The holidays are upon us. Before you go to your festivities, here’s a quick note on how WakeLP is wrapping up 2019, and moving into the next decade.

Candidates are currently filing to run for office in 2020. It looks like the Libertarian Party of North Carolina will have candidates running for governor and a Wake resident, Shannon Bray, will run for U.S. Senate. Eight Wake Libertarians have already filed to run for the General Assembly and we expect another five or six to have filed by next Wednesday.

There are 11 state House seats and 5 state Senate seats in our county. We’d love to offer voters a Libertarian choice in all of those races. It’s important voters see more than just Democrats and Republicans on their ballot in 2020.

The candidates who’ve filed to date are:

NC Senate 17 – Travis Groo
NC Senate 18 – Jason Loeback
NC House 11 – Adrian Travers
NC House 37 – Liam Leaver
NC House 41 – Guy Meilleur
NC House 49 – Cap Hayes
NC House 38 – Richard Haygood
NC House 35 – Michael Nelson

All but Loebck and Travers ran in 2018.

Voter Info

Here are links to maps fo the state legislative districts for the 2020 election:

State Senate Map

State House Map

You can look up your districts on the State Board of Elections website here.

LPNC Press Release

The Libertarian Party of North Carolina applauds yesterday’s ruling by a state Superior Court panel that orders changes to the state’s legislative district map. But the party also warns that sending the job back to state lawmakers is the wrong solution, and calls for the appointment of an independent commission to do the job instead.

Brian Irving, the LPNC liaison to the Fair Districts NC Coalition, issued the following statement on behalf of the party:

The establishment parties have proven they're not only unable but unwilling to draw district lines fairly. We need to take that power away from them, not give them another chance to abuse it.

The proper solution is to create a fully independent redistricting commission along the lines outlined in Senate Bill 673.

Nearly 15 years ago, the Libertarian Party of North Carolina argued that our state’s restrictive ballot access laws also violated the equal protection, free elections, and freedom of speech and assembly clauses of the state constitution. At the time, the state Supreme Court disagreed. We are grateful that this panel has ruled otherwise.

However, placing the execution of this new ruling in the hands of the legislature is asking the foxes to redesign the henhouse―again. The point of ‘fair districts’ is to give voters fair representation, not to give two entrenched parties a fair chance to divvy up the vote. More than one-third of the state’s voters have chosen not to affiliate with either establishment party.

To learn more about the LPNC’s position on redistricting reform, or to contact an LPNC representative for further comment, please email [email protected]. Or call Brian Irving directly at (919) 538-4548.

LPNC Press Release

The Libertarian Party of North Carolina reacted to today’s decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in Rucho et al. v. Common Cause et al. – in which the court declined to overturn partisan Congressional district maps in North Carolina and Maryland – by redoubling its commitment to the creation of an independent, nonpartisan, open, and transparent redistricting process.

In May, the party endorsed the five principles of redistricting reform proposed by the Fair Districts NC Coalition.

Brian Irving, the LPNC’s liaison with the coalition, said today, “The U.S. Supreme Court decision in Rucho vs. Common Cause does not change our opinion about gerrymandering. Libertarians still believe it is wrong. We agree with Chief Justice John Roberts that gerrymandering is ‘unjust’ and with dissenting Justice Elena Kagan that it has ‘debased and dishonored our democracy.’

“Now that the court has ruled, it is time for the people to act. Libertarians support the broad, grassroots effort led by Fair Districts NC to end partisan gerrymandering in North Carolina.”