Carolyn “Care” Clift
Due to the outcome of the governor’s race on November 4 in which Libertarian Carolyn “Care” Clift and her lieutenant governor running mate Andrew C. Lee received 3.2% of the vote, the Libertarian Party will see two of its members appointed to the Alaska Public Offices Commission (APOC), the group that oversees the state’s campaign finance laws.
Alaska law designates that the five-member APOC consists of two members from each of the two parties that win the most votes in the last race for governor.
An independent ticket won the race with the Republicans coming in second and the Libertarians coming in third. Because independents are not considered to be a party, the Republicans and Libertarians each qualified their parties for two seats on the commission.
A late campaign switcheroo cost the Democrats their seats on APOC.
In September after trailing in polls, the Democratic nominee teamed up with a former Republican mayor Bill Walker to run as independents for lieutenant governor and governor, respectively. The Democratic Party endorsed the independent ticket, which won, but this left the party without any votes for governor. As such, the Libertarian Party will be replacing the Democrat commissioners on APOC.
The final 2014 Alaska vote totals for governor were:
Independents Walker/Mallott: 48.1%
Republicans Parnell/Sullivan: 45.9%
Libertarians Clift/Lee: 3.2%
Constitution Party Myers/Rensel: 2.5%
Write-in Votes: 0.3%>
The Clift/Lee ticket also qualified the LP as a recognized party by winning the required three percent of the vote.
“The Alaska Libertarian Party has successfully obtained ballot access through elections since 2012,” said Clift. “In 2012, Jim McDermott achieved over 5% of the vote for US Congress (at large). Andrew Lee, my running mate, and I, are proud to have achieved 3.2% in the 2014 election.”
“This is a great honor, and one that we would not have achieved if we had not fought so hard for ballot access through elections,” she continued. “We are looking forward to being represented on the APOC, a very powerful organization that fights corruption in Alaskan politics.”
The Libertarians will be appointed to APOC as the terms of existing members expire. The first appointment will be made in March of 2015.
“It’s nice to see Libertarians playing a vital role in the fairness of future elections.” said Mark Fish, 2014 Libertarian for U.S. Senate whose name has been recommended as one of the Libertarians to consider for APOC.
