Stevens Resigns As LPPA State Chair; Fryman Elected

On Thursday, April 4, 2013, Dr. Tom Stevens, State Chair of the Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania, issued the following statement:

For personal reasons involving the health of one of my close family members, I, Dr. Tom Stevens, hereby resign my position as State Chair of the Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania effective upon the appointment by the Board of Directors of a successor State Chair to serve for the reminder of my term of office. (It has been posted elsewhere that Tom's mother has cancer and is undergoing an additional surgical procedure on April 15, 2013)

The following motion was made by Matthew Kelly (Membership Committee Chair) and seconded by Jay Burkos (Legislative Action Committee Chair):

MOTION: to accept the resignation of Dr. Tom Stevens as State Chair of the Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania appointing Lawrence James Fryman as State Chair to serve for the remainder of his term in office. This vote will remain open for 15 days for Board Members to cast a vote of Yes, No or Abstain. However, the vote will be considered closed and a new State Chair elected upon 13 Yes votes being cast, which constitutes a majority of the Board Members currently serving.

On Friday, April 5, 2013, Dr. Stevens wrote the following e-mail to LPPA Members:

Effective immediately, Jim Fryman has been elected State Chair of the Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania. I am now Immediate Past Chair. The motion to accept my resignation and appoint Jim Fryman State Chair  has obtained sixteen (16) votes, which constitutes a majority of the Board Members currently serving. Quorum was achieved. Additional votes not yet cast may be posted for posterity. I wish Jim Fryman a most enjoyable term in office.

Dr. Stevens urged a YES vote on the motion to grant his request to be excused from his duty. The sixteen (16) Yes votes were cast by the following members of the Board of Directors of the Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania:

Betsy Summers (Eastern Vice-Chair)
Jim Fryman (Western Vice-Chair)
Patrick R. Killy (Secretary)
Patti Fryman (Treasurer)
Lou Jasikoff (Immediate Past Chair)
John Karr (Election Committee Chair)
Greg Teufel (Legal Action Committee Chair)
Jay Burkos (Legislative Action Committee Chair)
Roy Minet (Media Relations Committee Chair)
Matthew Kelly (Membership Committee Chair)
Harold Kyriazi (Allegheny County LP Representative)
Tyler Kobel (Blair County LP Representative)
Nicholas Hillman (Bucks County LP Representative)
Alex Humanick (Lehigh Valley LP Representative)
Marc Connuck (Northampton County LP Representative)
Dr. Tom Stevens (Philadelphia County LP Representative)

When casting votes, the following comments were made:

Dr. Stevens has been my mentor and close friend for nearly two years. I admire his hard work and integrity. In addition to his inspiring and leading the defense that beat back the GOP challenge to our petitions last year, he doubled the membership and more than doubled the number of County and Regional Committees chartered by the Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania. Because of his efforts and the commitment of 84 volunteers, Gary Johnson and our statewide candidates were on the ballot and the Libertarian Party regained Minor Party status in Pennsylvania. These and other successes are routinely referred to nationally as the "Pennsylvania Miracle" and other State Chairs have inquired as to how they can achieve the same growth in their own states. For steadfastly leading the charge in defense of our petitions, many have referred to Dr. Stevens as the "Iron Man", who GOP operatives, violent anarchists and the "Vote for Nobody" crowd has targeted in recent months. While Dr. Stevens may no longer be State Chair, I know my personal relationship with him will endure and together we will continue to be pro-liberty activists in the Libertarian Party of Northampton County and in all the other groups in which we serve. Dr. Stevens is an amazing man who has never let me down. (Patrick R. Killy - Secretary)

I would like to say thank you to Tom for his hard work to grow the party and to defend our ballot presence last November. (Patti Fryman - Treasurer)

I thank Tom Stevens very much for the many hours of effort he expended recruiting new members and defending our nomination petition signatures. (Roy Minet - Media Relations & Marketing Committee Chair)

I thank Dr. Stevens for his leadership and guidance. I wish him the best in all his future endeavors. (Alex Humanick - Lehigh Valley LP State Representative)

A year ago, the LPPA reached a height never expected by the major parties nor by the LP national leadership.  That was not by accident.  It was the direct result of the hard work of a group of dedicated liberty minded people, and Tom's strong leadership. (Jay Burkos - Legislative Action Committee Chair)

Dr. Stevens, I applaud your accomplishments as State Chair. Membership in the Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania was up 87.8 % from the April, 2012 Annual Convention through the end of 2012 and you established a new Life Membership for the party. LP News designated you a "Libertarian Ballot Access Hero" for obtaining 18,000 additional signatures after problems were identified with the quality of the signatures obtained during the petition drive, which was considered over when you took office. You spearheaded a 9-week successful defense of our petitions with the help of 84 volunteers and not only got Gary Johnson and our statewide candidates on the ballot but also re-gained Minor Party status for our party. You more than doubled the number of counties with County and/or Regional Committees and, as a result, the Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania now has an active presence in Adams County, Berks County, Blair County, Bucks County, Carbon County, Chester County, Columbia County, Franklin County, Lehigh County, Monroe County, Montour County, Northampton County & Schuylkill County. In my opinion, you have been the most active and successful State Chair in the history of the Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania. I am sorry to see you go. (Matthew Kelly - Membership Committee Chair) 

Richard Winger of Ballot Access News wrote this about Dr. Tom Stevens, State Chair of the Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania:

Tom Stevens led the Pennsylvania Libertarian Party to the greatest ballot access victory in the state party's history. The Pennsylvania Libertarian Party's 2012 ballot access victory was the first time any statewide minor party or independent candidate for statewide office has ever defeated a challenge backed by one of the two major parties.

Lawrence James (Jim) Fryman, the newly elected State Chair of the Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania, issued the following statement:

I will serve as State Chair until replaced at the State Convention.

Roy Minet, a declared candidate for State Chair at the next Annual Convention wrote:

For those of you who don't know him, I will point out that Jim Fryman is a solid libertarian who has worked hard for the LPPA for years.  He drives many hours to attend board meetings that are way closer to Philadelphia than to his home.  He helped validate signatures in Philadelphia.  Anyone WHO HAS BEEN ACTIVE helping the LPPA has surely gotten to know and respect Jim.  I hope everybody will cooperate and help Jim as he takes on a difficult job that is only made more difficult by...(I'll stop right there because I have promised not to tear down any other libertarian). Good luck, Jim, and you can count on my help and support.

Dr. Tom Stevens was elected State Chair and Jim Fryman was elected Western Vice-Chair of the Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania on April 22, 2012.