The Libertarian Party of North Carolina will celebrate its 40th anniversary during their annual state convention April 22 to 24 at Raleigh's Holiday Inn Crabtree Valley Mall.

Arlan Andrews, the party's first gubernatorial candidate, will be the guest of honor. Andrews is now a renowned futurist and science fiction writer. He was the party's standard-bearer in 1976.

“We've also invited as many of the party's founders as we could find,” said J.J. Summerell, party chair.

“We hope to hear them share their stories about the LPNC back in the '70s and our ultimately successful struggles to attain ballot access in North Carolina.”

“But mostly we'll be looking forward to how we can achieve our vision of a free, peaceful, and prosperous North Carolina where every individual has the opportunity to pursue his or her unique vision of a rewarding and enriching life,” Summerell said.

There will a candidate forum Saturday afternoon featuring several of the candidates for the Libertarian presidential nomination. A second forum will feature the libertarian candidates for candidates for U.S. Senate, governor, and lieutenant governor, as well as several General Assembly candidates.

Convention business sessions will include consideration of revisions to the party platform, election of delegates to the Libertarian National Convention to be held in Orlando May 27-30, and filling vacancies on the state executive committee.

RALEIGH (March 8) – Six of the leading contenders for the Libertarian Party’s nomination for President participated in an online debate sponsored by the Libertarian Party of North Carolina (LPNC) and hosted by UNC-TV last night. Gary Johnson, Austin Petersen, Steve Kerbel, Darryl Perry, Jack Robinson, and John Mcafee each took turns outlining their respective proposals and, occasionally, mixing it up over their differences in response to a series of policy questions posed by moderator Barry Smith of the Carolina Journal.

The Libertarian Party of North Carolina announced the participants in the presidential candidates debate scheduled for March 7.  

Five of the 11 candidates who'll appear on the March 15 primary ballot have been invited to participate. They are the top five finishers in an online straw poll conducted by the LPNC: Gary Johnson of New Mexico, Steven Kerbel of Colorado, Darryl W. Perry of New Hampshire, Austin Petersen of Missouri, and Jack Robinson of South Carolina.

This is the only North Carolina-based presidential debate to be held prior to the primary election. It will be conducted via webcast on Google Hangouts On Air from 9 to 10:30 p.m. EST.

To watch the debate online, go to http://bit.ly/libertarian_debate.

Carolina Journal Associate Editor Barry Smith will moderate the debate from a location in Raleigh. Candidates will participate from locations across the nation.

The Libertarian Party of North Carolina urges voters to vote no on $2 billion Connect NC March 15.

“A bond is not free money,” the Libertarians said in a resolution passed unanimously by their executive committee. “It's a loan taken out with hefty interest that is left to the next generation to pay without their consent.”

“If an item is important enough then the state should budget for it, holding our elected officials accountable for the spending ...,” the resolution said.

The resolution also notes the bond will increase state government spending by an additional 10 percent of the entire state budget, but without the accountability that comes along with approving spending through a budget adoption process.

“Here's another example of the bait-and-switch tactic used by spending-addicted politicians,” said Brian Irving, LPNC vice chair. “The loan requests was originally introduced under the guise of needed transportation funding. But what's on the ballot is not actually for funding of transportation at all.”