State House candidate at Candidate Training Patty Malowney. Photo by Pat Griffin

Training Workshop Blazes Path To Future Candidate Support

By Greg Stempfle

Link to the April Michigan Libertarian.

A candidate training workshop was held during the morning session at the March 10th Libertarian Party of Michigan (LPM) Summit at Eagle Eye Golf Course in Bath Township. Several dozen prospective candidates and campaign staff were in attendance and heard from a series of speakers talking about different aspects of running for office.  Greg Stempfle, LPM political director, gave an overview of the 2018 campaign season. LPM Chair Bill Hall went over campaign finance rules. Patty Malowney, candidate for Michigan State House District 77, discussed using social media for your campaign and Leonard Schwartz, candidate for US Congress District 11, gave advice on how to collect signatures.

Will White at Workshop
Will White at Candidate Training Workshop. Photo by Pat Griffin.

The next set of speakers went over the various party resources available to Libertarian candidates. Tim Yow, LPM Affiliates Director, discussed the Candidates as Bloggers program. Catherine Filus, at large director with the Macomb Libertarians, talked about web design and hosting on the LPM site. Scotty Boman, LPM newsletter editor, discussed the state party newsletter, The Michigan Libertarian.

Actually Governing

The last section of the workshop dealt with aspects of actually governing. Will White, LPM legislative committee chair, gave a talk about how the Michigan government is structured and funded. Mike Saliba, who serves on the Clinton Township Historical Commission, talked about getting appointed to a local government board. The last part of the workshop was a roundtable discussion with elected libertarians Andy LeCureaux of the Hazel Park City Council and Laura Ebke of the Nebraska State Senate. Attendees got the valuable opportunity to ask questions and discuss strategy with these officials.

During the luncheon break, a professional photographer, Pat Griffin, took head shots of two dozen libertarians who were considering running for office this year.  Thanks again to everyone who participated.

Throughout the workshop and during the officer reports, Stempfle discussed plans for candidate support and training after the April 24 filing deadline.  Using the the video-conference program Zoom, we will put on monthly candidate meetings / brainstorming sessions and will offer campaign finance reporting training in July and October.

Future Support

The party may also hold a training workshop at the LPM Fall State Convention. Party resources that are available to candidates include:  hosting a campaign website, participation in the candidates as bloggers program, space in the state party newsletter, and the various LPM social media accounts. The LPM also plans to develop promotional literature / slate cards for candidates to use during the campaign, which will focus on policy positions on a handful of important issues facing Michigan voters.

Link to the April Michigan Libertarian.