Personal Freedom Party Faces Challenge In Ballot Access Drive

Originally published on IPR on August 2nd, 2013:

The Personal Freedom Party is an essentially nonexistant politcal party in New York State without a website, formal organization, bylaws, more than a handful of legitimate members, state recognition of any kind or anything else. The “party” has a mere four likes on Facebook. Tom Stevens, an attorney who founded the Objectivist Party and ran as its presidential candidate in 2008 and 2012, is the leader of this frivolous political organization.

The paper organization announced in May at what was termed a nominating convention that it would run professorial chess player and 2012 Libertarian Party presidential contender Sam Sloan for Mayor of New York City, Stevens for for NYC Public Advocate, and Richard Bozulich for Comptroller. Two paid petitioners were hired to collect 7,000 signatures for the ballot access drive.

Apparently, according to Stevens’s blog, the slate of candidates tried to also get on the ballot as Republican Party candidates. New York is one of only eight states were electoral fusion is legal, meaning that candidates may appear on the ballot more than once as members of multiple parties. However, the only other states that typically practice fusion are South Carolina and Connecticut. The GOP line needed 3,750 signatures. The blog post explained that Sloan spent $22,900 to hire several petitioners, several of whom were flown in from out of state.

In total, 4,517 signatures were filed, but they were challenged. A hearing was held at the New York City Board of Elections on July 30th, at which the signatures were rejected because the witnesses to the signatures were not members of the Republican Party.

According to Stevens, Sloan may discontinue financing the drive to get the Personal Freedom Party candidates on the ballot.

Source:

http://drtomstevens.blogspot.com/2013/07/sam-sloan-switcheroo-sinks-personal.html

Note from me: I got attacked by "Doctor" Tom Stevens on his blog because of the article. You can see the article below:

http://drtomstevens.blogspot.com/2013/08/independent-political-report-disparages.html

On of Stevens's lackeys (or possibly himself, who knows) called me an "immature, pot-smoking pipsqueak" and said that I should be "immediately dismissed as a contributor to the Independent Political Report." Lol. Those who have been aware of Stevens's activities by following IPR over the years know that he is one of the most dangerous and disgusting people in the third party world, causing possibly irrevocable damage to the Libertarian Party through whatever way he possibly can, be it running the Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania as an absolute dictator and doing all he could to run that organization into the ground to publishing  wildly disturbing articles like Support For The Decriminilzation Of Bestiality Is Becoming a Key Issue For Libertarian Leaders. Needless to say, Stevens is a deranged lunatic whose antics it would be better to ignore but yet...it's so hard too...he's entertaining. Oh well. 

Robby Wells Addresses Accusations, Claims He Has Virgil Goode’s Endorsement for 2016

By Krzysztof Lesiak

The following was originally published on IPR on July 21, 2013. 

Robby Wells (center), with SSU officials and then fiance Nicole Miller, left (photo from November 2011)

On July 17, 2013, Robby Wells, an independent presidential candidate running in 2016, hosted a conference call that lasted just over an hour. In it, he first devoted a substantial segment of time to discussing an article that was published July 15th by Joshua Fauver entitled Robby Wells, Faux of the Liberty Movement? In the article, Fauver, who had just resigned from his post as the Southeast Regional Coordinator for the Wells campaign, blasted Wells on his controversial football coaching career and reasons for resigning from Savannah State University as well as Well’s colorful 2012 presidential run, in which he ran as an independent as well as sought the nomination of three parties. Among other developments, Wells claimed to have 700 pledged delegates for the 2012 Republican National Convention in Tampa, which proved to be untrue and was sharply criticized by Fauver. The article has received over 200 views on the website it was originally published on, IACR.

In the conference call, Wells attempted to “clear the air” of the accusations that were made against him as a football coach, which included negligence, an attitude of only being concerned with himself, and even an accusation that Wells is a “pathological liar”.

The following is a partial transcript of the call:

“Let me just say this straight up front; I am just like 99.6% of the people in this population. I am considered to be middle class or below, I’m a middle class guy,  I’m not a multi-millionaire that’s running for president. I truly believe it’s time for one of “We the People” to step forward. In order for a real person to step forward, that means that a real person who’s gone through real-life experiences, he’s had ups, he’s had downs, he’s had mountain top experiences, he’s had some valleys. And I’ve been there. I’ve been through all of it, just like millions of people across this country that wonder how they’re going to provide for their family everyday when they wake up. I wonder the same thing. I’m feeling like my American dream has been stolen from me and replaced with an economic nightmare.

So with that being said, I would just like to go ahead and clear the air before I talk to you about some great things that are going on. When you start making noise as a candidate, then it’s obvious that you’re going to get attacked. And this past week, were were attacked. And we were attacked by someone that infiltrated this camp, we’ve come to learn a lot since this person left the camp. But this person dug up a lot of stuff from my football coaching career. Just to make a brief statement about it: I was the first black head football coach to ever be…I’m the only white head football coach to this day to coach at Savannah State.

On January 28, 2010, which was way in the past, if you ask me it seems like fifteen years ago, because everything’s gone in a completely different direction with my political career, but I was forced to resign..I was forced to resign, after a senior vice president on campus told me that I would never be able to relate to the alumni of Savannah State because I was white, and that I would never be able to relate to the people at Savannah because I was white and my then-fiance was black. She and I are unfortunately not together now. I was then told that I could either resign or that I could be terminated that day. To make a long story short, it was six days before national signing day. I was given the word that every kid that had decided to come to Savannah State would be given a scholarship on Sunday but that I would no longer be the coach. That was correct, except for five kids, those kids had one thing in common – and that was me. They were all Caucasian.

So, if it had just been about me I probably would have gone along and gone quietly into the night and just gone on and continued down my path of pursuing the White House. But, I knew that that had to be cleaned up because the kids and their families got hurt, so I took a stand, and filed suit and the state of Georgia of course came in and did a whole investigation. Well, whenever you file a suit against someone on racial discrimination they’re not going to admit, ‘yeah, we discriminated.’ They’re going to give every other reason in the book, which they did. After the state of Georgia did their investigation, they saw that I was telling the truth, they cleaned house.

After they cleaned house, they called my legal team wanting to know what it was going to take for me to settle. After that phone call was made, we met in federal court for a federal judge presided over a settlement hearing and this judge strictly acted as a mediator. In that hearing, the judge ordered Savannah State to pay me financially for the wrongdoings. The judge also ordered – and this is more important to me than anything else – ordered that Savannah State apologize for the negative things that they had put out about me that were untrue, that we had documented proof of them being untrue, and ordered them to do it in a joint press conference. That press conference was held on campus at Savannah State University. They welcomed me back on campus with open arms, in that state the new athletic director stated that they were sorry for the statements made against me, that I never broke any NCAA rules, and that I was the most successful coach that they had had in over a decade…actually approaching two decades, right now, that I’m the most successful coach that they have ever had. With that being said, we hugged again, said our goodbyes, and went our separate ways, which each ended well.

And from that moment on, I have never looked back, but I did need to clear the air because in today’s world, you take everybody over a Google search but obviously, this young man did not…or at least he says he did not. So I wanted to clear the air with everyone, let everybody know, yes I’ve been through some valleys, but I stood up for what I knew was right, and if I had to do it again, I’d do it again. Because right is right and wrong is wrong. With that being said, I’m not going to take any questions on it, I’m going to turn this back over to Aaron [Aaron Lyles, Wells' co-campaign manager and Constitution Party of Virginia vice-chairman -KL] for a few minutes.”

Further on in the conference call, the new Southeast Regional Coordinator for the Wells campaign gave an update on her activities. Lyles emphasized after she spoke about how rich the Southeast is in terms of Electoral College votes and said “with the Southeast, I firmly believe we can win the White House.”

Later in the call, Wells spoke about the endorsements he says he has received:

“I’ve been endorsed by Liberty Candidates. I’ve actually been endorsed by three presidential candidates from 2012. The candidates are Virgil Goode, Constitution Party nominee, Susan Ducey and John Mealer. I actually got endorsed by John Mealer in the very last presidential debate we had that year. And at the very end of the debate he actually dropped out of the race and endorsed me. I don’t think that’s ever happened in a presidential debate but that was it.”

Sources have told IPR that Goode, a former Virginia congressman, will be addressing his alleged “endorsement” of Wells in the coming days.

Afterwards, the floor was opened up and several callers questioned Wells on a variety of topics, including education, in which Wells expressed opposition to “Common Core,” the subject of “fair trade,” in which he called for increasing tariffs, repealing Obamacare, the importance of the Tenth Amendment, and the George Zimmerman case. With regards to the case, Wells said that now there is a “mob rule” trying to get the Justice Department to prosecute Zimmerman and that in his view this is unconstitutional. A caller also asked about human trafficking. Wells mentioned that he had partnered up with an organization called Rise Up Ministries (same name as his campaign slogan) to combat the issue and mentioned that 1 million people are trafficked annually in the United States, and that worldwide that figure is 17 million. He said his intention was to bring attention to the issue and to stop it through means like safety education.

Wells also said that he wasn’t yet sure whether he would stay on as an independent candidate because, according to him, “the Republican Party has actually been courting us a little bit as well, so, you know we could actually do that.” [emphasis added].

At the end of the call, campaign manager Aaron Lyles thanked all those who listened and participated and said that the campaign’s next conference call will be held next week.

Wells’s campaign website can be found here, and his Facebook page is here.

Phil Hudok Running as Constitution Party Candidate for U.S. Senate from West Virginia

By Krzysztof Lesiak

Originally published on IPR on July 3, 2013

Phil Hudok

Since early 2013, Phil Hudok has been running as the Constitution Party candidate for U.S. Senate in West Virginia for 2014. Hudok, a former public school teacher, was the Constitution Party’s write-in candidate for Governor of West Virginia in a 2011 special election (received 76 votes, or 0.03%) and again in 2012 (received 72 votes, or 0.01%). A Randolph County resident, Hudok is currently a state officer in the West Virginia CP, serving as a trustee and director of the Potomac Highlands Council.

Hudok, 62, has four daughters with his wife, Lynn. His youngest daughter, Olivia, was a senior at Pickens School, West Virginia’s smallest public school serving only 44 students from kindergarten through the twelfth grade. However, she received homebound instruction due to the fact that she refused to take newly mandated vaccine shots. Public health officials claimed that allowing Olivia Hudok into the classroom without her receiving the mandatory immunizations would put other children at risk. Hudok, one of only three seniors at the school and the class valedictorian, was permitted to attend commencement ceremonies and graduate in May.

Hudok, a life-long West Virginian, holds a BA degree in Physics and General Science from West Liberty State College and a Master’s Degree in Educational Computing from the University of Charleston. Hudok operates a small photography and video business and also serves as webmaster and media producer for Call to Decision Ministries, a non-denominational Christian ministry that conducts outreach efforts across the nation and has produced over 500 hour-long Bible studies.

In August 2008, Hudok, along with 2008 CP gubernatorial candidate Butch Paugh and another individual became the fist holder of a non-biometric West Virginia driver’s license.  This was achieved after eight years of petitioning and refusing to provide biometric facial images for the state database used for identifying criminals and other purposes. However, the successive governor elected in October 2011, Earl Ray Tomblin, rescinded the agreement that allowed Hudok and the two others to posses non-biometric driver’s licenses.

The Constitution Party candidate’s platform centers on his Christian religious beliefs and his belief in adhering to the Constitution. Hudok emphasizes the importance of a “God-ordained” family as the “cornerstone upon which society is built” and restoring what he says is the nation explicitly Christian heritage. He believes that three questions must be asked before any level of government exercises authority: 1)  Is the service that the proposed authority would exercise, truly necessary? 2)  Is the governmental structure in question prohibited by either God or by constitutional statute from assuming such authority? 3) Is the family or another more localized level of government capable of successfully administering the service? 4) Is the governmental body even capable of providing the service?

Hudok has written a mission statement that he has posted to his campaign website:

I credit Jesus and the Call To Decision fellowship for the spiritual foundation, my parents for a good solid upbringing, my family for support, and the founders of this country for the opportunity, for any success I have had or will ever have in the future.

I am presently the 2014 Constitution Party candidate for U.S. Senator.  I plan to bring to the public the constitutional issues that have been ignored and trampled.  Our form of government is designed for and will only work within the realm of our Christian heritage and beliefs. That message must be made clear with no compromise. If the Lord is not the foundation, the house will fall. Duty is ours and results are the Lord’s. Both major parties have participated in the degradation of our once proud and worthy country.  It is time for everyone to make soul searched decisions.  I have made mine.  Have you made yours?

I serve God, family, and country in that order.  The New World Order is an anathema to everything I believe in.  That is what motivates me to pursue political office.

Currently, Hudok has a campaign website as well as a YouTube channel. He does not seem to posses a Facebook page or personal profile.

Talking with Gary Johnson on Google Hangout

On June 11th, 2013, I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to get in on a Google Hangout with former New Mexico Governor and 2012 Libertarian Party presidential candidate Gary Johnson and talk with him for over six minutes. I asked him about endorsing David Earl Williams III, a libertarian Ron Paul Republican who is running for Congress in Illinois' 9th district (I'm David's deputy campaign manager) and whether or not Gary plans on running for office again in the future. The Hangout was sponsored by GJ's political action group Our America Initiative.

(I published an article about what was discussed in the hangout on IPR).

Interview: CP Vice-Chairman Randy Stufflebeam Talks About CP Baltimore Meeting, CCTUC and More

Published on IPR on April 27, 2013. More third party politics. Stay tuned, original political commentary from me will be coming soon!

Randy Stufflebeam is currently the National Vice-Chairman of the Constitution Party, a position he’s held since April 2012. He resides in southern Illinois. He was the CP candidate for Illinois Governor in 2006, in which he received 19,020 votes (0.55%). This is the largest write-in vote total in Illinois history. He is also the vice chairman of the Constitution Party of Illinois and is a former Marine.

Krzysztof Lesiak
Going into the April 20th national committee meeting in Baltimore, how did you feel? Where you optimistic that it would be a successful meeting?



Randy Constitutional Evangelist Stufflebeam
That’s an interesting question. Interesting in that I am almost always a glass half full kind of person. Did I feel that the meeting was going to be successful, that depends on what you mean by successful. Frank Fluckiger, the National Chairman is a details oriented kind of person and I had every confidence that the objectives/agenda that he set for the meeting would be achieved, and pretty much by the clock that is set. In that regard I had no doubt about the meeting being successful.

The number one thing we have to do within the Constitution Party across the nation is raise money. This is an area where my optimism hasn’t been so high. HOWEVER, I am much encouraged in our prospects as we have what I perceive to be tremendous leadership in raising money through Peter Gemma. Peter was involved in the Ron Paul endeavors and has helped the Republican Party raise a lot of money in the past and he is now fully on board with the Constitution Party. He has presented some short term and long term goals that once implemented, I believe, will put the Party on the path of financial recovery.

Overall, I would have to say that the meeting was very successful, not so much in terms as to what was specifically accomplished at the meeting, but in terms of getting the party to begin heading in the right direction and get us on a solid financial foundation to put us in the condition of winning elections throughout this nation.


Krzysztof Lesiak
Ok. Now according to an article I wrote for IPR, 3 major events transpired. The first of which, was the disbanding of Young Constitutionalists. Why do you think YC was not successful? Also, when Joshua Fauver arrived for Saturday’s meeting, he claimed he wasn’t informed about the votes on the matters that took place before he first walked in, until some time later- why wasn’t he informed at all, do you suppose?



Randy Constitutional Evangelist Stufflebeam
Before going into the separate issues of the Young Constitutionalists and the Clarion Call to Unite Committee let me specifically address Mr. Fauver’s position of not being informed of the votes concerning these matters of which he has an interest.

Both of the resolutions that dealt with these matters were first dealt with by the Executive Committee on Friday night and were passed without dissent. HOWEVER, all resolutions that are passed by the executive committee MUST BE presented to the National Committee and voted on before they can be considered passed by the party. Both resolutions were presented to the National Committee and they were both passed without dissent.

While the titles of the specific resolutions that were to be considered by the National Committee were not listed on the agenda, the agenda had specific time for dealing with resolutions and I believe that time was listed on the agenda as being Saturday, @ 8:45am. It is my understanding that Mr. Fauver decided to sleep in during the time of discussion for any resolutions that might be presented to National Committee. Mr. Fauver was registered for the National Committee meeting and had paid his registration, however, he did not pay the State Committeeman dues and was not listed by the state of Louisiana as an official committeeman/representative of his state and therefore did not have any voting rights at the committee meeting. Still, I have been assured that had Mr. Fauver been present, he would have been afforded the opportunity to speak on behalf of either resolution.

Had I even had the time to recognize Mr. Fauver’s absence that morning, I might have thought he lost interest in the meeting and was possibly already on a flight home. Be that as it may, I was running the sound system for the meeting and had no time to take specific notice as to whether or not Mr. Fauver was present and informed of information that he has a specific interest in. As far as I knew, he was there.

Let me state unequivocally that there was NO DEVIOUS attempt to withhold information from Mr. Fauver. The fact that Mr. Fauver was absent from probably the most important part of the meeting (which was on the agenda, the resolutions report @ 8:45) of which he was registered (and paid good money), means that the majority of the responsibility rests on his shoulders, not mine, nor the chairman’s responsibility to ensure he is where he should be when he has an interest in what is taking place at the meeting.

YOUNG CONSTITUTIONALISTS

In the issue of the “Young Constitutionalists” the language of disbandment is inaccurate.

According the motion that was made during the fall, 2012 National Committee Meeting that was held in St. Louis, there was a condition that organizational bylaws for the Young Constitutionalists would be presented to the next national committee meeting which meet on April 20. The Young Constitutionalist leadership failed to meet this obligation and therefore made the resolution that was made in the fall “null & void.”

The National Committee passed a resolution (without dissent) on Saturday morning which stated:

“In as much as the bylaws and documents were not submitted as a condition of the original resolution to reestablish the Young Constitutionalist, as an official arm of the Constitution Party, the resolution is null and void.”

I will accept the blame for the Young Constitutionalists not having been successful. I admit that because my attention has been directed towards other endeavors within the party, both nationally and within my own state that I did not give the Young Constitutionalists the attention that it deserved. I will correct that deficiency.

The bottom line was that the Young Constitutionalists were responsible for not fulfilling its obligations and the national party was simply holding the Young Constitutionalists accountable which was supposed to be the official arm of the party.

That’s not to say that this can’t be done at the fall meeting of the National Committee, but it will be an entirely new effort to reestablish the Young Constitutionalists and with the water that has been under the bridge on this past effort, we’ll definitely be prepared with documentation prior to the meeting.

NOW, I can personally say that Mr. Fauver was completely aware of what was happening with the Young Constitutionalists as I personally talked with him Friday night about it.

CLARION CALL TO UNITE COMMITTEE

In the issue of the Clarion Call to Unite Committee (CCUC) I don’t think that I need to rehash the issue dealing with Mr. Fauver’s lack of being informed about the resolution that was passed.

I will say that I was present for both the Executive Committee discussion and the National Committee discussion and never once was Mr. Fauver’s name brought up as him being there as an official representative of the CCUC. As I stated above, I personally discussed the situation with the Young Constitutionalists on Friday night following the executive committee to let him know that the issue of the Young Constitutionalists will be brought before the National Committee meeting in the morning (Saturday). Never once did it enter my mind that Mr. Fauver was there as an official representative of the CCUC, otherwise I would have let him know about the resolution about the CCUC at the same time I talked with him about the Young Constitutionalists.

Before I provide the specific resolution that was passed by the National Committee, I have heard nothing but positive statements about and respect for the Chairman of CCUC, Cody Quirk and Vice-Chairman Joshua Fauver.

In both of the discussions (the Executive and National Committee) regarding the CCUC issue, never once was there a deriding comment made about either of these gentle, neither do I believe that during the discussions their names were even brought up; the discussions revolved, almost exclusively, around the advantages and disadvantages of affiliating with the other organizations.

The resolution that was passed concerning the Clarion Call to United Committee states:

“The National Committee is taking a position that it is not in our best interest to become involved with the Clarion Call to Unite Committee or affiliate with this organization.”

There are two extremely notable “cons” in dealing with this particular issue:

1) The Clarion Call to Unite Committee is proposing that the Constitution Party dissolve its organization (as well as all the others) so as to create a completely new organization, where a new platform and bylaws would be drawn up and new leadership elections would take place.

2) Two of the organizations were involved in a major rift where they had issues with the official Presidential and Vice-Presidential nominee of the party that was elected and decided to support one of their own. To my knowledge, neither party’s leadership has ever made an attempt at reconciliation.

There is an example of another state party affiliate deciding to support a presidential candidate of its own. They disaffiliated to do so. They have since made reconciliation and have been brought back into the party as an official affiliate. There’s no reason why either of the two that disaffiliated shouldn’t have sought reconciliation with the Constitution Party. Instead, they are more than happy to see the Constitution Party dissolved and then merge together to elect new leadership. This seems more like a hostile takeover than a longing to reconcile the differences and merge with the Constitution Party so that together we can be stronger and start winning elections.

AGAIN, the Constitution Party has extended NO ILL WILL towards anyone associated with the Young Constitutionalists nor the Clarion Call to United Committee. I expect to see great things come from these young men. I know that Joshua Fauver has announced his run for office and I will do all that I can to help and support him in his endeavor.

It is my opinion that the Constitution Party leadership has acted correctly in both issues. The Constitution Party stands ready to unite with ALL fellow Constitutionalists. HOWEVER, we do not see dissolving the organization for political expediency to be the best idea. As I have said on numerous occasions, “I believe the Constitution Party is the last great political hope for these United States of America!” Yes, I know we have issues! Yes, I know we need money! Yes, I know with more people in the party we would be stronger! Yes, I know that it is an uphill battle in cliff proportions! BUT I ALSO KNOW THAT THE CONSTITUTION PARTY HAS THE FOUNDATION AND THE PLATFORM AND THE LEAERSHIP TO START WINNING BATTLES AND GETTING CANDIDATES ELECTED.


Krzysztof Lesiak
Do you think that, if more members of the Constitution Party were present at the National Committee meeting in Baltimore, Md, the votes on the matters relating to Joshua, the YC organization, and the CCTUC would have still been unanimous?


Randy Constitutional Evangelist Stufflebeam
Regarding the Young Constitutionalists… NO. That was mine and Joshua’s fault.

Regarding the CCUC… Who knows? Especially if there had been members not only registered, but paid committeeman dues. If he would have been there as a committeemen, I would expect that it would not have been unanimous.

By the way, I would not use the word “unanimous”. Both resolutions were passed “Without Dissent” no roll call vote was taken and therefore unanimity can not be established. There might have been someone who abstained from voting and if there was an abstention, it would not have been unanimous. Does that make sense?


Krzysztof Lesiak
Ok. this is my last question on CCTUC. The 4 points of it are that the party that’s joining must be pro-life, favor constitutional government, support non-interventionist foreign policy and withdrawal from the UN, and support for tariffs and American jobs from outsourcing and foreign competition. Did CP members at the meeting know of these 4 planks of the CCTUC, and in your opinion does it really matter?


Randy Constitutional Evangelist Stufflebeam
This is a simple question to answer.

1) Those points are a matter of fact in the Constitution Party’s platform.

2) While those (and others) criteria would absolutely have to be met to affiliate with the Constitution Party, they were not at issue. What was at issue is two things, primarily:

A) The past actions of a couple of the other organizations and the destructive affect that they had on the Constitution Party.

Dissolving the Constitution Party’s leadership and platform is NOT in the best interest of the Constitution Party (neither do I believe it to be in the best interest of our country, because of affect),


Krzysztof Lesiak
I forgot about this one: least one person alleged on IPR that Quirk’s and Fauver’s association with the Robby Wells 2016 campaign was the primary reason for the rejection of what they were advocating for. Do these statements bear any credence?



Randy Constitutional Evangelist Stufflebeam
I do believe that Robby Wells was mentioned as supporting the CCUC during the Executive Committee meeting discussion, I do NOT think it was mentioned during the National Committee meeting.

And while I’m certain that was a factor, I don’t believe it was the main factor.


Krzysztof Lesiak
Ok. Darrell Castle announced at the meeting that he’s exploring running for the CP presidential nomination in 2016. If you feel comfortable, what’s your opinion on this? Also, what are your plans for the CP’s future – and what is your outlook on how the CP will be carrying on, including growth, candidate recruitment, youth, etc?



Randy Constitutional Evangelist Stufflebeam
I THINK IT’S GREAT ! ! ! If I had my way, I’d have at least 4 candidates officially announcing their candidacy for the Constitution Party’s Presidential Nomination.

That’s why I held the only Constitution Party Presidential Debates by conference call.

Plans for the future?

Current plans are to focus on state and local races. I am working to recruit a full sleight of state-wide candidates here in Illinois, I already have a Gubernatorial and an Attorney General Candidate.

Nationally? I’m looking to recruit more presidential candidates. It will generate more interest in the party.

I believe within the next year GROWTH WILL BE PHENOMINAL!! Given the complete dissatisfaction of the two major parties and the defection that we are already beginning to see.

Youth? ABSOLUTELY. I will be working on those “Young Constitutionalist” bylaws.

As the song says, “The future’s so bright, I’ve got to wear shades!”


Krzysztof Lesiak
Oh, BTW.. do you think Robby Wells will seek the CP nod in 2016? He’s currently an independent



Randy Constitutional Evangelist Stufflebeam
Let me be clear about something.

I am the National Vice-Chairman. It is my job to gain ballot access for our party and our candidates. IT IS NOT TO SUPPORT ANY PARTICULAR CANDIDATE AT THE NATIONAL LEVEL. It would be a conflict of interest to do so. My job is to make it as fair as possible for every candidate seeking our nomination. That’s why I held the debates last year that I did.



Randy Constitutional Evangelist Stufflebeam
Robby Wells seeking the CP nomination?

I think he should and the longer he waits the harder it will be for him to get the nomination, especially considering there are other people already talking about it.


Krzysztof Lesiak
Do you know or feel comfortable disclosing the other people?


Randy Constitutional Evangelist Stufflebeam
In terms of “real” candidates, currently, Darrell Castle is the only one exploring the possibility. There always someone nobody knows who wants to put their name in the hat as well.

But that doesn’t mean some “big name” candidate won’t come seeking our nomination within the next couple of years.


Krzysztof Lesiak
Randy, thanks so much for your time!! I REALLY appreciate it. Is there anything you think we missed that you would like to add?


Randy Constitutional Evangelist Stufflebeam
I think that’s good for now. I look forward to seeing your “report.”

It’ll be fun to see what the response will be.

IPR Interview: Joshua Fauver Talks About Constitution Party National Committee Meeting in Baltimore

Originally published on IPR on April 24th. 

Joshua Fauver is a Constitution Party activist from Louisiana. He is the Vice-Chairman of the Clarion Call to Unite Committee (CCTUC). He is also the Southeast Regional Coordinator for Robby Wells’s 2016  presidential campaign. In March of this year, he announced his candidacy for the Louisiana House of Representatives in the 21st District in 2015. Here’s his Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/JoshuaFauverforStateRep

 

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  Krzysztof Lesiak 
  

   
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  
  Alright. So, before we get into what transpired in Baltimore, could you tell us about your involvement with the CP, like how long you have been involved, what your positions are/were, and also a little bit about your 2015 campaign for Louisiana state representative?
  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  


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   Joshua Fauver

  
  

  
  

  
  

   
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  
  Sure. I became involved in the Constitution Party officially in April of 2012. I had begun talking to them in March of that year an agreed to become more involved after the Louisiana Republican caucus as I was still interning for the Youth For Ron Paul Campaign. I actively campaigned on behalf of Virgil Goode after the caucus. I held the position of Chairman of the Young Constitutionalists very briefly and have recently announced my intentions to run for State Representative in Louisiana’s 21st district. Our current representative is a two term incumbent Democrat who has never been challenged outside of his own party so I feel really good about my chances.
  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  


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  Krzysztof Lesiak 
  

   
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  
  Ok. So how did you feel going into Balitmore’s meeting on April 20th? What were your expecations?
  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  


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  Joshua Fauver

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  
  I felt good going into the Baltimore meeting on April 20th. I had sat in the executive national committee meeting on the 19th, and nothing of any real dire concern was brought up. My expectations were that things would be normal. I had seen the agenda, we had received one when we registered for the meeting and I was expecting we would follow it and things would be relatively normal.
  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  


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   Krzysztof Lesiak

  
  

  
  

  
  

   
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  
  How many people (estimate) were there at Saturday’s meeting? What states had the biggest representation, if you know this info? Was there general enthusiasm in the crowd, considering this was months after Virgil Goode’s surprising under-performance in the election?
  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  


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   Joshua Fauver

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  
  I believe the estimate was something like 53 people. It was around 50. I honestly couldn’t tell you what state had the largest representation.I would say the enthusiasm was good. A lot of people were excited about what Jenifer Young has going on in her state and the progress she is making there.
  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  


• 
  
  
  
  
  
  

  
   
  

  
  

  Krzysztof Lesiak

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  
  Is she Wyoming’s state chair?
  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  


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  Joshua Fauver

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  
  I believe so. Yes.
  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  


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  Krzysztof Lesiak

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  
  Ok. So what was the first major thing to happen once the meeting was called into session? Was it the topic of Young Constitutionalists?
  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  


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  Joshua Fauver

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  
  I couldn’t tell you that. I was about an hour late to the meeting on the 20th.
  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  


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  Krzysztof Lesiak

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  
  Ok, so what was the topic being discussed at hand when you came in?
  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  


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  Joshua Fauver

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  
  Don Shrader was discussing party building when I came in.
  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  


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  Krzysztof Lesiak

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  
  Alright, according to my article, Young Constitutionalists was dissolved. It was supposed to be the youth arm of the CP per my understanding. You were its chairman. Why was it decided to be dissolved? Was there any opposition to this?
  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  


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  Joshua Fauver

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  
  I knew the topic was going to be discussed. Randy Stufflebeam had a discussion about it Friday night. There were stipulations in the resolution passed in St. Louis that we had not noticed to be totally honest. We failed to meet those stipulations. We knew we would most likely be dissolved on Saturday, but I don’t know if there was opposition to dissolving the organization. It must have been done during the first hour of the meeting, during my absence. No one provided me with any details on the matter after it happened.
  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  


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  Krzysztof Lesiak

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  
  So what were some of those stipulations? And what was your reaction to finding about this dissolution happening before you arrived at the meeting?
  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  


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  Joshua Fauver

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  
  Well, like I said, Randy and I talked about it Friday night. I knew it was going to happen, I wish I had been there for it, but I knew it was going to happen. Some of the stipulations were having by laws and such drawn up by the Spring meeting. Something both Randy and I failed to get done.
  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  


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  Krzysztof Lesiak

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  
  So there were never any Young Constitutionalist college chapters being discussed ( I assume this would be part of the organization’s goal)?
  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  


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  Joshua Fauver

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  
  We were certainly discussing them. I was contacted by several college aged students who were interested in starting a chapter on their campuses. Problems with prioritizing time arose for me when I became involved with Free and Equal and I know Randy was running an exploratory committee for a Senate campaign, and had the day to day responsibilities of being the vice chairman of the party. I’m aware it isn’t a great excuse, but the bylaws just didn’t happen.
  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  


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  Krzysztof Lesiak

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  
  Ok. Now to the huge issue, the Clarion Call to Unite Committee (CCTUC). Were you representing them? Why did the CP overwhelmingly pass a resolution saying that they won’t support or affiliate with the CCTUC and its efforts? Did this come as a surprise to you?
  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  


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  Joshua Fauver

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  
  You might say I was representing them. I wasn’t there to do that however. I went to represent Louisiana. I can’t tell you why the C.P voted on a resolution saying the will not support our efforts. I wasn’t there. This too was done during that one hour period when I was not present. It wasn’t on the agenda they had given us, nothing discussed alluded to the idea it would come up during the meeting on the 20th. In fact, I asked Mrs. Joan Castle if anything of any real importance would come up, she said not to her knowledge. In fact, I didn’t even discover that this resolution was voted on until this afternoon, which is shocking to me. Both Randy and Frank knew full well I supported this matter and didn’t even bother telling me after my arrival that it had been voted on.
  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  


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  Krzysztof Lesiak

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  
  At least one individual told me the CCTUC was rejected because Robby Wells, a 2016 independent presidential candidate, is involved with it. You and Cody Quirk are involved with Well’s efforts to a degree to, as is Constitution Party of VA co chair Aaron Lyles, who is Well’s co campaign manager and Virgil Goode’s second cousin. Apparently, the person I talked to believed Wells isn’t widely liked in the CP. Do you think that because of him CCTUC was not endorsed by the party?
  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  


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  Joshua Fauver

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  
  Being that no on from the party told me anything about the matter I don’t believe I can answer that question accurately. But perhaps the idea has merit, as long time party activist Darrel Castle did announce his interests in seeking the party’s nomination in 2016 on the same day the CCTUC chose not to endorse the efforts of the CCTUC. Though I can’t say that is the case, perhaps it is. I don’t know. Again, no one from the party informed me of the vote to begin with.
  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  


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  Joshua Fauver

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  
  The C.P chose not to endorse the efforts of the CCTUC I mean.
  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  


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  Krzysztof Lesiak

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  
  Do you think Wells will seek the CP nod in 2016? I believe he said he’s running independent now as part of the CCTUC efforts to bring in people and then come back into the CP. If he doesn’t, Castle will likely be the nominee. What’s your opinion of Castle representing the party as its presidential candidate?
  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  


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  Joshua Fauver

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  
  That will have to be a decision that is made closer to 2016. Right now Robby is concerned with getting his name out there and building a team and support across the country. As far as Mr. Castle goes, I don’t him well enough to make an informed opinion on him as the party’s candidate.
  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  


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  Krzysztof Lesiak

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  
  What do you think overall of the CP’s meeting? Was it productive and successful? What does the CCTUC plan on doing now?
  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  


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  Joshua Fauver

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  
  Obviously my opinion of the meeting has changed as the report on the vote I was unaware of came in. I’m not happy at all with what transpired in Baltimore. I was totally blindsided when I found out about the resolution that was passed. I would hardly call their decision not to endorse our efforts a success. I think it will hinder the growth of the party. I believe we are going to continue our efforts at unifying the parties. I still believe it is necessary for our goal of restoring constitutionally limited government. We will continue with or without the Constitution Party’s blessing.
  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  


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  Krzysztof Lesiak

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  
  Anything that you think we missed, that you would like to add?
  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  


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  Joshua Fauver

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  
  No, I think that about covers it.
  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  


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  Krzysztof Lesiak

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  
  Thanks for your time.
  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

Libertarian Chris Jenner Wins Municipal Election Race In Illinois

Originally published on IPR on April 10th.

On April 9th, municipal elections were held throughout the state of Illinois. The Libertarian Party of Illinois (LPIL) had three candidates on the ballot: Lex Green for mayor of Bloomington, Chad Grimm for Peoria City Council and Chris Jenner for McHenry County College Board. The results:

Lex Green  – came in third of three candidates, receiving 1,246 votes, or 12.83%.

Chad Grimm – came in 2nd out of 2 candidates, with 270 votes, or 18.82%.

Chris Jenner – came in 2nd out of 9 candidates, with top 3 getting elected. Got 9,718 votes, or 14.7%. WON the election.