The annual report produced by Wake Libertarian Party treasurer Brad Hessel shows that the party had more in 2018. We had more registered Libertarians than ever before, raised more money than ever before, fielded more candidates than ever before, and spent more money on events and campaigns than ever before. 

Here are some key excerpts from his report:

In 2016, WakeLP raised $2,500, more money than in the previous three years combined. In 2017, we nearly tripled that, raising $7,200. Then we doubled that in 2018, taking in $14,600.

This was not only a new all-time high for any LPNC county affiliate, but it was also more money than several state Libertarian parties raised. Of course, the dollar figures are still significantly smaller than those of the establishment parties. Wake Democrats and Republicans both outraised us 10:1. In other words, they raised $10 for every dollar we did. But that’s an improvement. In 2016, the ratio was 74:1.

Matt Dobra, an associate professor of economics at Methodist University in Fayetteville, is a member of the Fayetteville Observer’s Community Advisory Board. He lives in Wake County and attends our weekly Meetups.

He recently wrote an op-ed for the newspaper on Raleigh’s bid for a new Amazon headquarters. Matt writes:

“Last week, the pageantry of the Amazon HQ2 location search culminated with the announcement of not one, but two, future locations: Arlington, Virginia, and Long Island City, New York.” he wrote. “Raleigh, once considered to be one of the most appealing of the shortlisted contestants, came up short in its bid.”

“Perhaps this is for the better.”

Read the full article here. 

“There may have been a blue wave in Wake County, but it was sprinkled with gold specs,” said David Ulmer, Wake Libertarian Party chair.

“The old parties always accuse Libertarians of being 'spoilers' or 'stealing their votes.’ These are lies, but in two state House and one state Senate races we'll take pride in that false accusation.”

Ulmer noted that in House 36 and 37 and Senate 18, Libertarians made the difference between the establishment party candidates.

“Both old parties spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on their polarizing campaigns,” Ulmer said. “While Democrats claim they oppose ‘money in politics,’ they put massive amounts in the effort to unseat Rep. Nelson Dollar in House 36.”

“We spent much less, and focused on positive, issue-oriented campaigns,” Ulmer said, “and Robyn Pegram got much more ‘bang for the buck.’”

Wake Libertarians fielded a record 14 candidates for the county’s 16 legislative seats.

“We hope to do even better in 2020, and we will continue to talk to voters about real concerns in our community,” Ulmer said. “We believe the days of the two-party control over elections are over.”