Rutherford speaks at county’s Libertarian Party convention

MOORESVILLE

The Libertarian Party of Morgan County held its annual convention Thursday night at the home of Morgan County Libertarian Party Treasurer and candidate for Brown Township Board Danny Lundy. The meeting included an appearance from Mark Rutherford, the Libertarian candidate for Indiana secretary of state.

Rutherford, a lawyer from Carmel who has been a member of the Libertarian Party since the ’90s, explained that the party needed a strong candidate with resources in order to have any semblance of a chance.

Rutherford explained that Democrats and Republicans made it hard for third parties, such as the Libertarian Party and Green Party, to get on the ballot and noted that election reform would be something he would address if he won the office of secretary of state.

“There’s a reason there are very few candidates on the ballot,” Rutherford said. “The Democrats and the Republicans did it that way.”

According to Rutherford, the parties raised the ballot requirements from 0.5 percent to 2 percent of the vote share after Libertarians had originally gotten on the ballot in the 1980s. The Libertarian Party had ballot access restored in 1994 after receiving enough petition signatures to prove 2 percent of the vote.

Rutherford noted that in spring 2007, he had been appointed by Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels to the Indiana Public Defender Commission — a body which sets standards to hire public defenders on better terms — because he was a Libertarian. Since being elected chairman of the commission in December 2007, he had been able to influence things in a Libertarian direction through arguments and suggestions.Get the Daily Briefing newsletter in your inbox.

“The way the system works is that the appointing officer or group can only appoint so many people from their own party,” said Rutherford.

Rutherford referred to Libertarians as a “reasonable tie-breaker” in Democrat and Republican conflicts, explaining that his constituency was more concerned with their party officials doing the right thing instead of partisan politics. The concern for doing the right thing instead of the politically savvy thing is why gerrymandering and redistricting reform would be Rutherford’s top priority if elected to the office of secretary of state, he said.

“Redistricting and gerrymandering need to be hit hard,” said Rutherford. “We need to have commissions and advisory groups to make it harder for the General Assembly to gerrymander districts.”

Rutherford said that making the securities division more consumer-friendly, using the bully pulpit for small businesses and simplifying unnecessary regulations would be important priorities for him if elected.

During the convention, the Libertarian Party of Morgan County elected officers, appointing Sara Potter as chairwomen of the party and Lundy as party treasurer. The party also voted to officially endorse Lundy for Brown Township Board and Rutherford for Indiana Secretary of State.

The next meeting of the Libertarian Party of Morgan County will be 7 p.m. April 12 at Ralph and Ava’s Cafe and Catering, 6 W. Main St., Mooresville. To learn more about the Libertarian Party of Morgan County, visit morganlpin.org

By Anthony Woodside | Reporter | Published Mar 10, 2018 in The Reporter Times