Wes BenedictExecutive Director
The fallout from a former Texas Republican making phone calls begging Libertarian Party candidates to drop out of their races continues to spread. The press release which started it all is here: Republican Suzanna Hupp phoning Libertarians to quit House races
The first report was in the Austin American Statesman: Former GOP state representative asks Libertarians to drop out of races
A follow-up meeting with LP Texas State Chair, Pat Dixon, and LP Texas Executive Director, Wes Benedict, with the Texas Speaker of the House’s office was reported in the Austin American Statesman here: Libertarians meet with speaker’s staff
Today, the Houston Chronicle interviewed Benedict. Here’s a report with audio: Coffee break podcast: Craddick wants Libertarians to drop out
Texas Democrats respond: Democrats weigh in on Craddick and the Libertarians
Tonight, the Associated Press picked up on the story which spread to lots of media outlets. This Google search displays many of them: libertarian location:tx
No new Texas Libertarian candidates have indicated a willingness to withdraw from their races.
Texas has 171 candidates (173 if you add Bob Barr and Wayne Root) on the ballot for the November 2008 election.
If this site, which attempts to list all Libertarian Party candidates in the US, is correct, http://libertarianpartycandidates.us/ , then the Libertarian Party of Texas currently has 171 out of 546 total candidates or 31% of the total.
Wes Benedict is one of those 171 candidates, running for County Commissioner in Travis County, Texas.
Plus I think we have a higher-than-average percentage of candidates with photos.
http://libertarianpartycandidates.us/states/texas/
Who’s that sharp-lookin’ guy running in District 51? Control yourselves, ladies!