Forward Looking Secretary of State Candidate Greg Stempfle at the Fall Convention. Photo by Scotty Boman

Moving Forward Into the Next Campaign Season

By Greg Stempfle, Chair

Link to the December 2020 Michigan Libertarian

As soon as the polls closed on Election Day 2020, many people began to reach out to us looking to get involved with the Libertarian Party of Michigan (LPM) or to run for office in the next election. While all of our activists and candidates deserve some well deserved rest, after this marathon 2020 campaign season, here is a look forward at what to expect in the coming year.

Moving forward with the 2021 State Convention

The next Libertarian Party of Michigan state convention will hopefully be sometime in early 2021. At this regular state convention, delegates will select new party officers to serve for the next two years, and discuss bylaws and platform changes. Also, we usually have a luncheon and banquet with speakers and awards.

Due to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak, the Libertarian Executive Committee (LEC) is holding off on making formal convention plans until the start of the year. With the state of Michigan facing restrictions on large public gatherings, planning a state convention is challenging. The time-frame for holding our convention, per our party bylaws, is between April 1 and July 31. Most members of the LEC felt that an earlier convention is preferable in order to seat the next board. If the coronavirus outbreak, and government response to it, still prevents us from holding a convention in the spring, they would prefer to delay an in-person convention till later in the summer (Rather than hold another online convention).

Running for Office in 2022

With the completion of the 2020 US Census, Michigan will be redistricted before the next election, so the district you live in this year may not be the same district in 2022. It’s important to start planning your campaign early but keep this point in mind moving forward.

Looking forward to new boundaries

For the first time the newly created Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission will draw-up new Congressional and State Legislative districts’ boundaries, to be used through 2030. Normally the district lines do not change drastically every ten years, but we don’t know what to expect from the Commission.  To complicate matters, Michigan may loose a member of Congress resulting in district lines that could pit two incumbent members of Congress against each other.

The LPM did not qualify for the 2022 Michigan primary so our candidates for public office will be nominated at either a state or county convention sometime in the spring or summer of 2022. Candidates running for statewide office or offices that cross county lines will be nominated at the state convention and candidates running for offices entirely within a county will be nominated at a county convention.

Link to the December 2020 Michigan Libertarian

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