Libertarians Nominate Record Number of Candidates at State Convention
DURHAM (May 6) -- North Carolina’s Libertarian Party nominated a
record 58 candidates for office at their annual state convention held
May 4-5 in Clemmons. Sean Haugh was nominated for the U.S. Senate
seat being vacated by Republican Jesse Helms.
"North Carolina deserves a U.S. Senator who’ll represent the
people, not Washington insiders," said Haugh. "We need someone who
will seek to return liberty to the people of this great state and this
great nation."
The LPNC nominated 27 people for local office, mostly for county
commissioner. But the local office list includes sheriff races in
Onslow and New Hanover County and a surveyor race in Harnett County.
The convention also endorsed the candidacy of seven Libertarians
running for soil and water commissioner, a non-partisan position.
The convention nominated 28 people for seats in the N.C. General
Assembly. The nomination process was complicated by the fact that
there currently are no legal legislative districts. As a result, 17
people were simply nominated for N.C. General Assembly, while nine
were nominated for the N.C. House of Representatives and two for the
N.C. Senate.
The LP executive committee is empowered to assign nominees to
specific districts, once a legal district map is drawn up and
approved. The party’s executive committee also has until July 1 to
nominate additional candidates.
The party also nominated three candidates for the U.S. House of
Representatives. They are: Chris Cole (District 9), Gary Minter
(District 2) and Ken Nelson (District 4). The LPNC hopes to field
candidates in all 13 Congressional districts. They’re also trying to
recruit candidates to run for all the currently uncontested General
Assembly seats.
"Every year, our conventions get better and bigger," said Barbara
Howe, LPNC chair. "Right now we have 58 candidates, but we are still
counting. We hope to reach our goal of 100 by July 1."
The Libertarians passed a resolution criticizing the U.S. Congress
for evading its constitutional duty in its response to the Sept. 11
terrorist attack, by failing to provide a legal framework for the
apprehension, trial or destruction of those responsible.
In the resolution, "
Fight Terror, Not Human Rights," the LPNC
condemns the attack as a depraved act, directly targeting innocent
people for murder "in contravention of any accepted standard for
conduct in war."
It calls on the Congress to "immediately put aside lesser business
to give a full hearing to the particulars" of the attacks and "to make
such declaration, such rules, or to grant such letters of marque as
are required to give legal foundation to the pursuit of the
perpetrators …"
The Libertarians criticized "secret evidence" used to justify
undeclared war and lambasted Congress for accepting and endorsing
"many usurpations and violations of the Constitution."
Citing a phrase from the Declaration of Independence, the
resolution said Congress should "show a decent respect for the
opinions of mankind" by making public the evidence of the identity of
those responsible for the attack.
The resolution also called for the repeal of the so-called USA
Patriot Act, which violates civil rights and the War Powers Act, which
gives unconstitutional power to the president to wage undeclared wars.
In addition, Congress should remove all legal impediment to arming
airline pilots.
All actions of the United States should be devoted to the pursuit
of justice, the resolution concludes. This means identifying and
indicting the perpetrators and the "unremitting pursuit of those so
identified, their arrest, where feasible, or their destruction."
Finally, the resolution calls for those apprehended to face a
public trial before an impartial jury and to serve life imprisonment
at hard labor if convicted.
|
