Houston Chronicle: (Ron Paul, Debra Medina) Libertarians confront adverse election code

HOUSTON CHRONICLE
March 19, 2010, 10:02PM

Libertarians confront adverse election code

U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Surfside, and his acolyte, erstwhile Republican gubernatorial candidate Debra Medina, are the best-known Texas politicians with libertarian leanings, but their notoriety has been a mixed blessing for the Libertarian Party, says Guy McLendon, Harris County Libertarian Party chair.

“Her campaign and Dr. Paul's campaign brought a lot of public awareness to the libertarian — small ‘l' libertarian — message, but the Texas Election Code puts constraints on what people could do,” McLendon said.

Libertarian Party candidates are selected by convention, not in a primary election. Local candidates were chosen at county conventions last Saturday, while the party's gubernatorial candidate will be nominated at the state convention in Austin on June 12. By state law, only voters who have not voted in the March 2010 Republican and Democratic primaries are permitted to vote in the Libertarian conventions.

“It sort of makes it difficult to get people to affiliate with us,” McLendon said.

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http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6921912.html

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