From Facebook, the South Dakota Libertarian Party announced the results of their organization elections this past weekend:
Gideon Oakes, son of State GOP Party Secretary Marilyn Oakes, has been elected the chair of the third party group, announcing that as chairman, his “three primary areas of focus will be increasing communication and brand visibility, recruiting and supporting quality candidates, and continuing our party’s upward growth trends.”
Given last year’s Libertarian convention(s) was where they had two truly awful candidates duke it out, just to have the winner of awfulness tossed out of the race for someone slightly less awful as a result of foreseeable convention technical errors, “recruiting and supporting quality candidates” probably is a good item for South Dakota’s only remaining third party to focus on.
To say upward growth is needed for the group might be an understatement. According to the Secretary of State, Libertarians currently account for 1910 or 0.345% of South Dakota’s 553,145 registered voters, compared to Democrats’ 158,719, and the GOP’s 260,203.
Thanks for the mention, Pat. Here’s to the future! 👍
Glad to see Gideon is heading this up. No more Mcnut’s or McCrazy’s.
I hear there are Constitution party folks looking for a home
I hear there are disaffected Republicans and Democrats alike looking for a home, too. And in fact they’re finding one, too. The numbers don’t lie — the fastest growing party* in SD (by number of registrations) is not a party at all, it’s Independent/No Affiliation.
These are folks who are sick and tired of partisan rhetoric and blind fealty to a color rather than a platform, and who are ready to throw off the shame of having to associate oneself with a tired duopoly that lives to serve itself rather than the People.
The liberty movement is not a short-sighted project. Make no mistake, returning the hearts and minds of Americans to our foundational libertarian roots is a long-term, patience-eroding and often frankly excruciating process. Charismatic, polarizing figures come and go, but the basic tenets of freedom and natural rights are timeless. And as long as there’s continuous growth toward those tenets, we’re moving in the right direction.
(* Now, of course if you want to talk about growth by percentage, the LP has grown by 37% in the last three years. But it’s safe to say we’re not quite to the finish line, lol. 🙂)
Sick of the extremely stable genius Trump is more like it. In 2020 it will be the first time I will ever have voted for a Democrat.
Honest to god: I would likely register if you didn’t elect people like Volesky to leadership. You want respectability? Lead with respectable people. I left the GOP because of people like Trump. I don’t need to find his ilk here.
It will always be a fringe party.
Nothing fringe about freedom, liberty, the constitution and limited government.
I’m with Mrs. Volesky on this one. grudznick thinks young Mr. Oakes will be the best leader of the Libertarians yet, putting to shame some of the fellows who tried to steer the party in the past.
And doobies!
legalized prostitution
pipe bombs
Limited government like state controlled business plan to decide winners and losers as in Trump’s tariffs? That’s socialism.
Yet you cheer Trumps every move as he spends this country into the ground. You have no principles whatsoever.
The proper intermediate goal of the 3rd party is to overtake the 2nd party. For perspective, the 2nd party has roughly 28.694%. In 2 years, if present trends continue (they rarely do), the 2nd party will have about 26.886%. The Libertarians will have about .39%. In 10 years, about 20.724% vs .643%. It’s my guess at some point Democrats will collapse in South Dakota.
When Libertarians out poll Democrats in big races like the race for Governor, the collapse will accelerate, and trends will change rapidly. If Republican legislators have to fear Libertarians taking their seats policy will improve quickly.
Democrats collapsed in 2010. That’s how you were able to get elected as a Republican.
Kooky, Kooky, Kooky!!!
Lora Hubbel and her sidekicks are goin Libertarian this time around. Should be fun to watch. Too bad it could be a reunion year with all the past contestants and players joining in on the fun to compete in the SD Libertarian Game Show.
Lora has not joined the Libertarian party. She would sure be welcomed if she wanted to. I do think you will enjoy the show with Director Gideon Oaks.
I hope Gideon holds onto that spot with all his might. Crazies like Lora Hubbel will come and ruin the Libertarian party. Good luck Mr. Oakes, in your endeavor to head the forefront of Libertarianism in South Dakota and doing your best to disallow another third party from going to the wolves. More Conservatives support you than you know.
I agree with the comment above. I do not know Gideon but I do believe his heart is in the right place. From posts throughout the years, he seems genuine and ‘normal’; just wanting change. If one doesn’t act, you won’t see change. Statistics (as shown above) show that the party will never have a big impact on any election but they won’t know until they try. Kudos to them and as a Republican, I will not concern myself with that party and stay focused on what we need to accomplish. But no harm in them trying to make a difference, IMO.