News-Record.com

North Carolina's Libertarian Party is getting ready to hold their state convention this weekend, April 12 and 13, at the La Quinta Inn, Burlington.

Expected guests include Mike Gravel, a former Alaska Senator who made the early Democratic debates entertaining to watch, and Bob Barr of Georgia.

From a Libertarian Party news release:

Former Democratic Sen. Mike Gravel, who recently defected to the Libertarian Party and is seeking the nomination for president, will attend the State Libertarian Convention this weekend in Burlington.

Sen. Gravel will arrive Friday evening and attend most of the convention session Saturday.

Another defector from the so-called major parties, former Republican Rep. Bob Barr, will also attend the Saturday sessions. Barr recently formed an exploratory committee to gauge support for seeking the Libertarian presidential nod.

The convention will open Saturday morning at 8;30 a.m. in the La Quinta Inn, Burlington.

The primary order of business will be nomination of candidates for Governor, Council of State seats and the General Assembly, especially in the unopposed districts. The party is on the verge of completing its petition drive to regain its spot on the ballot.

Nominations for the gubernatorial candidate will take place Sunday morning. There will also be a Presidential Candidates Forum and Straw Vote.

In addition to nominating candidates, delegates will also consider changes to the LPNC Platform on Saturday, including a proposal to oppose the "Real ID," a scheme for a national ID card.

In addition to Gravel and Barr, three announced presidential candidates also will attend. They are Dr. George Phillies of Massachusetts, a physics professor at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Dr. Mary Ruwart of Texas, a biochemist, nutraceutical company consultant and author of the best-selling "Healing Our World in an Age of Aggression," and Wayne Allyn Root, a TV sports commentator know as "America's Oddsmaker."

The Libertarian Party of North Carolina says it has almost gathered enough petitions (about 70,000) to qualify as a political party in the state again. If they do that, and there are no problems and the Board of Elections certifies it, the party will be able to run its slate of candidates in the fall election.

That slate, according to a press release from the party, will include Mike Munger, a Duke University professor, for governor. Mark McMains of Fuquay-Varina was nominated for insurance commissioner.

In the eighth Congressional District, which promises to be a rematch of the 2006 election between Republican incumbent Robin Hayes and Democratic Larry Kissel, the Libertarians have nominated Thomas Hill of Concord. That was a barn burner of an election last time and one would think a Libertarian in the race probably draws from Hayes' constituency and helps Kissel a bit.

Paul Elledge will be offered up as a Guilford County Commissioner at-large candidate. Aside from him, the Libertarians don't appear to have targeted any other local races. You can read the run-down on their candidates here. (No perma-link yet.)

For those who are interested, click here with a MS Word file of Guilford County endorsements by the Replacement Ltd. PAC. More about the endorsements can be found here.

The PAC is primarily interested in influencing "the election of local, state and national candidates who will best support and promote the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) citizens," according to its website. It is headed by principals at Replacements Ltd., a local company that sells china and silver and such.

Some highlights:

They endorse state Sen. Kay Hagan in her U.S. Senate run, but give Chapel Hill investment banker a nod, giving and indication that he's an okay candidate too.

All three Democrats running in the 6th Congressional District, currently held by Republican Howard Coble, get okay-to-vote-for nods, although Jay Ovittore comes away with the endorsement.

Richard Moore is the only candidate for governor to get an endorsement or any other comment from the PAC.

Katie Dorsett gets an endorsement in her bid for re-election.