December 2, 2012

After years of battling within the GOP in the hopes that the cause of liberty might be taken seriously by its leaders and candidates, some activists from Ron Paul’s movement turned to the LPMN. They found a very different reception!

LPMN Vice Chair S.L. Malleck welcomes Andy Burns, Hannah Nicollet, and Olga Parsons to the Executive Committee.

Three of Ron Paul’s Minnesota coordinators realized that liberty had reached the end of the line in the Republican Party after their national convention in Tampa, Florida. Recognizing that a consistent voice for liberty is what’s needed in today’s debate, and that Libertarians are uniquely positioned to reach out to both the Right and the Left to promote the benefits of freedom, they approached the Libertarian Party.

They joined the LPMN to ensure that the major inroads made with the public by Ron Paul and Gary Johnson in 2012 will continue, believing that Libertarians can build upon the momentum established from the recent election. And now, they’ll be helping to lead the charge on the road ahead! This November, Andy Burns, Olga Parsons, and Hannah Nicollet were appointed to seats on the Executive Committee, the Libertarian Party of Minnesota’s decision-making body.

In addition to the organizational skill that Ron Paul’s activists are well-known for, the new Executives also bring considerable campaign experience.

Andy Burns was Senate District 34 coordinator for Ron Paul, attended the RNC and PaulFest in Tampa, and assisted in organizing MNGOP state conventions. Most recently, he was campaign manager for Chris Rains, a liberty Republican who ran for Hennepin County Commissioner.

Olga Parsons also worked with the Chris Rains campaign as his city coordinator. She was a state delegate for Ron Paul in both 2008 and 2012, and organized phone banking and other volunteer efforts on behalf of both Paul and Rains.

Hannah Nicollet served as a delegate for Ron Paul in 2008 and 2012 as well, is known in the movement for her online activism, and was campaign manager for her husband who previously ran for State Senate in Senate District 54. In addition, she assisted the team which coordinated Gary Johnson’s campaign in Minnesota.

Encouraging liberty-minded people to move to the LPMN, Burns stated, “I see the Libertarian Party as offering the best way to continue the liberty movement and to awaken the public with a new vision for a fiscally responsible, socially accepting future. More and more voters are dissatisfied with their respective political parties. Now is the time for those in the liberty movement to demonstrate that we can bring people together to solve problems”.

Burns wrote Ten Reasons to Consider the Libertarian Party, explaining why the Libertarian Party is now the best choice for Ron Paul’s supporters.

Discussing why she switched to the Libertarian Party of Minnesota, Parsons said, “The Republican Party is hopelessly mired in divisive social issues, and liberty is mentioned only symbolically. There is a cap on how much Ron Paul activists can accomplish in the GOP before being neutralized by any number of influences within that party. The LP has emerged with a distinct advantage this election season and is poised to propel the message of liberty forward, without the baggage of the exhausted two-party system”.

On her own decision to help lead the LPMN, Nicollet added, “I am pleased to join the executive board of the party that shares my values. Like the Libertarian Party, I believe that most relationships work best when they are entered into voluntarily. As freedom-lovers in matters social and fiscal, we Libertarians share the values of most of America; it’s about time our views were represented in our republic”.

The LPMN welcomes these new activists to our leadership team!

Concerned about the expansion of government control and the erosion of individual liberty? Please consider joining and becoming active with the Libertarian Party of Minnesota. Libertarians support liberty on all issues, all the time! Libertarianism is a philosophical and political movement to promote personal freedom, strong civil liberties, a genuinely free marketplace, and peace.