There has been a lot of recent speculation with respect to what happened between Warren Redlich, the nominated gubernatorial candidate of the Libertarian Party of New York, and the New York Chapter of the Republican Liberty Caucus. There had been rumors that Mr. Redlich had initially sought the endorsement of the Republican Liberty Caucus but then, upon not immediately receiving it, had informed the RLCNY that he would not accept their endorsement.
Carl Svensson recently posted the following "clarification" explaining what transpired:
Warren Redlich originally asked for the endorsement of the RLCNY, and became miffed when he did not receive it more or less on the spot. Our position was that we wanted to make sure that he was a serious Republican candidate before we made a decision in this regard. At that point, Warren told us that he did not want our endorsement, nor would he accept it. Some time after this, I encouraged various Tea Party groups to invite Warren to be vetted by their membership. Obviously, some groups did extend an invitation, and at least two groups were told he could not meet with them because he did not campaign evenings or weekends. I took it from this feedback that Warren is not a serious Republican candidate. At this point, I do not believe what Warren says in his campaign for Governor is of much interest to a Republican organization such as ours.
Dr. Tom Stevens, LPQC State Representative, responded to this information as follows:
The argument made for Warren Redlich being the gubernatorial nominee of the Libertarian Party of New York was that Redlich, who was also seeking the Republican Party's gubernatorial nomination would pull 5-7% of the Republican Primary vote and that a number of the individuals supporting him there would come over to the LP line in November, which would enable him to have a shot at obtaining the 50,000 votes necessary for the Libertarian Party to obtain Minor Party status and ballot access for the next four years.
I never believed that Warren Redlich was serious about contesting for the Republican Party gubernatorial nomination. Since he said his wife wouldn't allow him to spend a dime on the statewide petition drive necessary to get him on the ballot as a Libertarian Party candidate, I could not imagine how he intended to obtain the petition signatures he needed to get on the ballot in the Republican Party Primary. It was my stated belief at the time that Mr. Redlich and his supporters were making the argument of his running for the G.O.P. gubernatorial nomination simply to improve his chances of becoming the gubernatorial nominee of the Libertarian Party. I could never figure out whether those pushing that claim knew it was false when they made it or were simply political novices puffed up with unrealistic hopes and expectations.
With Carl Svensson's revelations, it appears that other organizations also questioned whether Redlich ever seriously intended to make an effort to run in the Republican Party's Primary for Governor. We know from other reports that Warren Redlich did not travel for interviews with Republican County Committee Chairs who held forums and interviews with prospective G.O.P. gubernatorial candidates and now we learn from Carl Svensson he allegedly told some Tea Party organizations he could not meet with them because he does not "campaign evenings or weekends".
Since Warren Redlich is already the gubernatorial nominee of the Libertarian Party of New York, I urge him to take this race seriously, to spend the money necessary to obtain places on the ballot both in the Republican Party Primary and as the Libertarian Party's gubernatorial candidate this November, and to raise the funds necessary to run an organized and serious campaign. If he really doesn't campaign evenings or weekends, I wonder how much time he can steal away from his law practice during the day to engage in campaign activities. I hope his firm doesn't mind him taking an extra 15 minutes for lunch!
Warren Redlich received the gubernatorial nomination of the Libertarian Party of New York on Saturday, April 24, 2010 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Albany, New York.
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