Raleigh, NC March 2, 2017—The Wake County Libertarian Party held their annual convention at the Oak & Dagger Public House last night and elected David Ulmer as chair for the 2017-19 term of office.

“If I get the chair position, we will be active. You will be led,” stated Ulmer in accepting his nomination. “I will do something. You will disagree with some of it, and you will not be happy with me sometimes, but it is because there is a lot of doing going on. I know I come at people like a sledgehammer sometimes, but again, I’m trying to get something done. I am excited about this; I want to achieve things; I want to set goals; I want to get out and reach people…. You know if you want something done, I will do it. So that’s my pitch, that is me.”

Incumbent Chair Brian Lewis, who had also been nominated for a succeeding term, then endorsed Ulmer. “I am excited and encouraged that David has stood for the chair position, and I will recommend David Ulmer for the chair position because I believe for what the party needs and how this organization can best be served, David would fit that function.” Ulmer was then elected unanimously.

The other incumbent officers—Vicechair Bruce Basson, Secretary Olen Watson, III, and treasurer Brad Hessel—were all re-elected without opposition. The party also amended their by-laws to extend the term for all their offices from one year to two, effective immediately, and added an at-large position to the executive committee, expanding it from four to five members. Lewis ran unopposed and was elected to the at-large position.

Ulmer, 45, lives in North Raleigh and works as a network engineer for DataNet IT. He ran as the Libertarian candidate for NC State House in the 49th district in 2016 in a closely contested race against Republican incumbent Gary Pendleton and Democratic challenger Cynthia Ball, the eventual winner.