Republican Liberty Caucus chapters in at least nine states will be holding meetings in the coming month. They include:

Alabama: The Alabama RLC affiliate will hold a meeting in the coming weeks. Please contact Stephen Gordon for details.

Arizona: The Arizona RLC affiliate will hold a meeting in the coming weeks. Please contact Ken Rineer for details.

District of Columbia: DC Republican City Council candidates Jim DeMartino (Ward 6) and Tim Day (Ward (5) will present and answer questions at the RLC-DC meeting on Monday, August 30, along with Ward 1 School Board candidate Patrick Mara. The event will take place in the Community Room K at City Vista Condominiums (12th Floor), 475 K Street NW, equidistant from Gallery Place/Chinatown and Mount Vernon Square/Convention Center metros at 7pm. RSVP on Facebook.

Florida: The Florida RLC will have an outreach table, make a short presentation about the RLC and hold an informal RLC update and discussion get-together in conjunction with the Campaign for Liberty’s Summit at the Rosen Centre in Orlando. The informal RLC statewide meeting will be held at 12:30-1:30 pm on Saturday, August 12 at the RLC outreach booth at the Summit. Also, RLCers and friends who are not attending the Saturday night banquet are welcome to join us for dinner offsite, but nearby! Pick up the details at the RLC booth. See you there!

Indiana: The state RLC affiliate will hold its Convention at George’s Neighborhood Grill (6935 Lake Plaza Dr) in Indianapolis on Saturday, September 25. The keynote speaker will be Attorney General Greg Zoeller. RSVP on Facebook.

Maine: The Maine RLC will host its first annual Calvin Coolidge Clambake with John Fund of The Wall Street Journal on Thursday, August 26 in Portland. Learn more at http://www.rlc.org/2010/08/08/maine-rlc-hosts-clambake/.

New York: The RLC will host a kickoff meeting on Tuesday, August 17 at 7pm at the HOUNDSTOOTH PUB (520 8TH AVE – W37 St) in Manhattan. There will be a cash bar and free food. RSVP on Facebook.

Virginia: The Northern Virginia RLC will host a happy hour in Arlington in late August. Contact Mitchell Bemos for details. The Central Virginia RLC will host a meeting on Thursday, August 19 from 6:30pm to 8:00pm at Isis, Inc. (2727 Enterprise Pkwy, Suite 100) in Richmond, VA. This is the first meeting of the RLCCV following elections of chapter officers. RLCCV will discuss our goals with the RLC and welcome new members and all who are interested in becoming members of the RLCCV. Please RSVP by Thursday, 8/19 at 1pm. RSVP on Facebook.

Utah: An immigration debate hosted by the Utah RLC chapter will occur and will feature key policy leaders in the state. Exact date/location TBA. Contact Julian Babbitt for details.

Republican Liberty Caucus candidates were playing in the big leagues last night when they were matched up against candidates of the Republican Party machine. Overall, be prepared for some disappointing results — not because our candidates did poorly, but because they didn’t quite do well enough despite coming very close to victories.

INDIANA

Let’s take a look at the race in southwest Indiana’s 8th District. When I was looking at the results, I was floored last night when RLC-endorsed Tea Party “stay at home mom” Kristi Risk was in a very tight race to win the Republican nomination. Ultimately, Kristi ended up losing the race. CQ Politics — geniuses no doubt — reported that “the Republican Party avoided a disaster,” explaining that Risk would not prove to be a challenger to Congressman Joe Donnelly (D) in November. The arrogance of the mainstream media continues to have no bounds. Let’s hope Kristi Risk runs for office again because her campaign clearly lit up the hearts and minds of concerned Hoosier voters.

In the Indiana U.S. Senate race, FOX News’ Carl Cameron reported — long before the polls closed — that Republican Dan Coats had won the race. Again, the media just doesn’t seem to get it: elections are for voters, and every seat is the people’s seat! Coats did win the race, but Marlin Stutzman made it close. My belief is that if either Hostettler or Stutzman were not in the race, the other could have siphoned enough conservative votes to beat Coats in the primary. I believe Indiana is now left with a vulnerable and uninspiring Republican U.S. Senate candidate.

Although he was not endorsed by the Republican Liberty Caucus, Tea Party candidate and a personal friend of mine, Travis Hankins, had a similar performance to Ms. Risk in the neighboring southern Indiana district. Hankins was running against two others — a former Congressman and an establishment choice — for the right to challenge Congressman Baron Hill in November. Unfortunately, Hankins lost by a few hundred votes. Travis Hankins’ youthfulness — he’s just 28 — and his lack of name recognition — this was his first race — did not seem to cause problems for Hoosier voters. I’m sure we’ll see more of Travis, or his twin brother Aaron, in the future.

On a positive note, RLC member Steve Davisson won his primary and will now advance to the General Election for State Representative in Indiana’s 73rd District — the largest State Representative district in the state that includes much of southern Indiana.

OHIO

There are no positive results to report from Ohio. All of our Republican Liberty Caucus candidates lost their respective races. Beth Lear, running for State Representative, ran a tremendous campaign and got bested by only a small margin of votes for a Delaware County state legislative seat.

The most interesting race in Ohio was perhaps the contest in District 16, whose winner would go on to face vulnerable Democrat John Boccieri — a vocal proponent of government-run health care. Former County Commissioner Matt Miller was the Tea Party candidate and he narrowly lost to the establishment choice, businessman Jim Renacci. Let’s hope Renacci can defeat Boccieri this fall.

NORTH CAROLINA

There were two Republican Liberty Caucus victories in North Carolina. First, but not surprisingly, BJ Lawson won his primary for Congress in District 4. Lawson will face David Price in November in a district that is overwhelmingly Democrat.

Newcomer Jon Hardister won the Republican primary in North Carolina’s 57th District — which includes the city of Greensboro. Hardister will bring youthfulness and common sense if he’s selected by North Carolina voters in November.

Let’s work to help Lawson, Davisson, and Hardister win their races this fall!

Clearly the Tea Party had an impact on these races. Let’s hope its impact is more imprinted on upcoming primary races in Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Nebraska, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Utah.

With the Indiana primary rapidly approaching, the Indiana Republican Liberty Caucus (INRLC) has issued several endorsements in 2010.

The complete listing can be found here, and includes John Hostettler for U.S. Senate and two incumbents for State Senate, Mike Delph and Greg Walker.

Two challengers for U.S. Congress were also endorsed: Eric Olson in District 1 and Kristi Risk in District 8.

Additional endorsements include State Senate challengers Jim Tomes, Brian Jacobs, and Shawn Olson. Mr. Olson is a charter member of the Republican Liberty Caucus. He’s running for State Senate in northwest Indiana.

For State Representative, the RLC endorsed incumbent Cindy Noe, who represents a district just north of Indianapolis. Challengers Art Anderson, Duane Beals, Steve Davisson, Brett Loyd, and Robbin Stewart were also endorsed. Mr. Davisson lives in Washington County and has been active in the Republican Liberty Caucus for quite a few years.

RLC members across the country wish these Indiana candidates good luck in their upcoming May 4 primaries.

Steve Davisson (2nd from left) and family. Mr. Davisson is running for State Representative in Washington County and was endorsed by the Indiana Republican Liberty Caucus.

The National Board of the Republican Liberty Caucus has endorsed two former Members of Congress in their respective runs for U.S. Senate in Indiana and Pennsylvania.

U.S. Senator Evan Bayh (D) decided to retire this year, leaving Democrats to hope that Blue Dog Brad Ellsworth can win statewide. Because of where Ellsworth is from in the state and the political climate, Republicans in Indiana would be best served to select former Congressman John Hostettler to face him in the upcoming May primary.

Hostettler’s main primary opponents are State Senator Marlin Stutzman and former U.S. Senator Dan Coats. Stutzman is fairly competent on the issues, but seems to take a more interventionist position on foreign policy in contrast to Hostettler. The other problem with Stutzman is that he will not be able to rival Ellsworth in the General Election in southern Indiana. Senator Dan Coats is a moderate, not a conservative or a libertarian. He would not be the best candidate to capitalize on the angst and frustration expressed by conservative voters in 2010.

Which brings us to Hostettler. He’s not a perfect candidate, as he opposes a Balanced Budget Amendment and term limits, supports a closed border, and is too conservative on most hot-button social issues (but doesn’t usually believe the federal government should be involved). Perhaps his most significant vote was his 2002 vote to oppose the War in Iraq. He said at the time, “Iraq indeed poses a threat, but it does not pose an imminent threat that justifies a pre-emptive military strike at this time.”

Hostettler favors the dissolution of the Department of Education, and voted against the No Child Left Behind Act because he believes education is a state matter. He also voted against most federal health care bills with the view that health care is a private or state matter. He maintains that many federal environmental laws and regulations infringed on individual property rights. He is active in promoting issues of freedom of religion and expression. He supported repeal of the estate tax, capital gains tax, and marriage tax penalty. Hostettler was recently endorsed by Congressman Ron Paul, and his supporters are having a MoneyBomb tomorrow.

Let’s hope Hostettler wins the upcoming primary and sends Brad Ellsworth back to southern Indiana.

The Republican Liberty Caucus also endorsed Pat Toomey for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania. Toomey’s Republican primary opponent is Peg Luksik, who is affiliated with the far-right of the Republican Party. His general election opponent will likely be Republican-turned-Democrat Arlen Spector.

Pat Toomey is a former Congressman who upheld his term limits pledge in 1998 to only serve three terms. While in Congress, Toomey voted to reduce the capital gains tax, to eliminate the estate tax, to cut small business taxes and to eliminate the marriage penalty. He publicly opposed the stimulus package passed in 2009 and supports a Balanced Budget Amendment.

Toomey takes a libertarian position on Roe v. Wade, believing it should be overturned and returned to the states. That position, however, seems to contradict his support for an Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to ban same-sex marriage. He also has a poor record on drug law reform (having voted against medical marijuana for DC) and foreign policy (having supported the Bush Administration’s War in Iraq).

Pat Toomey would be a competent and pro-liberty Senator for Pennsylvania.

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.

Nothing much gets by local Republican Liberty Caucus members.

Liz Karlson (pictured, above, in her interview on local television), Chair of the Republican Liberty Caucus of Marion County (Indiana), pays attention to local news and politics. When the Republican Mayor of Indianapolis hired an out-of-state fella, Frank Straub, for the post of Public Safety Commissioner, she was paying attention to his agenda for the city. According to The Indianapolis Star,

“In response to a question about illegally owned guns, [the newly appointed] Straub said there is no clear national policy on guns and that gun trafficking needs to be controlled. ‘My own personal perspective,’ he said during that interview, ‘is we have way too many guns on the street and way too many people that own guns’.”

“The concerns were fueled further by Straub’s support for the failed attempt to extend the 1994 ban on certain semiautomatic rifles. Straub, who was public safety commissioner in White Plains, NY, at the time, was among a group of law enforcement officials who met with individual members of Congress to express support for extending the ban so that modifications could be made. Some also have pointed to his membership in the International Association of Chiefs of Police, a group that, according to the National Rifle Association, works closely with the federal gun control lobby.”

WISH TV’s Jim Shella has a story on the opposition to Frank Straub in which he interviews Liz Karlson and explains her position. Stella reports, “Both on Facebook and in her role as chair of the Republican Liberty Caucus, Karlson makes the case that Ballard is not true to Republican principles.”

He concludes that this is just one battle in a much bigger war.

2009 is the year of the party purge.

That’s one way of characterizing what has been taking place in the Republican Party as it relates to Republican Liberty Caucus members.

As voters that identify as Republicans continue to plummet to new lows (just 20 percent according to an October ABC/Washington Post survey), some state or local Republican Parties have targeted their most liberty-oriented members (undoubtedly members of the Republican Liberty Caucus) for removal.

An interesting strategy to build the Republican coalition — let’s boot out the Republicans that most value the Republican Party platform!

RLC members in Florida and Indiana — and, now, Tennessee — have been removed from elected positions, or have been targeted for removal.

Last week, the Davidson County Republican Party — representing the largest county in Tennessee — announced an effort to remove Vice-Chairman Matt Collins from his elected position. The Davidson County Republican Party Executive Committee voted 14 to 5 to begin the process to remove Mr. Collins from his position.

Collins is also the Vice-Chairman of the recently formed Republican Liberty Caucus of Tennessee. In response, the RLC has issued a press release defending Mr. Collins.

“This is the third state in the last year in which party insiders have tried to purge grassroots activists belonging to the Republican Liberty Caucus,” said Dave Nalle, National Chair of the Republican Liberty Caucus. Purges also took place in Marion County, Indiana, where RLC member Liz Karlson was removed from her Ward Chair position, and in Florida, where five Republican Liberty Caucus members were removed from the party for criticizing party leadership or opposing candidates with a history of fiscal irresponsibility and raising taxes.

The Republican Party has a tradition of diversity, tolerance, and support for freedom of speech and the right of dissent. The Republican Liberty Caucus is encouraging its members to contact RNC Chairman Michael Steele and Tennessee RNC Committeemembers Peggy Lambert and John Ryder to ask for their intervention in the matter. The RLC press release includes additional contact information for interested parties.

According to RLC Chairman Dave Nalle, “It looks like a weak faction which barely gained control of the county party decided that Matt Collins and his supporters threatened their positions of power, so despite the fact that he has not violated any rules, they decided to override the party members who voted him into office and force him out.”

Two dozen Republicans gathered last weekend to charter the Republican Liberty Caucus of Marion County. Participants included Precinct Committeemen, party leaders, former elected officials and GOP activists from across Indianapolis as well as two prominent local bloggers, Gary Welsh of Advance Indiana and Paul Ogden of Ogden On Politics.

The group will work to elect pro-liberty candidates within the Marion County Republican Party and to promote these ideals among party members.

In its first act, the Liberty Caucus adopted a resolution urging Republican members of the Indianapolis City-County Council to reject any new tax increases to finance the Capital Improvement Board of Managers. There is a sense of frustration that Republicans elected during the tax revolution of 2007 to city/county offices have reneged on their campaign pledges to oppose new taxes.

Officers elected to lead the Marion County chapter include: Elizabeth Karlson, Chairman; Steve Smith, First Vice Chairman; Lisa Kelly, Second Vice Chairman; Glenn Hatmaker, Secretary; and Lisa Caulderon, Treasurer.

The leadership team will lead the group through the 2012 election.

The below photo is from a previous Indianapolis Area RLC meeting:

Earlier in the month, RLC members from the Indiana and Missouri affiliate attended the Young Republicans Convention in Indianapolis to spread the message of individual liberty and limited government.

RLC members Rob and Karen Hillman and Charlie Kochenash hosted a Republican Liberty Caucus booth at the YR Convention. Two photos from the booth follow.

Dave Nalle recently posted a summary of the YR Convention results at this blog.

Charlie Kochenash, Indiana RLC Chair, also spoke at the July 4 Northwest Indiana Patriots Tea Party:

Watch Charlie at the NW Indiana Patriots Tea Party meeting in News |  

Last week, Charlie Kochenash, a rising star in Indiana politics and Chair of the Indiana Republican Liberty Caucus, addressed attendees at a Tea Party organizing meeting in Northwest Indiana. In the above video, Charlie Kochenash explains the RLC principles, the trouble that the GOP has encountered, and introduces attendees to the World’s Smallest Political Quiz.

Mr. Kochenash cites page 28 of the Republican Party platform from 2008, which says: “We do not support government bailouts of private institutions. Government interference in markets exasperates problems in the marketplace and causes the free-market to take longer to correct itself. We believe in the free-market as the best tool to sustain property and opportunity for all.”

Since chartering its affiliate in September of 2008, the RLC in Indiana has also chartered regional RLC organizations in Hamilton, Lake, LaPorte, Marion, and Porter counties. Learn more about the RLC at www.INRLC.org.

Last April, the Republican Liberty Caucus encouraged its members to participate in Tax Day Tea Parties across the country — and many RLC members did so, as evidenced by these member photos.