Andrew Kolstee, chair of the Libertarian Party of Chautauqua County, joins us to discuss the removal of the libertarian party from the New York State election ballot in 2021, and why he and others feel that has led to a disenfranchisement of their voting rights.

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WRFA’s Jason Sample talks with Andrew Martin Kolstee, chair of the Chautauqua County Libertarian Party, to talk about the growth and recognition the party has seen both locally and across the state during the past few years, leading up to it now having a line on all election ballots for the next four years, starting this November.

(Originally airing Thursday, Sept. 19, 2019)

JAMESTOWN – City councilman Andrew Liuzzo (R-At Large) announced Tuesday that he would accept the Libertarian Party’s nomination as candidate for Mayor of Jamestown, following his failed effort last month to gain the GOP nomination.

“After much consideration and with the support of my family I’ve chosen to accept the Libertarian endorsement for mayor of the city of Jamestown. I’m grateful to the support form the Libertarian Committee, who have given us another opportunity to give voice to the citizens of this great city,” Liuzzo said while standing in front of his childhood home on Hazard Street with several supporters on hand.

The announcement comes after the Chautauqua County Libertarian Party committee met last week and announced it had nominated Liuzzo to be the candidate for mayor.

Andrew Liuzzo

Liuzzo had sought the GOP nomination for mayor but was defeated 528-284 in the June primary by county legislator David Wilfong. He had said during the GOP primary campaign that he would not seek nor accept any other party’s nomination for mayor. However, he said he had to reconsider once he learned the Libertarians were making him their choice for mayor.

“When the primary was over, I did say that the citizens will make their choice for who they think is best fit to run this city. I didn’t commit to either side but I had no way of knowing that I was still being vetted for the Libertarian party,” Liuzzo said. “Once the Libertarian party said that they would endorse me, I gave this a lot of thought. That endorsement came almost a week ago and it’s taken me this many days to come out and say, ‘Yes. I’m going to accept that endorsement.'”

Liuzzo said he will continue to campaign for mayor with the same message he carried during the primary, and that’s with a pledge to question current city policies while also pushing for more transparencies.

Liuzzo is serving his first term on the city council after running for the first time in 2017 as an At Large candidate. Of the six candidates seeking the three at large seats in that race, Liuzzo came in second with 2,075 votes.

“I have been steadfast in representing the citizens and asking the questions on how and why we spend our money the way we do,” Liuzzo said. “I have consistently asked questions to have full transparency and accountability from the mayor and the city council. During the 18 months that I have served as city councilman at large, it has been obvious that I am not well-liked in city government. It was made clear to me very early on that my approach was out of step with other members of the city council.”

County Libertarian Party Chair Andrew Kolstee was on hand for the announcement and explained why Liuzzo was tapped to be his party’s candidate for mayor of Jamestown.

“He differentiates himself from all the other elected officials. He asks more questions and challenges government and that’s what we do, the Libertarian party challenges government. He’s striving for transparency and less regulations in the city charter. Those kinds of things are what Libertarians are in support of,” Kolstee said.

The Libertarian party is considered a new party on the ballot for this year’s elections and as a result, state law gives it more time to nominate candidates for the November election.

Tuesday’s announcement by Liuzzo means there will be a three-way race for the open mayoral seat, with Wilfong being the Republican candidate and attorney Eddie Sundquist being the Democratic candidate. Current mayor Sam Teresi had announced in February he would not seek a sixth consecutive term in office.

Andrew Liuzzo

JAMESTOWN – The Jamestown city councilman who was unable to secure the Republican party’s nomination as a candidate for mayor in June may still appear on the November election ballot.

Members of the Chautauqua County Libertarian Party held their monthly meeting last week in Bemus Point and nominated several additional local candidates for the 2019 general election.

Among those who were chosen was Andrew Liuzzo for mayor of Jamestown. Liuzzo, who is currently a first-term city councilman at large, lost to Chautauqua County legislator David Wilfong in the Republican party primary last month.

While campaigning as a Republican candidate for mayor, Liuzzo had said that he would not be seeking any other party’s endorsement because he didn’t want to split the Republican ticket in November.

“I will not seek or accept another party line nor will I pursue an independent line. If I am not your choice I will not risk splitting the vote to let the opposition party win,” Liuzzo wrote on his Facebook page on May 4.

However, following the Libertarian party’s announced nomination, Liuzzo said he would have to consider the endorsement.

“I’m grateful for the endorsement from the Libertarian party and thankful for the support I’ve received since they made their announcement. I will take the next couple of days to discuss it with my family before I make a decision,” Liuzzo wrote on his Facebook page on July 13.

As of Monday morning he has not yet announced if he planned to accept the nomination.

In addition to Wilfong, the other mayoral candidate is Jamestown attorney Eddie Sundquist. Wilfong is also running under the Conservative party line n the ballot, while Sundquist is running under the Working Families and Independence lines on the ballot.

Current Mayor Sam Teresi, a Democrat, had announced in February he wouldn’t be seeking a sixth term in office.

Raven Mason Thompson

In addition to choosing Liuzzo as its candidate for Jamestown Mayor, the Libertarian party is also selecting Raven Mason Thompson as its only candidate for Jamestown City Council At Large. Mason Thompson had ran against Tony Dolce in the June Republican Primary for City Council Ward 2 – but was defeated.

The Libertarian party is also endorsing Dolce for Ward 2, along with Brittnay Spry for Ward 4. Both those two are also the endorsed Republican candidates for those respective offices.

Other Libertarian Party endorsements that came out of last week’s meeting include:

• Rudy Mueller for Busti Town Supervisor,
• Russell Payne for Carroll Town Supervisor,
• Dennis Welka for Dunkirk City Council Ward 1,
• Daniel Heitzenrater for Ellicott Town Council Ward 4,
• Susan Baldwin for Villenova Town Council,
• John Dudley Robinson for Villenova Town Council,
• Ron Hall for Chautauqua County Legislator District 1,
• Christopher Schaeffer for Chautauqua County Legislator District 3,
• Terry Niebel for Chautauqua County Legislator District 5,
• and Bill Ward for Chautauqua County Legislator District 18.

Previous the party had already nominated Gerrit Cain for Chautauqua County Legislator District 16 and Ryan Sanders for Sherman Village Trustee. Other potential candidates will be voted upon in August.

The local Libertarian party has a deadline of Sept. 1 to announce its candidates for the November election instead of having an April deadline like other established parties. That’s because the Libertarian is a “start-up party” and is given more time to select candidates after receiving at least 50,000 votes during last year’s gubernatorial election.

Gerrit Cain

KENNEDY – The Chautauqua County legislative district that includes the town of Carroll, Kiantone and Poland will have a contested race in November.

Libertarian Candidate Gerrit Cain (L-Poland) has announced his intention to challenge incumbent legislator John Davis (R-Frewsburg) in his bid for District 16 of the Chautauqua County Legislature. The announcement by Cain came after he was unanimously approved as a candidate by the Chautauqua County Libertarian Party, where he serves as secretary.

Cain is a Randolph, NY native and attended Jamestown Community College, graduating from SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry in 2004. He currently works as a quality technician for a beverage manufacturing facility in Chautauqua County.

“My campaign will focus on reducing the size and cost of government and increasing the ability of individuals and businesses to grow and innovate,” Cain said in a media release. “Despite the burden of State regulations and mandates, I believe the county can do more to hold the line and even reduce taxes by finding new ways to fund and facilitate projects in the county. I believe there is still a good chunk of
unnecessary spending we can eliminate from the county budget.”

Cain also said he would like to see the legislature work with local municipalities to making zoning and permitting laws more uniform form town to town to favor “entrepreneurship, business growth, and personal freedom.”

“This race is bigger than a single county district. It has potential to be an historic starting point for a much need shift in the political landscape at all levels of government from a broken two-party system to one where there is a viable third party with fresh innovative ideas,” Cain said.

Cain is the first libertarian candidate to come forward in the 2019 local elections in Chautauqua County. He will appear on the ballot after the Libertarian Party secured statewide ballot access following the 2018 elections and the strong showing by gubernatorial candidate Larry Sharpe – who received almost 80,000 votes state wide.

There was no candidate selected by Democrats to run in District 16, making it a two-way race between Davis and Cain.  In addition to the Republican Party, Davis has also been endorsed by the Conservative and Independence Parties.

Larry Sharpe

FREDONIA – The Chautauqua County Libertarian Party will hold its annual convention on Sunday, April 14 at Noon at EBC West (34 W. Main Street) in Fredonia. Organizers say all are welcome to attend.

The convention will feature 2018 gubernatorial candidate Larry Sharpe as keynote speaker, as well as the election of officers and other party business. Several candidates seeking the Libertarian Party’s endorsement in town, city, and county offices will also speak to the convention on their candidacies.

“2019 is a big year for the Libertarian Party in New York,” said Andrew Martin Kolstee, Chair of the Chautauqua County Libertarian Party. “Last year, our candidate for Governor of New York, Larry Sharpe, secured ballot access for the Libertarian Party and now we are a recognized political party in New York State. Our structure will be changing, and we will be able to run candidates with less petitioning requirements, and so we can focus more on campaigning and discussing the issues.”

The party will be electing officers and hosting candidate presentations.”We have 25 candidates that we are interviewing that are running for various town/city/county offices and they have been attending our meetings. Several will be present at our convention,” Kolstee recently told WRFA. “We have not yet officially endorsed any, as we will be working on interviewing them to determine endorsements. Endorsement of Libertarian candidates will begin on April 14. Candidates seeking cross-endorsement will be vetted and the first endorsements, if any, will be voted upon in July.”

“This year, our candidates will only need certification in this transition year for the party,” said Kolstee. “We are vetting candidates, and are seeking to endorse those who want to advance the principles of the Libertarian Party in our county.”

In addition to running for governor in 2018, Sharpe is a U.S. Marine veteran, father, husband, entrepreneur, teacher, and business consultant. He plans to talk about how to continue the historic momentum built during that run for Governor, what’s next for the Libertarian Party in New York, and how you can continue to #TurnYourCountyGold.

“Larry is a fierce advocate for all of your Constitutional Rights all of the time,” Kolstee explained in a media release. “He’ll talk about the issues in your region, advancing liberty in your community, or any of these topics: repealing the SAFE Act, innovative education options, eliminating the state income tax, facilitating innovative non-taxpayer funding, eliminating tolls, localizing more government decisions, transparent government, relieving over-regulated farmers, saving Main Street, criminal justice reform, family court reform, supporting newer industries that New York State is crushing, and stopping the population exodus from New York.”

The Chautauqua County Libertarian Party is a chapter of the Libertarian Party of New York and was formed to advance liberty in Chautauqua County and give the people of Chautauqua County another choice. Please like us on Facebook and visit our website at ChautauquaLP.org.