If you’re unhappy with the crop of current Congressional candidates nationwide and think you can do a better job, the bad news is that your desire would normally have to wait until 2010 because the fields for this November are practically all set. However, if you live in Maryland I have good news (and it has nothing to do with auto insurance.)
This came to me from the Maryland Libertarian Party:
The Maryland LP’s candidate for the US House of Representatives seat in the 8th Congressional District (mostly western Montgomery County) will not be able to participate in the election, due to personal reasons. Therefore there is a vacancy for this race.
We want to have a candidate for this race so the voters in the 8th will have a choice from the usual legacy-party candidates, and so the MDLP can run a full slate of candidates.
You do not have to live in the 8th Congressional District to run and serve in that district! You can live in Elkton, Ocean City, Point Lookout, or Cumberland and run for this seat.
Requirements:
* must be 25 as of the day of the election
* must be a resident of the state of Maryland
* must have been a US citizen for at least 7 years
* must be a registered Libertarian upon submitting the Certificate of Candidacy to the state Board of ElectionsIf anyone is interested, please contact me as soon as possible at chair@md.lp.org, or call me at (443) 310-5373. Time is of the essence: there needs to be scheduled a special meeting of the Central Committee, with the proper minimum notice, to vote on any nominations, and a Declaration of Intent must be filed at the state Board of Elections in Annapolis by July 1st.
Bob Johnston
Chairman, MDLP
Did I mention the bad news is that you have to run against entrenched Congressman Chris Van Hollen? I just think it’s quite odd that one need not live in the Congressional district in order to represent it; however, given the tendencies of some in Congress I’m not certain they’ve always lived on this planet, let alone their Congressional district.
We don’t hear a whole lot about the Maryland Libertarians, in part because many who would subscribe to their party line instead reside in the Democratic or Republican parties – or as the MDLP calls them, “legacy” parties. While I applaud their limited-government stance, I’m not as keen on the non-interventionist portion of their platform nor am I pro-choice like many Libertarians. (It comes down to my contention that you are doing harm to another when you abort a fetus.)
With this unique appeal for help, it will be interesting to see if the party can find a candidate in time to fill the ballot space or if they’ll only be able to field seven candidates for the eight places on Maryland Congressional ballots. Since they are a certified “minor” party, the Libertarians don’t hold a primary but are still assured a spot on the General Election ballot (as is the Green Party.) And while I’m a confirmed Republican I certainly feel that the more choices a voter has, the better citizens are served – so I wish the Libertarians good luck in finding someone to fill that ballot void.
