Election Night… An Aftermath and a TREMENDOUS Silver Lining

The results are in.

We did not get major party status.

We did not win a race in Iowa.

Last night appears to be a disappointment.

I won’t sugar coat it. I was disappointed. It was a shot to the gut. Volunteers all across Iowa invested so much into the presidential campaign.

But that… exactly that… is the silver lining over everything that happened last night. 

2 years ago I attended the election night watch party for Jake Porter. 1 year ago I came out to the election night watch party in Des Moines for local elections. I have become close friends with all of them. Everyone that was there has put in the work to grow the party and work to get us to where we are today. Last night, night was our election night watch party in Iowa, and I was amazed by what happened. 

Other than myself, only one was at either of the previous election night watch parties the previous two years. That means that we had nearly 20 new, enthusiastic, and engaged individuals that were passionate enough to show up. This on top of all of the individuals that have followed and supported the LPIA closely throughout the election.,

People like Braydon from Waukee, who stepped up and put in hours of work to help us get ballot access in August.

People like Austen from Waterloo, who not only attended events, but took time out of his own day to door knock for signatures and to get the vote out for Jorgensen

People like Jeni from Mitchellville, who has helped organize and establish outreach in the LGBTQ community that was previously minimal.

People like Chayton in Cedar Rapids, who with minimal previous experience, answered the call to help plan, organize, and ensure that multiple events that we have held in the 1st and 2nd district were an astounding success… this all the while dealing with the death of multiple family and close friends. 

Since June, the Libertarian Party of Iowa has seen record growth, increasing the number of registered Libertarians in Iowa by nearly 20%. Prior to June, the libertarian party of Iowa had 96 dues paying members. Since then, we have added 87 brand new members to the party… that is a NINETY PERCENT INCREASE! 

The most encouraging number for me is the number of volunteers. We started the election season in June with 158 individuals signed up to volunteer. As of today, we have 297 individuals signed up to volunteer for the LPIA. That doesn’t even count the almost 100 individuals that have come to us through volunteering for the Jorgensen campaign. 

 

Then there are the 7 Iowa candidates that stepped up to run for office this year.

We have Rick Stewart who gathered over 2% of the vote in a highly contested and passionate senate race. We have Bryan Jack Holder, who covered the percentage spread between his opponents, and as we speak is enjoying the tears of Republicans that blame him for David Young losing.

In local districts, Myra Matejka increased her previous vote total by nearly 1100 votes. ToyA Johnson ran against a Democratic candidate that previously ran for the party’s Gubernatorial nod, and gathered over 23% of the vote. Former LPIA Gubernatorial candidate Eric Cooper bested his previous high 24% of the vote by bringing in nearly 27%. Bobby Fairchild stepped into the state election arena after previously running for city council, and brought in 4% in a three way race. Finally, we had one brand new candidate in the form of Blake Daniel Johannes who racked up 4% of the vote in his Iowa House race.

All of these candidates stuck their necks out to advocate individual liberty and freedom, and will most certainly have a tremendous effect on the future of our party.

That’s not even mentioning the numerous candidates nationwide that won their elections and are making an impact, nor the incredible growth the national party has seen since the election season started.

Is it disappointing to not obtain major party status. I will not deny that. 

Regardless of the disappointment, the future looks brighter than we have seen for some time. We have seen record growth in multiple areas, and we are setting ourselves up for a brilliant local election season next fall, let alone mid-term election in 2022.

And for that, everyone involved deserves a HUGE THANK YOU!

ALL OF YOU!

You are the future. You are the difference. You are the power. You will lead us to the most successful set of elections over the next 4 years that the LPIA has ever seen. 

Disappointment or not, you DESERVE that recognition.

Now let’s hit the ground running and get ready to make the Libertarian Party of Iowa the best state party in the nation!

-Chairman Mike

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