Happy Holidays from the LPWV!

The Libertarian Party of West Virginia hopes each and everyone of you had a great holiday season!  

We, the Executive Committee of the LPWV, are excited as we prepare to enter the new year! With our newly gained Official "Major" Party Status in the Mountain State, we are optimistic that 2013 will prove to be the greatest year of growth and advancement in the LPWV since our inception! 

During the first quarter of 2013, you will see enhancements made to the website (including a relaunch of 'Network LPWV') that will offer our members and friends access to more news, resources and networking tools than ever before. We will also be integrating the website with our facebook and twitter accounts to offer more ways to stay connected to the LPWV. 

In addition to our technology upgrades, we will also be:

• scheduling / posting our full calendar of meetings and events for all of 2013;
• providing a new candidate training & resource center;
• implimenting our new advocacy & action center; and,
• launching our new membership drive (with new member benefits)!

A Libertarian's New Year's Resolutions

1. I resolve to sell liberty by appealing to the self-interest of each prospect, rather than preaching to people and expecting them to suddenly adopt my ideas of right and wrong.
2. I resolve to keep from being drawn into arguments or debates. My purpose is to inspire people to want liberty — not to prove that they’re wrong.
3. I resolve to listen when people tell me of their wants and needs, so I can help them see how a free society will satisfy those needs.
4. I resolve to identify myself, when appropriate, with the social goals someone may seek — a cleaner environment, more help for the poor, a less divisive society — and try to show him that those goals can never be achieved by government, but will be well served in a free society.
5. I resolve to be compassionate and respectful of the beliefs and needs that lead people to seek government help. I don’t have to approve of their subsidies or policies — but if I don’t acknowledge their needs, I have no hope of helping them find a better way to solve their problems.
6. No matter what the issue, I resolve to keep returning to the central point: how much better off the individual will be in a free society.
7. I resolve to acknowledge my good fortune in having been born an American. Any plan for improvement must begin with a recognition of the good things we have. To speak only of America’s defects will make me a tiresome crank.
8. I resolve to focus on the ways America could be so much better with a very small government — not to dwell on all the wrongs that exist today.
9. I resolve to cleanse myself of hate, resentment, and bitterness. Such things steal time and attention from the work that must be done.
10. I resolve to speak, dress, and act in a respectable manner. I may be the first Libertarian someone has encountered, and it’s important that he get a good first impression. No one will hear the message if the messenger is unattractive.
11. I resolve to remind myself that someone’s “stupid” opinion may be an opinion I once held. If I can grow, why can’t I help him grow?
12. I resolve not to raise my voice in any discussion. In a shouting match, no one wins, no one changes his mind, and no one will be inspired to join our quest for a free society.
13. I resolve not to adopt the tactics of Republicans and Democrats. They use character assassination, evasions, and intimidation because they have no real benefits to offer Americans. We, on the other hand, are offering to set people free — and so we can win simply by focusing on the better life our proposals will bring.
14. I resolve to be civil to my opponents, and treat them with respect. However anyone chooses to treat me, it’s important that I be a better person than my enemies.

Happy Thanksgiving from the LPWV!

The LPWV has a lot to be thankfull for this holiday season:

• We have reorganized our operations and are seeing a gowth in membership; 
• We obtained Ballot Access and placed our candidates on the 2012 General Election Ballot; 
• We ran a great Gubernatorial Campaign (David Moran - Candidate for Governor) and obtained over 1.35% to gain Official 'Major' Party status again in WV - the first time since 1996; and, 
• We a already planning for the 2014 elections (with 5 or more candidates already lining up for candidacy).

We all at the LPWV hope you enjoy your holiday and take a moment to think about what you are truly thankful for! Please reflect on this: Your work and dedication to restore the liberties for all the citizens of WV is no small sacrifice . . . you are appreciated and for your comittment, I am thankful!

Michael S. Wilson, J.D.

Your Thankful State Chair!

Welcoming Liberty Back to WV!

WEST VIRGINIA - David Moran, the 2012 West Virginia Libertarian Gubernatorial Candidate, successfully received the statutory required percentage of votes (unofficial at the time of this report) to regain 'Major Party' status for the Libertarian Party of West Virginia (LPWV). 

"Let me take this opportunity to thank all of you who believe that the principles of the Libertarian Party are essential for the future of West Virginia. We ran a campaign to challenge the existing political structure that has never brought success to West Virginians . . . the success we all hope to attain in the future. We ran the campaign for governor to provide new and specific solutions to the problems that we all face as citizens of this great state. I personally committed myself to a new era of prosperity in our state based upon specific programs for tax reduction and industrial expansion. I will continue to pursue those objectives for the next four years - or as long as it takes - to make West Virginia the greatest state in the union," stated candidate David Moran in an interview this evening. 

In West Virginia, a political party is "any affiliation of voters representing any principle or organization which, at the last preceding general election, polled for its candidate for governor at least one percent of the total number of votes cast for all candidates for that office in the state..." [WV Code §3-1-8]. 

An official political party, as just defined, has automatic access to the General Election ballot and has the right to nominate its candidates in the Primary Election. For the Libertarian Party, at both state and national levels, this victory removes the expense and lost campaign time required to gain ballot access, for each and every candidate, throughout the state through and including the next General Election. 

In 1996 Dr. Wallace Johnson ran for Governor in West Virginia and received 2.7% of the popular vote. This earned the Libertarian Party Major (Official) Party status throughout the state - the first non-Democratic/Republican party to be recognized, as such, since 1924. 

The Libertarian Party has not held Official Party status in WV since 2000 when in a five-way race the LPWV candidate for Governor, Bob Myers, obtained less than one-percent (1%) of the vote. 

Michael Wilson, the LPWV State Chairman stated earlier today, "even though we ran a campaign on a budget at less than one-percent of the other parties, we had a focused plan and never lost sight of our primary objective." 

"This election proved victorious for all of West Virginia! We [the LPWV] can now give our candidates at local, county, state and national levels unhindered support for the next four years and will continue to build a strong option for the people of our state," Wilson added.