After a grueling Texas State Republican convention which ran more than 4 hours overtime, tired RLC members staggered into the Aloft Hotel in downtown Dallas to attend a special statewide meeting of the Republican Liberty Caucus of Texas. Most of the attendees were also convention delegates, but some had come in from around the state just to attend the meeting. The Austin, Dallas and Houston areas were most strongly represented among the group of over 30 RLC members who were in attendance.

The purpose of the meeting was to reorganize the Texas RLC state board and recharter the state organization to address a peculiar situation where the state has a number of successful and active regional chapters but no functioning state board. In the three-hour meeting the attendees were able to elect provisional board members and executive officers, approve a set of bylaws, fill out a charter application and discuss various issues of concern for Liberty Republicans in Texas. The meeting was moderated by RLC National Chairman Dave Nalle who is a Texas resident and RLC national board member Dan Shiell.

The overall mood was enthusiastic in the wake of the hard-won convention victory of Steve Munisteri, the new Chairman of the Texas GOP. Munisteri has a background of association with relatively pro-liberty leaders and campaigns, including having worked for Ron Paul, Fred Thompson, Jack Kemp and Ronald Reagan. He is expected to be much more friendly towards Liberty Republicans than his predecessor who was quite hostile and had even denied Debra Medina’s new advocacy organization a booth at the convention. Many of those attending the RLC meeting had been working hard at the convention to assure a Munisteri victory.

The meeting agreed to elect officers and board members on a 60-day provisional basis to be confirmed or modified and approved in a teleconference to be held within that period. This will provide time for RLC members in chapters around the state to review the work of the representatives at the meeting and for additional board members to be selected. Joey Dauben of Ellis County was elected Chairman. Judson Vandiver of Dallas was elected Vice Chairman. Dave Nalle of Travis County was elected Secretary. Joe Petronis of Austin was elected Treasurer. Board members elected at the meeting included Jeff Larson (Houston), Summer Yen (Austin), Patricia Nalle (Manor), Dan Shiell (Dallas) and Stephen Schoppe (Austin).

At a dinner gathering after the meeting, National RLC Chairman Dave Nalle commented that “After a convention where hostile party factions were at each others throats, being able to sit down with a group of real Liberty Republicans who so clearly shared the same objectives restored my faith in our movement and our efforts and the potential for achieving great victories for liberty in the Lonestar State.”

It’s just a few days until the Republican Liberty Caucus statewide meeting in Dallas.  The Texas chapter of the Republican Liberty Caucus has to rebuild and we need your help now more than ever before.

On Friday (yes, tomorrow) night at 8:30 pm, the Texas RLC will have a meet and greet gathering at XYZ bar at the Aloft hotel in Dallas. Please join RLC’ers to mix, mingle, and engage.

On Saturday, the Republican Liberty Caucus of Texas will hold its annual business/reorganizational meeting 4pm at the Tactics Room at the Aloft hotel.  If the Convention floor fight extends until after 4pm, that is when you should arrive at the Tactics Room.  We have the room booked for the evening.

Please RSVP to attend these events on Facebook.

Judicial candidate (and former Judge) Melissa Goodwin and past gubernatorial candidate Debra Medina (pictured) will be addressing the Texas RLC. At the business meeting we will be electing a new board and officers for the Texas RLC and approving by-laws and rules. All are welcome to participate in these activities but voting will be limited to dues-paid RLC members, though you will be able to join the RLC on site.

If you can’t be there, you can follow the events at the convention through facebook (check out the group Texas Liberty Delegates) or on Twitter by subscribing to the feed for Texliberty.

We hope you’ll join us for the meeting and be part of restoring the RLC as a potent force in Texas politics and in promoting the  principles of limited government, free enterprise and individual liberty in the Texas Republican Party.  For more information, see our updated website at http://www.rlctx.org.

A special thanks to Dave Nalle and the Texas RLC Organizing Committee for making these events possible to members, future members, and other interested parties. See you on Friday and Saturday!

Republican Liberty Caucus of Utah Endorses Candidates at Statewide Convention
Caucus Advocates Change in Direction of Republican Party to Favor Limited Government

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 5/19/10
CONTACT: Julian Babbitt

Draper, Utah – The Republican Liberty Caucus of Utah, an affiliate of the national Republican Liberty Caucus, met over the weekend at its Annual Convention and endorsed the following candidates for public office:

* Mike Lee for U.S. Senate
* Morgan Philpot U.S. Congress, District 2
* Daniel Thatcher for State Senate, District 12
* John Dougall for State Representative, District 27
* Rob Alexander for State Representative, District 35
* Chuck Bateman for State Representative, District 5
* Ken Ivory for State Representative, District 47
* DJ Schanz for State Representative, District 20
* Craig Frank for State Representative, District 57
* Curt Oda for State Representative, District 14

Said the newly elected chair, Julian Babbitt, “Small government and personal liberty advocates have been increasingly frustrated with the Republican Party, best exhibited by the recent showing by Senator Bennett at our State GOP Convention, which gained national headlines. Our slate of candidates offers hope for the cause of liberty and for all Utahns who believe in a sharply limited government.”

All of the endorsed candidates share common goals of dramatically reducing spending, cutting taxes and an overall sense that government needs to return to its proper role and and exercise only those powers enumerated in the Constitution. With the Obama Administration’s trampling of states’ rights and personal freedom, the time is now for change at both the federal and state level.

The Republican Liberty Caucus of Utah is a grassroots network of concerned citizens dedicated to upholding individual liberty, limited government, and free enterprise within the Republican Party. The RLC’s mission is to recruit and endorse candidates who support its agenda, elect limited-government Republicans to political office, and change the direction of the Republican Party to reflect members’ vision of peace and prosperity. Learn more about the Caucus at http://www.RLC.org. A specific report on the event is found at the Utah RLC blog.

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In late February, the Republican Liberty Caucus of Michigan had its annual meeting, which featured guest Governor Gary Johnson. Here are a few photos from that event.

The Minnesota RLC held its Convention on April 12. Here are several photos from that event:

The RLC helps promote libertarian goals within the Republican Party: limited government, fiscal conservatism, personal liberty. The Wyoming chapter, under the leadership of Michael W. Dean, is working to re-charter its affiliate. (The original Wyoming chapter was chartered in 2007 and was active for about a year.)

Please join interested parties on Monday, April 19 from 7-9 pm at the Natrona County Public Library, in the Crawford Room (307 E. Second Street Casper, WY). Milk and cookies will be served!

Learn more about the Wyoming RLC at http://www.RLCWY.org.

MAINE

Republican Liberty Caucus, Maine chapter, will hold a free public information meeting Saturday, April 10, at noon at Portland Airport Hilton Garden Inn, 145 Jetport Access Road off I-95 (Exit 46). The meeting will introduce the national volunteer grassroots movement of libertarian-oriented Republicans and its goals.

The meeting is free. Lunch is optional from the hotel menu. Membership applications will be accepted at the meeting.

Dues-paid members will be eligible to participate in the RLC-ME State Convention on May 7, which will be held in Portland concurrent with the Maine State Republican Committee Convention. Dues-paid members can vote endorsement of a gubernatorial candidate before the primary and for RLC Maine Chapter officers. Dues-paid members are also eligible to attend regional and national RLC conventions.

Local chapters can be formed with a minimum of five dues-paid members who apply to the state executive board. Please attend and learn about this grassroots movement which is independent of any official party committee and committed to individual liberty.

Hilton Garden Inn by the Portland Jet Port
Saturday April 10th 2010
12noon to 2:30 PM
145 Jetport Boulevard, Portland, Maine, USA 04102
RSVP on Facebook

TENNESSEE

It is time for Tennesseans to have our biennial convention to elect officers for 2010. In order for the our group to grow and be effective, we need people willing to commit to the time and energy required to make an impact.

Please mark your calendar for April 24 at Doughhead Pizza (124 Harrison Ln.) in Soddy Daisy. The event will occur from 11am to 1pm.

If you are interested in running for a position, please contact Gregg. The future of the RLCTN depends upon you! You can RSVP to the event on Facebook.

VIRGINIA

The Republican Liberty Caucus of Virginia is hosting former New Mexico Governor Gary E. Johnson on Saturday, May 1 at 4:30pm at Ireland’s Four Courts, which is located less than a block away from the Courthouse Metro Station (Orange Line) in Arlington, VA. Parking in the area is somewhat limited, so please arrive a bit early to allow time to find parking. Ireland’s Four Courts is allowing us to have a private back room for free, so please be prepared to buy some drinks or appetizers (or dinner) to help us support their business.

To help propel our small organization forward, we are requesting a small $10 donation from attendees who are not members of the Republican Liberty Caucus. Those who are members (including out-of-state members) can enter free of charge. RLC dues payment is available at http://www.RLC.org/, or dues can be paid in person on May 1.

We look forward to seeing you there. You can also RSVP to the event on Facebook.

About 35 RLCers from around Florida attended this week the 2010 Liberty Days at the Capitol, the RLC’s annual grassroots lobbying trek to Tallahassee, in the midst of the national battle against ObamaCare.

The timing was perfect. The RLC’s first event was a hearing before the House Healthcare Regulation Policy Committee, in which Rep. Scott Plakon – sponsor of the Healthcare Freedom Act – made his case for protecting Floridians from the individual mandates included in the national bill. His bill (HJR 37) to do that passed the committee 10-3 amid cheers from the RLCers present.

After the committee hearing, RLCers met with Rep. Plakon and the Senate sponsor of the bill (SJR 72), Sen. Cary Baker, for some celebration and planning our next steps. After the meeting, RLCer and political consultant John Hallman led RLCers went from office to office for two days pressing for support of the Healthcare Freedom Act, two other 10th Amendment bills, TABOR and protection of Florida’s 8-year legislative term limits law.

Meetings included one on Tuesday with Florida Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp, shown addressing RLCers above.

In the late afternoon, Florida RLC chair Will Pitts and others met with new Republican Party of Florida chair, Sen. John Thrasher, to mend the rift between the RPOF and the RLC created by the disgraced former GOP chair Jim Greer. After a successful day for both our bills and our organization, RLCers spent the evening eating and drinking in downtown restaurants and bars, meeting and getting caught up with each other.

For the full story and more pictures, see www.rlcfl.org.

The Minnesota chapter of the Republican Liberty Caucus has been busy, as usual.

Not only is Minnesota RLC member Norann Dillon running for State Senate, but many RLC members were among the first to rally behind State Rep. Tom Emmer, one of two potential Republican Gubernatorial nominees. Polls show Emmer defeating his Democrat opponents.

The upcoming Minnesota RLC events include:

1) A Second Congressional District Meeting for RLC and Campaign for Liberty members on Thursday, March 18. Among the plans at the meeting are to formalize RLC/C4L participation at the Jason Lewis Tax Rally on May 8 and the Minnesota GOP Convention on April 29. Additionally, the Second Congressional District GOP Convention will occur on Saturday, March 20. PLEASE RSVP to this event.

2) The Minnesota RLC Convention on Monday, April 12. PLEASE RSVP to this event.

3) Outreach at the Minnesota GOP Convention on April 29. Stay tuned for details.

The Michigan RLC recently held a successful Convention with former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson. The Nebraska RLC is holding its Convention with Governor Johnson in July. The Illinois RLC recently endorsed several candidates.

Additionally, the Wisconsin RLC and C4L chapters are planning to reach out at the state GOP Convention in late May. Meanwhile, Indiana and Ohio have primaries quickly approaching. The Indiana chapter is working to endorse candidates and Ohio RLC members are working to charter their chapter.

Activists in the Midwest are doing good work to keep liberty alive.

It is official. The Florida chapter of the RLC and other liberty organizations including the Campaign for Liberty will be converging on Tallahassee on March 22-23 with the message that government is best when it governs least.

Political activist and longtime RLC ally John Hallman of the Florida Taxpayers Union is once again in charge of legislative briefing, securing inexpensive accommodations, setting up meetings with legislators and the governors office and showing RLC members around the capitol.

At the top of the Liberty Day agenda is the Health Care Freedom Act. Based on model legislation crafted by the American Legislative Exchange Council, the act would permit Florida to opt out from any particular national health care plan and, most importantly, protect individual Floridians from individual mandates to buy health insurance a la RomneyCare/ObamaCare. Other issues Florida RLC’ers will lobby on include taxes, spending, and term limits.

Jason Hellenberg of the North Central Florida RLC has volunteered to coordinate the 2010 Liberty Day at the Capitol and is working with Hallman. The annual grassroots lobbying trip to Tallahassee has become a signature project of the RLC that has yielded some legislative successes over the years and trained many RLC’ers on how to lobby effectively.

The tentative schedule for 2010 includes starting around noon on March 22 and finishing up in early afternoon on March 23. There will be a discounted block of rooms for us at the Baymont Inn near the Capitol (tentative).

For a recap of last year’s trip, go here. For 2008, go here. 2007? Try here.

For more info and to RSVP, contact John Hallman via e-mail.