for the ballot.
Presidential Debate
The convention also saw a lively debate between a number of the Libertarian Presidential Candidates for 2020 moderated by Dan Fishman, the former Political Director of LAMA, candidate for State Auditor, and current Executive Director of the National Libertarian Party. Candidates in the debate included:
A recording of the debate can be found here.
State Primary Election Results
Vermin Love Supreme won the non-binding LP Massachusetts primary election with 10.4% of the votes, Jacob Hornberger being second wit 9.6%. The full results can be found on the website of the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
The primaries are not binding for the votes of the delegates at the LP National Convention.
The minutes of the convention will be posted in the Members Only section of the LAMA website.
