Document:LP News 1974 January-February Issue 18

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LP Candidates are off and running!

Heartened by the success of the New York Mayoralty campaign last year, and determined to spread the libertarian philosophy even more widely in 1974, LP members around the country are already starting to announce their candidacies for this November's elections.

Altogether, between 25 and 50 LP candidates will be running for the U.S. Senate, House of Representatives, and various state legislatures this year, and we plan to cover all of their races in LP NEWS. Here are the first five to announce.

SANFORD COHEN

Sanford Cohen has been running for Congress in N.Y. State's 25th District ever since last January. To date, he has raised and spent several thousand dollars, and has achieved a great deal of publicity, partly as a result of a nude campaign poster he issued last year; he has been written up in many newspapers, interviewed on radio and TV, and was covered by PLAYBOY magazine. One of Sandy's main campaign planks is his advocacy of a "pay what you want" tax plan; he has also signed a contract binding him to keep his campaign promises, and has challenged his opponents to do the same. He describes his campaign as "going unbelievably well." Sandy is a member of the LP National ExecComm; his main opponent, GOP incumbent Hamilton Fish, has the dubious distinction of having the lowest Royce Report score of any Republican in Congress. Contributions should be sent to Citizens for Cohen, Box 1776, Poughkeepsie, NY 12601.

KAY HARROFF

Kay Harroff, our Ohio Chairman, is running for U.S. Senate in the Buckeye State. As of the time we went to press Ohio LP members had gathered the 5,000 signatures necessary to put Kay on the ballot; they plan to get several thousand more, just to make sure. Kay has been active in libertarian causes for over a decade; at one time she was Ohio Chairman of the Liberty Amendment Committee, and she currently serves as LP National ExecComm representative from Region 5. Kay reports that one of the strongest areas of support she has encountered to date is the gun-owning community, which has responded very favorably to her strong stand against anti-gun laws. Contributions should be sent to Harroff for Senate Committee, 204 Solon Road, Cleveland, OH 441465.

BOB STEINER

Bob Steiner will soon publicly announce his candidacy for Congress in New Jersey's 12th District. Bob, a Life Member of the LP, and our New Jersey Chairman, is an accomplished public speaker. He is also exceptionally knowledgeable on economic issues, and is becoming well known in New Jersey as a champion of the overburdened taxpayer. He has published two books, and plans a third, entitled "How We won," to be released after his campaign, which will draw on the talents of experienced libertarians from New York and Virginia, as well as New Jersey. The incumbent Congressman in Bob's district is a freshman Republican with a Royce Rating of 36, whom Bob says is "extremely vulnerable." Perhaps the most unusual event related to Bob's campaign so far is the unanimous endorsement has has received from "Alaskans for Independence," as a result of his support for Alaska's right to secede from the United States. Contributions should be sent to Bob Steiner for Congress, Box 112, Westfield, NJ 07091.

KARL BRAY

Karl Bray, a well-known figure in the tax strike movement, will be the Utah LP's candidate for Congress in that state's Second District. Karl, a Life Member of the Party has been an active LP supporter from our earliest days; he was on the Temporary National Executive Committee and the 1972 Platform Committee, and served as Utah's first LP Chairman. He is currently Vice-Chairman of the Utah Party. Karl has been harassed by the IRS because of his outspoken advocacy of tax resistance, and plans to make the tax issue a main element in his campaign. Current campaign strategy is for Karl to enter the GOP primary, in order to gain exposure, and then to run in the general election as a Libertarian. The incumbent Congressman in Karl's district is Wayne Owens, a Democrat with a Royce Rating of 27. Contributions for Karl's campaign should be sent to the Utah LP, Box `5506, Salt Lake City, UT 84115, and marked as campaign contributions.

KEN KALCHEIM

Ken Kalcheim, like Karl Bray, is a leader in the tax strike movement; he is the editor and published off "Rip-Off Resistance" a monthly magazine containing material by tax fighters of both the far right and far left. Ken has announced for Congress in New York's 17th District, where he will be running against John Murphy, a Democrat with a Royce Rating of 6, a score equalled or surpassed in its atrociousness only by two other Congressmen's. Ken Kalcheim began his career in libertarianism as a conservative Republican, but is now associated with the extreme radical faction of the libertarian movement. He hopes to receive an official endorsement from the Free Libertarian Party of New York for his campaign. Contributions should be sent to Kacheim for Congress, 3459 East 65th street, Apt. C, New York 10021.

Other libertarian candidates whose plans we have heard of include Paul Pferdner, who is running for state legislature in Oregon, and John James, who plans to run for congress in Colorado's First District. Stories on these and other campaigns will be carried in LP NEWS as information becomes available.

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