NEWS FROM THE MISSOURI LIBERTARIAN PARTY
 P.O. Box 78623, St. Louis, MO 63178
 www.LPMO.org

 For immediate release  11/11/02
 Contact:   Bob Sullentrop          636-946-3227
    or          Greg Tlapek              800-868-3487

 -------------------------------------------------------------------------

 LIBERTARIANS REMAIN ONLY THIRD PARTY IN MISSOURI

 After the votes were counted last Tuesday the Libertarian Party
 emerged once again as the only third party in Missouri.
 The Libertarian party in Missouri has retained its established party
 status for the five straight election cycles.  That means that at
 least one statewide Libertarian candidate has received over two
 percent for five general elections in a row.  "This was accomplished
 while competing with other third parties like the Reform and Green
 parties." said Bob Sullentrup, the state chair.  "In general I like to
 see third parties do well," said Sullentrup. "But this shows that only
 Libertarians have the solid base of support to consistently pull the
 2% needed retain ballot access. Other parties have come and gone but
 we are still here" he said.
 The Greens had to petition to get back on the ballot for 2002, but did
 not achieve established party status and the ballot access that goes
 with it last Tuesday.  The highest percentage for a Green party
 statewide candidate was 1.3% for Fred Kenall for state Auditor. In the
 same race Libertarian Arnold Trembly received 2.2 percent of the vote
 which will allow the party to retain established party status.
 Tamara Millay, the Libertarian Candidate for US Senate received 1% of
 the vote in the race against Jim Talent and Jean Carnahan. Justin
 Romano, the Green party candidate received 0.6% percent of the vote
 for US Senate.  In fact Millay beat Romano in 111 of Missouri's 114
 counties, so the results were consistent across the state.  Millay had
 campaigned across the state and felt she did well in the only
 televised debate with all four candidates present.
 Millay and the Libertarian party were optimistic about the vote before
 Tuesday. However, the issue of national security and the closeness of
 the race between Talent and Carnahan suppressed the vote for the
 Libertarians and the Greens.  Libertarians have a non-interventionist
 foreign policy and feel a preemptive attack against Iraq would be
 wrong. "We knew this was not a popular position" said Millay.
 "However, we believe strongly that we are right in principle and have
 the right strategy for lasting long term stability in the region."
  The Libertarian Party ran candidates in all nine congressional
 races. The best Libertarian result for a congressional candidate was
 Jim Higgins in the 1st district which includes north St. Louis City
 and North St. Louis County. Higgins received 5,327 votes for 2.8% of
 the vote.
    The best result for state representative was John Williams in the
 147th district. Williams received 1,402 votes for 16.6%.  Williams
 lives in Texas County and is the Vice-chair of the state party.  In
 State Representative District 18 Kurt Trachte garnered 1,452 votes for
 14.3%. Trachte lives in St. Charles and is a long time Libertarian who
 has run for state rep in the previous elections.
     1,399 voters cast their vote for Jeffery Curtis Foli in State
 Representative district 7 for 14.1% of the vote. Foli is the current
 Libertarian mayor of Chilicothe, MO. A complaint was filed against
 Foli for using city employees to work on his campaign. The accusations
 proved to be bogus and fell into the category of dirty tricks. "This
 is a first for us" said Greg Tlapek, the Missouri Libertarian
 executive Director. "We have moved up a notch if they feared us enough
 to pull a trick like this," Tlapek said.
     The best result in a partisan race was Mike Bozarth who received
 5,166 votes for 22%. Bozarth ran for Buchanan County Collector against
 term-limited Democrat State Sen. Sidney Johnson, in a two-way race.
 "We are making plans now to do better the next time" said Sullentrup.
 "For now we are glad we still have ballot status, but we want to do
 better and grow" he said.  "We Libertarians have a strong belief in
 our principles and positions." He said "We remain determined to press
 forward for a better country and a better world "
 -30-
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~