A common theme you hear in many libertarian circles is that no legislator or elected official has done anything good or can hold consistently pro-liberty positions.

A quartet of former Republican State Representatives from Maine, Maryland, Ohio, and Wisconsin will put that theory to rest at the 2011 RLC National Convention in Arlington, Virginia on Saturday, February 12. We encourage you to learn more about these pro-liberty leaders below and register to attend the Convention to hear their remarks.

Jamie Callender is an attorney, college professor, and former State Representative who served in the Ohio House from 1997 to 2004. He represented a Democratic area despite being a Republican with a strong libertarian streak. With his leadership, Ohio was able to greatly expand school choice — an issue he is very passionate about. He was term limited out of office. Callender currently serves as a Professor of Public Policy at Kent State University. He and his family live in Lake County, Ohio in the Cleveland metropolitan area.

R. Kenneth Lindell is a former one-term Maine State Representative. In addition to serving as the Chairman of the Republican Liberty Caucus of Maine, Ken was also Chairman of the Ron Paul for President campaign in Maine. Ken is also a Certified Financial Planner. He and his wife Althea, along with their three children, reside in Frankfurt, Maine. He has been a longtime advocate of the liberty message and also attended the 2006 RLC National Convention in Orlando, Florida.

Don Murphy is a former elected Delegate from Baltimore County, Maryland. He was first elected in 1993 and served until 2002. He is a co-founder of the Patapsco Valley Republican Club, served as Chairman of the Baltimore County Republican Party, and served as a Delegate to the Republican National Convention. In 2010, he was a Senior Advisor to RLC-endorsed Senate candidate Dr. Eric Wargotz. Don is also the founder of Republicans for Compassionate Access, a group of Republican legislators who believe in a patient’s right to choose medical treatment under a doctor’s care. Delegate Murphy has attended every RLC National Convention since 2006.

Terri McCormick is Vice Chair of the Republican Liberty Caucus of Wisconsin and is a former three-term State Representative who represented Appleton and Neenah. She is also a two-time candidate for Congress. Terri pioneered one of the first state charter school laws in the country and formed the Wisconsin Charter School Association. She is an advocate of term limits and upheld her term limits pledge. Legislation she authored expanded small business growth in the state of Wisconsin and also created a prescription drug purchasing pool for seniors. Terri is the author of the book, “What Sex Is a Republican? Stories from the Front Lines of American Politics and How You Can Change the Way Things Are.”

The Republican Liberty Caucus (RLC) Board of Directors are excited and optimistic about the election results. The most exciting results for Republican Liberty Caucus members is electing two of our own members to Congress:

Dr. Rand Paul is Senator-elect from Kentucky. Justin Amash (pictured, right) is Representative-elect from Michigan’s Third Congressional District. Congratulations, Rand and Justin! RLC supporters have no doubt that these two champions of liberty will work vigorously to promote our vision of a free country in Congress.

The RLC is also pleased that Mick Mulvaney of South Carolina, John Koster of Washington state, Chip Cravaack of Minnesota, and Steve Chabot of Ohio will join Dr. Ron Paul and our other pro-liberty Republican legislators in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Joining Rand Paul in the Senate are RLC-endorsed Senate candidates Mike Lee of Utah and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania.

Two RLC-endorsed candidates for Governor, Paul LePage of Maine and Nikki Haley of South Carolina, were elected. LePage and Haley come from very different backgrounds and from different parts of the country, but are united in their strong belief in the individual and faith in the free market system.

Other key RLC victories and races we are still watching are below.

Arkansas: State Rep. Mark Martin, a RLC endorsed candidate, won his bid for Secretary of State. He is the first statewide Republican elected official since former Gov. Mike Huckabee left office.

California: Despite losing on the RLC-endorsed Proposition 19 to legalize marijuana in California, the RLC’s positions on Prop. 27 (no to eliminate the state redistricting commission) and Prop. 21 (a vehicle license surcharge to fund state parks) were adopted. Additionally, the RLC’s positions on Prop. 20 and 26 were adopted. These propositions related to Congressional redistricting and the process to impose state/local fees. See the proposition results here and view the RLC’s positions on each of the proposals here.

Arizona: 55 percent of state voters supported an amendment to the state constitution disallowing the Obamacare individual mandate to take effect in Arizona. Voters also approved medical marijuana.

Colorado: Despite Ken Buck’s Senate loss, RLC-endorsed candidate Donald Beezley defeated an incumbent and is now an elected State Representative from Broomfield.

Idaho: RLC-endorsed candidate for Bonner County Commissioner in District 2, Mike Nielson, won election on a platform of transparency and balanced budgets. Nielsen said he was eager to start getting more detailed budget information on the county website and wants to get a head start on the 2012 spending plan, according to The Bonner County Daily Bee.

Indiana: Republican Liberty Caucus member Steve Davisson was elected State Representative in Southern Indiana’s 73rd district. Congratulations, Hoosiers!

Kentucky: In addition to Rand Paul’s victory, RLC-backed candidate Thomas Massie was elected Judge Executive in Lewis County.

Maine: In addition to the victory of Paul LePage for Governor, RLC candidates for State Rep. and State Senate also found success. State House Challengers Michael McClellan, Ryan Harmon, Richard Malaby, Beth O’Connor, and Eleanor Espling (pictured, above left) — each endorsed by the Republican Liberty Caucus of Maine — won election. Additionally, former State Senator Lois Snowe-Mello won her old seat back and State Rep. Doug Thomas was elected to the State Senate. The RLC had a great day in Maine yesterday!

Maryland: Cindy Jones, a RLC member and delegate at our 2009 Convention in Florida, was elected to the St. Marys County Commission. Among all of the county commissioner races, Mrs. Jones had the largest margin of victory and the highest vote total. Four of the five Commission seats are now held by Republicans.

Michigan: RLC-endorsed candidate for State Senate Arlen Meekhof was elected to the post. Meekhof wants to repeal the Michigan Business Tax surcharge and bring jobs to the state.

Minnesota: Despite losing the Governors race narrowly, the RLC had its coalition of candidates elected to the State Senate and the State House. Kathy Lohmer (pictured, right), Andrea Kieffer, Doug Wardlow, Kurt Bills, and Sondra Erickson were elected to the House and Dave Brown and Dave Thompson were elected to the Senate. Former Minnesota RLC Secretary Norann Dillon narrowly lost in her race against an incumbent in a Democrat district. Congratulations to these new legislators and to the Minnesota RLC!

Missouri: In The Show Me State, RLC-endorsed candidate Paul Curtman was elected State Representative. He will represent parts of Jefferson, Franklin and St. Louis counties. Additionally, RLC-endorsed candidate Brian Nieves was elected to the State Senate. Two RLC-endorsed incumbent State Representatives, Tim Jones and Shane Schoeller, will be taking over leadership positions in the Missouri House of Representatives. The Missouri RLC is hosting its 2010 Convention on Saturday, November 13 in Springfield.

Montana: In Montana the RLC has an incumbent coalition in the State House and the entire slate of RLC-backed candidates was reelected. Additionally, former State Senator and longtime liberty advocate Jerry O’Neill was elected to the House of Representatives.

New Hampshire: Former Republican Liberty Caucus of New Hampshire Chair Jim Forsythe was elected to the State Senate and State Rep. candidates Cameron DeJong and Andrew Manuse were elected to the State House. RLC Board member Paul Mirski was elected to the State House in Grafton as was former RLC Chair Dan McGuire in Merrimack. Longtime liberty activists Keith Murphy and Seth Cohn won election to the State House from Hillsborough and Merrimack, too. A full list of RLC victories from New Hampshire can be found here.

North Carolina: Republican Liberty Caucus-endorsed candidate Glen Bradley won election to the State House of Representatives. Congratulations to Glen and the North Carolina RLC!

Oklahoma: 65 percent of voters supported a ballot proposition to rebuke Obamacare by not allowing the individual mandate contained in the health care law to be enacted in the Sooner State.

South Carolina: RLC-backed candidate Curtis Loftis, who ousted the incumbent State Treasurer earlier this year in the primary, is now the State Treasurer-elect of The Palmetto State.

Uah: Two new RLC-endorsed candidates won election in Utah — Daniel Thatcher was elected to the State Senate and Ken Ivory won election to the State House. Ivory joins several other RLC incumbents in the House.

Texas: The Texas RLC helped elect two new State Representatives, Jason Isaac and David Simpson. Additionally, former Texas RLC Chairman Melissa Goodwin was elected Justice on the Third Court of Appeals. RLC Advisory Board member Jerry Patterson was re-elected State Land Commissioner. A full list of Texas results are available at our blog.

Wisconsin: In Wisconsin, a coalition of RLC-backed candidates for State House have won election for the first time. The slate includes: Andre Jacque from Green Bay, Jim Steineke from Appleton, Chris Kapenga from Delafield, Evan Wynn of Whitewater, Scott Krug of Black River Falls, Jeremy Thiesfeldt of Fond du Lac, and Roger Rivard of Rice Lake. Mr. Krug beat incumbent Marlin Schneider, who served in the legislature continuously since 1970. Congratulations to the Wisconsin RLC and Badger State voters!

Wyoming: Endorsed State Representative candidate Gerald Gay won election to the legislature for the first time.

These election results show not only the strength of the Tea Party, but also the disgust of average Americans with unresponsive, anti-liberty bureaucrats. The results also illustrate that liberty principles are popular and will make a comeback!

The battle has just begun, so thanks to all of our activists and candidates from across the country. Thanks especially to the state and national officers of the RLC who allow our organization to function.

The Republican Liberty Caucus is a grassroots coalition of liberty-loving Americans.

Won’t you join us in this critical battle to win hearts and minds for liberty and Constitutional restoration?

The Republican Liberty Caucus, the libertarian/constitutionalist wing of the Republican Party, has selected to endorse the following candidates for office in 2010. These endorsements are in addition to our over 200 other endorsed candidates for state and federal office.

Congratulations to the below candidates, each of whom is committed to limited government and protecting individual liberty.

U.S. Senate
Ken Buck, Colorado
Joe Miller, Alaska
Christine O’Donnell, Delaware
Dr. Eric Wargotz, Maryland

U.S. House
Roscoe Bartlett (Incumbent), District 6, Maryland
Steve Chabot, District 1, Ohio
Scott Garrett (Incumbent), District 5, New Jersey
Jim Jordan, District 4, Ohio
Charles Lollar, District 5, Maryland
Joel Pollak, District 9, Illinois
Adrian Smith (Incumbent), District 3, Nebraska

Statewide
Martha Dean, Attorney General, Connecticut
Mark Martin, Secretary of State, Arkansas

Local & State
Tracie Nakano Bean, State Senate – District 24, Hawaii
Thomas Massie, Lewis County Judge Executive, Kentucky

The Republican Liberty Caucus is one member shorter today. Our At-Large Board member Stephen M. Wright (pictured) passed away yesterday in a car accident. Steve, a candidate for Harford County Executive in this fall’s election, was heading to a pro-life event when he was in the accident.

Steve and I began talking in 2008 when some of the Ron Paul campaign supporters decided to form a Maryland chapter of the Republican Liberty Caucus. Steve was assigned o work on the by-laws of the new organization. He was very thorough and took the job very seriously. He would call me often to ask procedural or logistical questions about developing the by-laws.

In 2009, Steve attended the Republican Liberty Caucus National Convention in Jacksonville, Florida and was elected to the RLC Board of Directors. Steve was a very active member of the Harford County Republican Party Central Committee and was Chairman of the Route 40 Republican Club in Harford County.  Last summer, Steve and his wife Krista attended a small gathering of some active RLC members from the DC area — see below photo.

We in the RLC remember Steve as a passionate defender of liberty, a family man and father, and as a dynamic speaker.  Steve’s passing comes just a year and a half after the sudden passing of another RLC member from Maryland, Patrick Citroni, who passed away in 2008 in a motorcycle accident. The Maryland RLC created a tribute fund for Patrick.

On behalf of all of the Republican Liberty Caucus members, especially those from Maryland, we will miss Steve and we send our deepest sympathy and support to his family in this difficult time.

California, Florida, Maryland, and Nebraska chapters of the Republican Liberty Caucus have revised and launched new versions of their state Republican Liberty Caucus websites.

The California and Florida RLC websites offer quicker load times and ease of access. Both chapters also have quite a few active local affiliates.

The new Maryland RLC offers information on current candidates, pending legislation, and upcoming events.  The Nebraska RLC website is in a new, easy format that emphasizes 2010 candidate endorsements.

Learn more about these and other RLC affiliates at our chapter page.

The Republican Liberty Caucus of Maryland, which was chartered in winter of this year, held its first annual Convention on Saturday, March 26 in Laurel, Maryland.  John Orlando (photo below), RLC Chair, presided over by-law changes and I oversaw the elections.  Two by-law changes were adopted.

A new board was elected, including: John Orlando, Chair (pictured); Steve Wright, Vice-Chair; Randy Gearhart, Secretary; Ingrid Dean, Treasurer. Outgoing Treasurer Rich Matthews is moving out of state. The Convention business began around 3:00pm and ended around 3:15pm.

A RLC strategy discussion was held from 5:30 to 6:00pm.  Between 3:15pm and 5:30pm, many speakers were heard from — including past candidates, current candidates, organization leaders, and general members.

Overall, the meeting was a great success.  Delegates came away energized and poised to continue their fight for a free Maryland.  After the Convention, delegates gathered for dinner at a local restaurant.  Some photos from the event follow.

Delegate Joe Boteler addressed the crowd. He explained how he wears a t-shirt in his community that says “ordinary citizen” and encourages his neighbors to view him as such.

Delegate Don Dwyer addressed the crowd. Dwyer was quite passionate and was excited about the Tenth Amendment legislation that he will introduce in the near future.

Delegates listened as Collins Bailey discussed his run against House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer.  Bailey was endorsed by the RLC in 2008 and also serves on the Charles County Board of Education.

Mr. Collins Bailey speaks to the crowd.

Joe Seehusen talked about his run for State Senate in Maryland, District 42 (Baltimore County).  Seehusen was Deputy Campaign Director for the Ron Paul 2008 Presidential campaign.

Delegates discuss strategy.

Delegates enjoy a laugh.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer’s town tall meeting in suburban Maryland Tuesday evening dissolved into chaos, with attendees at several points bringing the event to a complete halt, according to Politico.

“We want the government out of our business!” said one person.

“This is not how the government is supposed to work!” yelled another.

According to Politico:

“The night’s most curious twist came when Collins Bailey, a Republican who serves on the Charles County Board of Education [and ran against Hoyer last year], strode to the microphone and asked Hoyer whether the health care reform effort would be paid for.

“The crowd whooped.

“Collins, how are ya?” Hoyer asked, smiling.

Hoyer went on to pledge that, yes, everything in a reform package would be paid for.”

Of course, he didn’t explain how.

Mr. Bailey is a Republican Liberty Caucus member and was endorsed by the RLC in his 2008 race.  He is very eloquent and a passionate defender of individual rights and constitutionally limited government.

This is the second time in the last two month that a RLC member in Maryland has gained attention for asking a hard-hitting question to their representatives.

In late July, RLC supporter Robert Broadus poignently questioned U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) at his town hall.  He asked, “I want to know — are you going to tell me, an individual, that I have to buy health care or you’re going to fine me $2,500?”  Here’s a clip of the Broadus’s question as well as his appearance on Your World with Neil Cavuto.

“When you’re a child … you rely on your parents. If you want to get insurance, you buy it yourself,” said Broadus. “[For my family,] the economic downturn would better be spent on immediate, daily needs [than on health care],” he explained.

Bailey and Broadus provide two instances of appropriate ways for RLC supporters to ask questions at town hall meetings.  Their questions — both asked in a civil manner — were difficult for the Congressmen to address.

Earlier in the month, RLC chapter leaders from the DC, Maryland, and Virginia RLC affiliates gathered in the nation’s capital to discuss strategy for the 2010 election cycle.

Below is a photo from the event.  Thus far in 2009, the RLC has chartered new state chapter affiliates in Maryland, Alabama, Missouri, Tennessee, and Washington. Additionally, RLC chapters that were previously inactive (at least for a short period) have been revived in New Hampshire, Texas, and Virginia.

Front row, from left: Dave Nalle (National Chair), Aaron Biterman (National Press), Brett Guidry (DC Treasurer), Nancy Sellers (DC Secretary); back row, from left: Daniel Kamerling (guest), Rick Sincere (Virginia At-Large Board member), Steven Latimer (Virginia Vice-Chair), Matt Gagnon (Virginia Chair), Dr. Scott Pearson (guest), John Orlando (Maryland Chair), and Stephen Wright (Maryland Treasurer) plus his wife.

Last August, I blogged at RLC.org about Cheye Calvo, the Mayor of Berwyn Heights in Prince George’s County, Maryland.

Last year, Calvo was sitting at home when a SWAT team barged into his home, shot his two dogs, and accused him of being a drug dealer. Calvo and his mother-in-law were handcuffed and interrogated for hours while surrounded by the dogs’ carcasses and pools of blood.

Police shot the Mayor’s seven-year-old black Labrador retriever, Payton, near the front door and then his four-year-old dog, Chase, also a black Lab, as the dog ran into a back room.

It became quite clear to everyone almost after-the-fact that the Mayor and his family were not drug dealers and Calvo says that he doesn’t even think the police considered that possibility before raiding the home.

Recently, the Maryland legislature passed a bill that was inspired by the SWAT team raid of Calvo’s home, called HB 1267, on SWAT Team Activation and Deployment Reporting.

The bill, also signed by Governor Martin O’Malley (D-Baltimore), requires any police agency in the state to review and report on SWAT team raids every six months. It also requires specifics about any raid, such as the reason for the deployment of the SWAT team, the legal authority for the SWAT raid, and the result of each activation and deployment.  Law enforcement agencies also have to report on whether a weapon was discharged by a SWAT team member, a forcible entry was made, or whether any person or domestic animal was injured or killed by a SWAT team member.

If local police agencies do not comply, then they will be reported to the Governor and the Legislative Policy Committee of the General Assembly.

This legislation will hopefully prevent future unncessary police raids on citizen’s homes.

Kudos to Maryland Republican Delegates Smigiel and McConkey for sponsoring the legislation along with the Democrats.

The Mayor and his wife, with their now-deceased dogs.

On Friday, December 19, the Republican Liberty Caucus of Maryland had its first formal meeting. According to Matthew Gagnon, chapter Co-Coordinator, “We had a GREAT meeting. About 35 or so people showed up, and I actually have money from several of them to sign up for the RLC.”

Gagnon said the Maryland RLC is making progress: many former Congressional candidates were in attendance (including RLC endorsed candidates Collins Bailey, Rich Matthews, and Mike Hargadon) and two elected State Delegates attended, including the featured speaker, Del. Joe Boteler. “We did nominations for officers, discussed what was required of chartering, what the purpose of the state level RLC is going to be, and so on,” said Gagnon.

The Maryland RLC has set a new meeting date for January in Annapolis, during which time chartering, by-laws, officers, and other information will be discussed.