Libertarian Gubernatorial Candidate Ken Krawchuk Declares a
"Great Victory"
November 7, 2002
Ken Krawchuk, the Libertarian candidate for Pennsylvania
Governor, declared Tuesday's election a “great victory” for
the Libertarian Party, citing record gains on all fronts,
and the attainment of legal Minor Party status in
Pennsylvania.
"The 41,000 Pennsylvanians who voted Libertarian brought
us a great victory", Krawchuk told a crowd of about 70
supporters in Valley Forge after Tuesday's election. "We
reached our most important goal: legal party status. By
our attracting so huge a vote, voters can now register as
Libertarians all across the state. The Libertarian name
will now appear on all voting machines alongside the two
old parties' names. We also get exclusive rights to the
Libertarian name, and can appoint candidates to special
elections. We Libertarians are finally getting the respect
we deserve."
State law grants "minor party" status when any political
body receives 2% of the winner's vote total in any
statewide race. Krawchuk received about 2.15% of Ed
Rendell's total on Tuesday.
"In addition to achieving the next level of political
success in the eyes of the law, we Libertarians also broke
many Pennsylvania party records", Krawchuk continued. “The
percentage of the vote that we received is the highest for
any of our Libertarian gubernatorial candidates ever, as is
the raw number of 41,000 votes. I participated in a
record-breaking four televised debates, two of which were
nationally broadcast on C-SPAN. Libertarian TV commercials
were aired statewide hundreds of times, another first for
any of our gubernatorial candidates. The campaign also
received national press on several occasions for the
imaginative way the Libertarian message was presented.
Everything considered, it was a banner year for the
Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania."
In his victory speech, Krawchuk also accepted his party's
nomination to become the next chairman of the state
Libertarian Party. "The game is going extra innings, so
stay tuned", Krawchuk said. "We Libertarians grew on all
fronts this year, and now we're going to take it even
further. And we must, because in politics, tenacity is a
virtue."
Founded in 1971, the Libertarian Party is the third
largest political party in the state and the nation, with
over 500 elected and appointed officials currently serving
in office nationwide, and 71 in Pennsylvania, more than any
other state except California. Like the Founding Fathers,
Libertarians believe that you have a God-given, inalienable
right to conduct your life as you see fit, without
interference, so long as you respect the rights and
property of others. For more information about the
Libertarian Party, the public may contact the Libertarian
Party of Pennsylvania at www.LpPa.org or (800) R-Rights, or
the National Libertarian Party at Lp.org or (202) 333-0008.
The Krawchuk campaign can be contacted at 215-881-9696,
info@KenK.org, www.KenK.org, or c/o PO Box 260, Cheltenham
Penna., 19012.
