For those that do not know me, there are three things you should know.
1. I am a 22 year old running for Virginia House of Delegates as a Libertarian
2. I do not drive
3. I will get just about anyone's autograph; in this case, minor political candidates.
So, the area I live has a Libertarian Party (LP) group called the Peninsula LP that is based about 40 minutes from my house. There is also a nearby organization called the Tidewater LP that is in my school's district and about 30 minutes from there. The secretary for both groups is James St. John, who lives very close to my school.
A little backstory, I have always dreamed of being a politician, among other things. So flash forward several years, I am 22 years old and running for Virginia House of Delegates as an Independent. I previously reached out to the Green Party, who have no state candidates running now, but they did not respond. I later, as an after thought, emailed the LP of Virginia. I received an email back within a couple days from Jim Lark. Lark is currently on the board of LPVA and is the former chair of the entire national party--who is also in the process of sending me a signed business card. He explained the process I would have to take to get nominated by the party. He also forwarded my email to several people, including St. John. He invited me to the first PLP meeting last month. At that meeting, there were only five of us--me, St. John, some kid, the PLP chair, and former candidate Michael Bartley. I got both of St. John and Bartley's autographs during the first meeting. They were both cool, despite the semi-awkwardness of the request. St. John thought it was really cool. I later asked St. John if he would be able to transport me to meetings, which he obliged.
The first meeting I went to today was the TLP meeting. I researched ahead of time to see who would be likely to be there. I assumed the chair, former city councilman Robert Dean, would be present and I made a card for him. I was also hoping the only elected Libertarian in Virginia, Jessica Abbott, would be present, but she was not. I may send her an email request later. Me and St. John were one of the first to arrive. St. John commented earlier that I was a little under-dressed to be meeting this Robert Dean fellow and what I was going to say in my speech. Which made me very panicky. The first part of the meeting was just the breakfast portion. I quickly met Dean but was a little afraid to ask for his autograph due to the circumstances. He said he had heard of me and that I was running. I said I was from Williamsburg and that the guest speaker was from there. I was instantly curious. I eventually figured out he was former delegate The first target I noticed for an autograph was the individual collecting signatures to get on the ballot for something. I waited for him to make his way to me. Unfortunately for him, I was not a Virginia Beach resident, as he told me he was running for Treasurer and his name was Ralph Parham there. I got him to sign a generic card.
Ralph Parham
St. John quickly pointed out the tallest gentleman in the room as current Virginia Beach City Councilman John Moss. I asked what his partisan affiliation was and he said "he's a Republican but like he comes to these meetings, so". When he came say hello to our table, I asked him if he had a business card on him, which he said he did not, so I presented another of the same generic cards. He commented that he had one of those flags at home
City Councillor John Moss
This was the end of the breakfast portion of the meeting. The next was the guest speaker, Michael Watson, former Republican member of the Virginia House of Delegates from District 93 from 2011 to 2013 (my adjacent district). He spoke for Explore Offshore Virginia. Following the speech, the questions opened up, and then general announcements. Near the end of the Video, I make my campaign "announcement". Shortly after the meeting I begin scrambling, looking for five people. The other two were School Board member Laura Hughes and a former New Hampshire City Council member. Both were low priority. I was deciding who to go for first between Watson, Dean, or C. Conrad Schesventer. I chose the latter. He was on his way out and the other two were busy, anyways. Schesventer is someone who I emailed during the 2018 campaign and received a hand-written letter from. I have also corresponded with him about the campaign as well. We talked briefly and he said that he may run for office again in the future. He was a candidate for Virginia Beach City Council this past election cycle.
C. Conrad Schesventer
After I was done talking with him, I made my way to former Delegate Michael Watson. I asked him if he had a business card and I asked him to sign it. Him, along with many of the other oddballs of my collection, are often perplexed by my requests. I wish he would've signed on the front of the card though.
former St. Rep. Michael Watson
Next up was the target I was most nervous about. The much-publicized head of the TLP, Robert Dean. Dean served as a Virginia Beach City Councilman from 1992 to 1996, and also sought the same office on numerous other times. I was worried about the embarrassment and possible reprimanding from St. John. Ironically, he was the one who asked if I had gotten him sign anything yet. Big relief. Dean signed my custom card.
former City Councilman Robert Dean
Soon after, me and St. John left to go to the PLP meeting in Newport News. We arrived about 45 minutes early to the meeting. Only 2 others showed up. We talked about politics mostly. Ralph Northam was brought up a lot at both meetings. Nothing too remarkable happened at this meeting. When Bartley and the man I hadn't met before left, I asked Bartley to sign another card. He thought the '675 votes' was cool. He said he had a 675 votes vanity license plate. I also offered to make him a copy and he said he would like one. He also said he had been trying to get his former Democratic opponent, Shelly Simonds, to attend a meeting and that I could get her to sign it too. At that time, I also got St. John to sign his business card too.
Michael Bartley
James St. John
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