On April 2, Libertarian Michael Ogle won an impressive 32% in his race for mayor of Topeka, Kansas. In the non-partisan race, Ogle was pitted against Larry Wolgast, a city council member since 2009 and former deputy mayor. A write-in candidate, Betty Dunn, was a former city council member.
TOPEKA MAYOR
Larry Wolgast…… 7269 votes (63%)
Michael Ogle …… 3682 votes (32%)
Betty Dunn (wi) …… 632 votes (5%)
“Mike, with the guidance of his campaign manager Bob Cooper, ran a highly professional, spirited, and organized campaign,” said Kansas Libertarian Party Chair Al Terwelp. “The Ogle campaign did the LPKS proud. Mike ran on a great platform of issues that expressed the positive solutions Libertarians can bring to local government. He and his campaign have advanced the Libertarian Party greatly in the Topeka area.”
Ogle is a corporate accountant and is a captain in the Kansas Army National Guard.
Also in Kansas, Clinton Coen, a 21-year-old student at Wichita State University, won a similarly impressive 46% of the vote in his campaign for a place on the Wichita City Council.
WICHITA DISTRICT 3 – City Council Member
James Clendenin …… 926 votes (52%)
Clinton D. Coen …… 811 votes (46%)
WRITE-IN …… 12 votes (0%)
“We need laws that will prohibit elected officials from voting on items that will directly enrich a campaign contributor,” Coen noted on his website. “The first step in making government an entity that helps, instead of harms, is making government more transparent.”
MALTERER RUNNING STRONG IN COUNCIL RACE
On April 9, voters in New Port Richey, Fla., will head to the polls to fill two city council seats.
Out of the seven candidates who have qualified for a spot on the ballot, the top two vote-getters will be elected. Those interested in shrinking the size of government and putting an end to “business as usual” politics will have a choice they can get excited about on the ballot in the form of Michael Malterer.
Making his first bid for elected office at the age of 24, Malterer hopes to promote a thriving downtown district and said he will work to make the permitting process easier to navigate for business owners seeking to locate in the city.
He would also favor a reduction in property taxes.
“We have high property taxes in the city,” he told the Tampa Bay Times in an interview. “That’s something that definitely deters ownership.”
Malterer and his campaign team have been aggressively canvassing neighborhoods for the last several months, visiting homes and making hundreds of follow-up phone calls to reach voters.
Although the race is for a nonpartisan office, Malterer is making no secret of his Libertarian roots. He has been actively involved with the LP, is endorsed by the state party’s executive committee, and was an active supporter of the Gary Johnson for President campaign.
Malterer is an Operations Manager with Penske Truck Leasing. He and his wife Katelynn are expecting their first child later this year.
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