On Wednesday afternoon I received a call that my cleaning lady had APD called on her for being a "suspicious person" in my house. When the police showed up, they claimed they smelled marijuana on her. I was called to deal with the situation and was promptly detained by officers who had already decided to enter my home, search it with guns drawn, and hold me there while their supervisor "made a decision". Of course there was nothing in my home and yet, our laws somehow justify this madness.

The War on Drugs is a dangerous, abject failure. While I ultimately didn't have to deal with any real consequences in this situation, it is an absolute travesty that time and money is spent on this. The fact that armed people went through my home is a disgusting and disturbing thought. And if I were a minority, it's almost certain that I would have been booked in jail.

My opponent, Texas State Representative Dawnna Dukes, will of course not discuss this reality despite the fact that for such a minority-rich area, this poses a substantial problem to residents of House District 46.

Please feel free to share this video if you're so inclined (apologies for the length).

For three weeks in a row now I have been creating videos challenging Ms. Dawnna Dukes to a debate. I've even offered to pay all expenses related to it. Not only has she ignored my requests, but she has even gone so far as to block me from her Facebook page; I can't even view my State Representative's social media posts. It seems that she has risen high enough in the political ranks whereby civil discourse is no longer a necessity for her version of democracy.

Last week I referred to Dawnna's support of corporal punishment. I was very surprised to see her take this position given her credentials of working with children. The week before that I discussed her apparent support of the War on Drugs. Despite my efforts, she continues to ignore me.

In this third video I focus on Ms. Dukes' desire to see Texas adopt a state income tax. I'm genuinely curious to hear her defend this position, but make the assumption that she is trying to protect people from being displaced with rising costs. I state three different counter arguments to this assumption and briefly contrast income tax and property taxes.

I truly believe that many of our greatest problems could be solved if only we would hold politicians accountable to their words and actions. So long as I am competing for a seat in the legislature I will certainly do just that. I would strongly encourage you to contact Ms. Dukes' office and request that she comment on these positions.

Last week I created a video challenging my opponent, 19-year incumbent Dawnna Dukes, to a debate. I posted the video to her Facebook and Twitter accounts and also sent her campaign a personal email with the request. One week later and I still have yet to receive a response. I did discover that I've been blocked from her Facebook wall. This seems a little unfair given that she is my current State Representative and I've only contacted her three times throughout the entire campaigning process. But then again, it seems she is intent to ignore any competition.

In this second video I focus on HB359, a bill which ultimately authorizes school districts to use corporal punishment on students unless a parent or legal guardian opts the child out in writing. Much to my surprise, Ms. Dukes voted in favor of the bill, a position I most certainly do not agree with.

I also illustrate once again how the the Democrats have been attacking Attorney General Greg Abbott for turning down a debate with Wendy Davis. Will Hailer, executive director for the Democratic Party of Texas, went so far as to say, "Attorney General Greg Abbott is a coward. ...he and his team have a fundamental disrespect for Texans and he is unwilling to have his ideas questioned by the press and everyday voters." I hope he feels the same way about members of his own party being unwilling to debate their opponents.

If you can spare five minutes of your day, please encourage Ms. Dukes and her campaign team to take me up on my offer. I believe the citizens of Texas House District 46 deserve to hear new political ideas.

Kevin Ludlow presenting his closing arguments at the Dionysium Debate (photo credit: Jad Davis)

Although not officially part of the campaign, the wonderful people at the Dionysium invited me to be one of the debaters for their September show. As one who loves formal debate and as one who loves the arts, I was thrilled to be a part of the show.

The September topic was to resolve that "political power grows out of the barrel of a gun". I had the pleasure of defending the position. Pitted against me was Dionysium regular Jonathan Patschke.

And so for roughly 40 minutes Jonathan and I argued deeply philosophical points back and forth. The problem, I discovered, is that arguing that political power does indeed stem from the barrel of a gun is a wildly unpopular position. It is most certainly true, but it's not something that people want to hear. Be that as it is, the basis of my campaign is to show people that we can do better. We don't need the force of government dictating our every move.

I did get to field a question or two from the audience regarding my campaign platform. The response received a huge round of applause and once again confirmed my belief that the ideas of personal freedom are very popular in Austin.

As an active and enthusiastic candidate for the Texas House of Representatives in District 46, I would love the opportunity to debate 19-year incumbent Texas State Representative Dawnna Dukes. In order to get people interested in the idea, I have created a video challenging her to join me in a debate, or at least an organized panel discussion. I would love your help getting her and her campaign team to watch it.

The Democrats have been incredibly angry with Greg Abbott for being unwilling to debate Wendy Davis; I agree with them on this position and think it speaks volumes to the character of Republicans. On the same principle, I hope that Dawnna Dukes will consider debating me. We have a number of significant differences between us and I think people deserve to hear those differences. In fact, in regards to Abbott backing out of the debate, Ms. Dukes released the following statement, "How can you be a former justice and an attorney general, and not be a debater?"

Hopefully she will apply the same reasoning to herself.

The Cannabis Report logo

I was recently sent a candidate survey from the Texas Cannabis Report. I will post a direct link to the survey whenever it goes live on their site, but in the meantime wanted to ensure people had full access to my positions.

Do you support any of the following? Please explain your specific stance on the issue.

Hemp legalization

Yes. I absolutely support the legalization of hemp. I do not support placing any unique taxes or restrictions on the growing or selling of hemp, hemp products, or hemp-related industries.

Marijuana penalty reduction

Yes. I fully support marijuana penalty reduction. I do not believe there should be any penalties for growing, possessing, using, selling or distributing marijuana to adults.

Medical marijuana

Yes, I support medical marijuana. It is an absolute travesty that any government would attempt to impose restrictions on a substance that has been medically proven time and again to treat myriad of problems without any significant side effects. Medical marijuana, at an absolute minimum, should be legalized in the State of Texas immediately.

Affirmative medical defense in court for marijuana patients

Yes, I support affirmative medical defenses. I do not support placing any penalties on marijuana and thus this becomes a moot point. However, and speaking within the law, states that allow medical marijuana should not be able to pursue charges of any kind against medical marijuana users regardless of whether the individual can produce state-issued identification cards or not. The right to treat oneself should never be infringed upon.

Marijuana legalization

Yes. I completely support marijuana legalization. While I do not believe that any restrictions or taxes should be placed upon the adult use of this plant, I would be willing to accept the recent Colorado legislation as a step in the right direction.

Releasing non-violent marijuana offenders from prison

Yes. I have stated this position time and again and spoke extensively about it at Texas NORML. People should not be in cages for non-violent drug offense - ever - period. Furthermore, all people who have been convicted of non-violent drug offenses should be immediately removed from prison. I would further add that such people should be restituted by the state for unjust and inhumane imprisonment.

Growing marijuana at home, whether medically or recreationally

Yes. I support the right to grow marijuana at home for any purpose desired, be it medical or recreational. Much like my position on the legalization of marijuana, I do not believe that any restrictions should be placed on growing marijuana at home. That stated, I would be willing to accept the recent Colorado legislation as a step in the right direction (this legislation sets a limit to the quantity of plants that can be grown at any one time).

The campaign spread in the Austin Pets Directory

One of the best parts of running a political campaign is getting to meet new people in all sorts of life experiences. One of those people I stumbled across happens to be one of Austin's most amazing by the name of Liz Parker.

Liz is the city's go-to for all things related to dogs. She is a volunteer at the Austin Animal Shelter, Austin Pets Alive, and also happens to own a local print magazine called Austin Pets Directory. And wouldn't you know it, she wanted to do a story about the campaign in her magazine. We had a great time with it and I love the writeup she did. The article reads as follows:

Kevin Ludlow is a lot of things. He's a writer, musician, a successful owner and operator of a software firm, an avid animal lover, and most notably - he is a candidate for the Texas House of Representatives in District 46.

He is passionate, but thoughtful, and pretty brilliant. There are a few people who make the world a better place and we think Kevin Ludlow is one of them. A Houston native (we love almost everything about him) and 16 year Austin resident, Kevin has always had a penchant for both writing and political activism. His involvement with civic activities began when he was a student at the University of Texas at Austin. After graduating with a BA in mathematics in 2003, Ludlow traveled to New Zealand where he lived for a year. After returning to Austin, Kevin returned to writing. He was inspired by the feedback his political musings received and in 2012 that feedback fueled his drive to publish a book, American Healthcare: A Moderate Approach In August of the same year, Ludlow, along with Jad Davis, founded the JKPodcast, a weekly political science podcast. The show quickly grew in popularity and has thousands of listeners.

When Kevin decided to run for office, he never imagined getting this far. "I thought, if I can get even 16% of the votes, that's a huge accomplishment", he says. But the Libertarian party had other plans. Thanks to the party and its volunteers, and thousands of supporters who believe in Ludlow's positions on both state and national issues, he has made incredible progress.

Growing up, the Ludlow family had no less than two cats at a time. Kevin also enjoyed caring for the family fish, gerbils, hamsters, and even a crawfish named Bob. He's also had a Sheltie named Barney the Dog, a Chihuahua named Freckles, and Senor Taco, a dachshund.

He is a big time fan of the put bull breed and is always pet sitting for friends.

If you care about issues like drug law reform, LGBT: marriage and Equality, and women's rights, or just want to learn more, visit Ludlow2014.com.

PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
$10,000 CAMPAIGN DONATION

The Libertarian Booster PAC has donated $10,000 to candidate Kevin Ludlow for his 2014 Texas House race.

AUSTIN, TX, August 18, 2014: Texas State Rep. District 46 Candidate Kevin Ludlow and his campaign team are pleased to announce they have received a generous donation of $10,000 from the Libertarian Booster PAC.

Ludlow and his team have been running a highly energetic campaign against a 19-year incumbent since early March. President of the Libertarian Booster PAC Wes Benedict writes, "We're happy to see Ludlow's bold and consistent stands for liberty on all issues like taxes, immigration, marriage rights, civil liberties, and more. Texans would be much better served by the policies he supports than by those of his opponent."

Ludlow has a team of more than 30 people working with him on the campaign. They have billboards throughout the district, have visited nearly 10,000 homes, and are highly organized throughout online social networks. Ludlow says, "Naturally I'm thrilled to be singled out by the Booster PAC for the work we're doing, but I deserve very little of the credit. We have an amazing group of people working around the clock and we're still just warming up. This is what grassroots is all about." There are eleven more weeks until the November 4th election.

Kevin Ludlow is the 2014 Libertarian candidate for the Texas House of Representatives in District 46. He holds a mathematics degree from the University of Texas, is a local small business owner, a published author, and a strong community leader.

###

For information, upcoming events, and campaign tour dates, please contact our campaign coordinator, Tara Vancil at 512-284-5501 or email Ms. Vancil at tara.b.vancil@gmail.com.

PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AUSTIN PRIDE FESTIVAL

Meet candidate Ludlow, the only candidate for Marriage equality and an avid supporter of the LGTB community!

AUSTIN, TX, August 17, 2014: Texas State Rep. District 46 Candidate Kevin Ludlow and his campaign team will have an activity booth at the 2014 Austin Pride Festival, September 20th at Fiesta Gardens.

As the Libertarian Candidate for House District 46, his stance on marriage equality is a cornerstone of the campaign. He and his staff will be at the Festival for community support, informal personal dialogue, and to join in the party.

Ludlow states, "With all of the bigotry coming from the right and the weak reactionary politics coming from the left, it’s time someone introduces proactive legislation to the House floor in support of the LGBTQ community. Equality is equality is equality. Period."

Ludlow invites everyone to stop by his booth at Pride, regardless of gender, orientation, or political stripe. There will be fun, games, and prizes. Come join the fun and see why more and more followers of Texas politics are going #GayForLudlow!

Kevin Ludlow is the 2014 Libertarian candidate for the Texas House of Representatives in District 46. He holds a mathematics degree from the University of Texas, is a local small business owner, a published author, and a strong community leader.

###

For information, upcoming events, and campaign tour dates, please contact our campaign coordinator, Tara Vancil at 512-284-5501 or email Ms. Vancil at tara.b.vancil@gmail.com.

PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SPANISH BILLBOARD IN MANOR, TX

MANOR, TX, August 11, 2014 – The Kevin Ludlow for TX House 46 campaign has installed a third campaign billboard in Manor, TX just east of Old Kimbro Road on US290. The new billboard speaks directly to Spanish-speaking voters. It reads: "Viva, Viaje, Trabaje. Yo apoyo fronteras abiertas." The phrases translate to "Live, Travel, Work. I support open borders." The massive 14' x 48' lit advertisement leaves no confusion about Ludlow's position on immigration.

The response on social networking outlets has been overwhelmingly positive. Since its installation last week, people have been reaching out from all around the country. Ludlow states, "I want Spanish-speaking Texans to know that I will stand with them and address this issue without any political rhetoric. It's high time we stop blaming immigrants for the broken economic policies the two parties have left us with." The advertisement is one of very few political billboards in the Austin metro area and has the distinction of being the only one presented entirely in Spanish. According to 2010 census data, House district 46 is 47.2% Hispanic.

The campaign's first billboard is visible on IH35 northbound at US290. It reads: "Drug Reform, LGBT-equality, Civil Liberties", three of Ludlow’s campaign platform issues. A second billboard in June read "Support Net-Neutrality". Ludlow is running an enthusiastically active race against a Democrat incumbent who has held office for over 19 years. Ludlow says, "We're working as hard as we can to show Texas that the two-party system is coming to an end; twenty years in office is far too long for any politician." Kevin Ludlow is the 2014 Libertarian candidate for the Texas House of Representatives in District 46. He holds a mathematics degree from the University of Texas, is a small business owner, a community leader, and a published author.

###

For information, upcoming events, and campaign tour dates, please contact our campaign coordinator, Tara Vancil at 512-284-5501 or email Ms. Vancil at tara.b.vancil@gmail.com.

Our third campaign billboard is now located on US290 just east on downtown Manor, Texas.

Thanks to the continued generosity of so many people in TX House district 46 looking for change, we have been able to install a 3rd billboard! This new billboard is located on US290 immediately east of downtown Manor, Texas.

Like our first billboard, this one is scheduled to be up for the remainder of the campaign season. You may have noticed that this billboard is written in Spanish. We are proud and excited to let the Spanish-speaking people of District 46 know that there is someone who wants to make them inclusive in the discussion. While our primary focus here is with respect to immigration policies, we are certainly not limited to that scope.

We cannot thank you all enough for the continued support you have shown our campaign. We have found ourselves very competitive in the race and look forward to continuing our outreach. If you are able to lend support to our cause, please take a look at our donations page!

The Sierra Club logo

Our campaign received yet another political survey, this time from the Sierra Club. While many people assume that my positions inherently do not align with those of the Sierra Club, I would strongly disagree. While I do not believe taxes should be taken to accommodate environmental concerns, I feel very strongly that we are significantly damaging the environment. Furthermore, I am openly in favor of allowing individuals to pursue damages against companies that infringe on their most basic property rights.

1. What has been your greatest environmental accomplishment or your most significant activity on behalf of the environment and/or managing natural resources as an elected official, private citizen, or business owner?

As an individual and small business owner, always pursuing modest and easily maintainable living and business spaces. And when possible, utilizing any renewable technologies available to me.

Within the political realm, I am a vocal proponent of renewable energies and technologies and will continue to encourage my family, friends, and any future constituents of the benefits of self-reliance with respect to energy, food, and even transportation.

2. What environmental and natural resource goal(s) will you actively pursue in the next state legislative session if you are elected?

I would like to remove any barriers to entry, regulatory taxes, and individual usage fees and taxes from renewable technologies. Self-sustainability should be encouraged and people certainly should not be taxed for this pursuit.

3. Most of Texas cannot import or export electricity to and from other states. In other words, unlike California, we have to generate and consume all of our electricity within the state. What should the Legislature do, if anything, to ensure we have enough power to meet demand?

The legislature should remove any and all regulations regarding the transmission and selling of electricity.

4. Texas leads the country in installed wind power. As a state official, what would you do to improve market conditions for other renewable resources, such as solar and geothermal energy?

I believe that solar, wind, geothermal, and other forms of renewable energy are wonderful technologies. As a State Representative, I would ensure that the legislature removed any regulatory barriers that impeded the progress and development of these technologies.

Going further, I would consider any legislation that prohibited local municipalities from taxing or requiring expensive development review processes for individuals or businesses seeking to install renewable forms of energy.

5. Do you support homes and businesses generating their own power from renewable resources such as solar? If so, how would you reconcile the revenue loss by utilities that depend on selling kilowatt-hours? Would you support legislation to ensure that homes and businesses earn a fair market value for any excess solar generation?

I absolutely support homes and businesses generating their own power from renewable resources. I follow the technologies closely and promote them often. I would not, in any way, attempt to reconcile the revenue lost by utilities that "depend" on selling kilowatt-hours.

I would also not support any legislation that forced a “fair market value” for renewable energies. If people are inclined to turn their homes into renewable power plants then I am all for them selling their energy to whomever they saw fit (presumably the highest bidder).

6. What do you see as the most pressing issues on groundwater? Do you favor local management of groundwater resources through groundwater conservation districts or a more centralized approach?

Generally speaking I see chemical and heavy metal contaminants as pressing issues, though more recently speaking, it strikes me that a lack of water is probably a much more significant issue than contaminated water. Of course both are very serious issues needing to be dealt with.

I believe that local areas should determine the best way to monitor, regulate, and/or distribute their groundwater. I do not support a centralized mechanism for this, especially in a state as large as Texas.

7. What role do you see emerging water supply strategies such as desalination and aquifer storage and recovery playing in meeting the future water needs for the state? Does anything need to be done to enhance the role of these strategies and if so, what do you propose?

I think these technologies are wonderful and very interesting. That said I am not familiar with the economics of desalination plants. I believe we should be encouraging engineering firms to pursue these technologies, but I do not believe the government should favor them over other technologies. Incidentally, I also do not believe any other form of energy development should have favor within the government either and this most certainly includes oil and gas exploration.

8. Water supply is a big challenge in many parts of the state. Using the water that we already have as efficiently as possible is one strategy to meeting our future water needs. Would you support efforts to fund a statewide water education campaign to inform people of their sources of water and how to conserve those sources?

In general I support campaigns aimed at educating people on scientific realities. At the same time, I would not support taxing people to accomplish this educational goal. If the scientific community felt it would have a large enough impact then I would support funding such a campaign through existing taxes (thereby requiring a different program, or perhaps several different programs to lose funding or have funding reduced).

9. Do you accept the broad consensus of the scientific community that climate change is occurring and human activity, such as the burning of fossil fuels, is causing it? What, if anything, would you do as an elected official to address climate change at the state level?

Yes. I have a degree in mathematics and work as an engineer. I believe in science.

At the same time, I also believe that the discussion of the topic has been largely co-opted by both Republicans and Democrats as a political tool to create further division between people. To that extent, I am very uninterested in the topic.

As an elected official I would aggressively pursue companies (and individuals) that violated the property rights of others. Furthermore, I would work to ensure that individuals could pursue litigation against these companies for violations of basic property rights.

10. What is your position on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's efforts to reduce carbon dioxide pollution from stationary sources, such as coal-fired power plants, to protect human health? Please explain why you take this position.

I do not especially support it. I cannot in good consciousness support the EPA in any way. It is clear that they play favorites with who is allowed to pollute and who is not based upon corporate influence and lobbying efforts.

11. Given the dramatic rise in activity and growing public concerns about its environmental impacts, what is your position on "fracking"?

While I do support the exploration of oil and natural gas, the evidence to how devastating fracking is to groundwater appears to be overwhelming. I therefore do NOT support it in practice.

As I mentioned above, I would support any efforts that provided individuals with easier mechanisms for pursuing damages against fracking offenses.

While I support engineering firms pursuing better and safer ways of applying fracking methods, it is clear we simply do not have the technology to accomplish this safely and cleanly at this point in time and I therefore do NOT support it.

12. Would you support additional funding for our state parks and wilderness areas, including a dedicated fund for the acquisition and development of additional parkland and wilderness areas?

No.

13. There is much debate and discussion about how to meet the current and future transportation needs of Texans. What do you see as the best ways to address the transportation needs of the state, especially given constraints on funding?

Like so many of my responses, I think the best thing to do is remove excess regulations placed on individuals and businesses trying to provide transportation needs.

Beyond that I believe this question is best left to local governments. It need not be thoroughly defined at the state level.

A view from the outside patio looking into the Nomad Bar at the corner of Corona and Cameron

After another fantastic weekly campaign strategy meeting, a group of campaign volunteers headed over to the Nomad Bar.

A few weeks ago, the owner of the bar had pledged to support our campaign. My residence is just a few blocks from the bar and I'm certainly at least a semi-regular customer. It's always been my go-to for meeting people out for drinks. I also happen to run some of the community forums that he is a part of.

So naturally I was very happy to walk into the bar and see our campaign signs hanging in various windows and over shelves. It's a wonderful feeling to be getting so much support from the local community and I look forward to working hard for them.

Minutes after receiving the first print of Lady Liberty exclaiming "We Can Do It!"

This afternoon I had the pleasure of speaking to a fairly sizable group of candidates. Wedged between Robert Butler and Kurt Hildebrand, I spoke on the topic of Reddit and other social media platforms. Reddit played a vital role in kick-starting my campaign; I want other candidates to know what a powerful resource it can be.

Following the meeting, the Kurt Hildebrand offered to donate the original print of the new Lady Liberty logo to anyone who was willing to commit to Gold donor status with the party.

With all of the help I've been getting from people this race, I wanted to make sure I gave something back. Moreover, as a lover and collector of art, I thought this would make a great addition to my "political wall". I had the former chair of LPTexas, Pat Dixon, and the current chair, Kurt Hildebrand, both autograph it for me.

If you'd like to get a copy of this print, they're available at the Libertarian Party of Texas website.

The Outright Arizona podcast with host Mike Shipley
The complete episode can be found here.

While serving as a delegate at the Libertarian Party National Convention, I had the pleasure of being introduced to Mike Shipley from Phoenix, Arizona. I was immediately intrigued at the organization he chairs.

In 1998, an organization was founded called Outright Libertarians. The organization works to present the Libertarian Party and candidates to the LGBTQ community. They also work to monitor the Libertarian Party's continued support of the LGBTQ community and equality in general. Mike is the current chair of the organization and also founded and runs the Arizona chapter.

He asked me if I would like an opportunity to discuss my campaign with his listeners. Of course I jumped at the idea. I was especially excited to be a guest since promoting LGBTQ equality within the State of Texas is one of my primary platform goals.

We spent the first part of the show discussing the LGBTQ community in Austin and then in Texas as a whole. We also spent some time talking about my opponent and the difference between being reactionary towards the LGBTQ community versus being truly proactive (she has been the former; I am interested in the latter). After a short break, we came back and discussed ending the so-called "war on drugs" as well as my position on removing the TSA from Texas.

Libertarians Working for You with host Arvin Vohra

This afternoon I was the featured guest on a nationally syndicated internet radio show called Libertarians Working for You. The show is hosted by Arvin Vohra and focuses on what changes Libertarian candidates across the country would bring into their respective offices.

We had four different segments between commercial breaks and fit quite a bit of information in throughout the show. We began our conversation with how to address, and ultimately abolish the War on Drugs within the State of Texas. From there we moved onto removing both the TSA and the NSA from the State of Texas.

After a second commercial break we came back to discuss how I would introduce marriage equality for the LGBTQ community within Texas. We ended the show with a discussion on how to remove crony-capitalism from within the State. Of course this last point tied heavily back into the War on Drugs given the crony-capitalism that exists between the state and militarized contractors.

The show can be found on the Libertarians Working for You website in its entirety.

Posing in front of the new Satoshi Square at 3rd and Chicon

This 4th of July holiday I was invited to check out the new Satoshi Square at 3rd and Chicon. It was a great opportunity to meet people in East Austin while out on the campaign trail.

If you've not yet heard of this place, do yourself a favor and check it out. They have a well-organized, shared-space warehouse with a strong community focus on Bitcoin.

I really wasn't sure what to expect when I got there. In my own words, it's best described as a coffee shop for educating people about Bitcoin. There were plenty of people there helping others navigate the technical details; I saw several people obtain their first Bitcoin wallet.

If you're in the Austin area, I would highly advise stopping in and checking it out.

Kevin Ludlow addressing TX NORML from the stage at the Flamingo Cantina

I was approached by TX NORML a few weeks back and asked if I would consider being the speaker at their upcoming monthly business meeting. I excitedly accepted the opportunity.

For those unfamiliar with the group, NORML stands for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. They are a massive national organization with a presence virtually everywhere. They are responsible for shedding light on so many of the problems with drug prohibition in the United States and actively seek candidates who are interested in reversing this nightmare in the country.

As one of those candidates I was honored to speak at the event. There was a pretty sizable crowd; my speech was very well received. I look forward to meeting with them many more times before the election.

Following an interesting series of events, the current incumbent for TX House District 46 acknowledged one of the claims I made about her recently. I created this video in direct response to her and posted the video on both her Facebook and Twitter feeds.

Following one of our canvassing days, a constituent of Ms. Dukes received one of my campaign flyers on her door, photoed it, and posted it to her Twitter feed inquiring about the competition. Dukes didn't respond.

Some of her constituents spent the next couple of weeks on Twitter discussing my claim that she is not as LGBTQ friendly as one might expect an Austin Democrat to be. While she has always shot down bigoted Republican bills aimed at further subjugating gays and lesbians, to the best of my knowledge she has never attempted to introduce legislation actually aimed at marriage equality for Texans. I suspect this is due to the fact that she is "playing politics", but of course this is largely the problem with our entire political apparatus; politicians are more interested in securing their next term than righting obvious injustices.

She eventually weighed in on the conversation. The cited a gay Dallas magazine that had given her accolades for a speech she made against an extremely bigoted Republican bill. The video picks up from that part in the chain of events.

Getting introduced to Gary Johnson at the Libertarian Party National Convention in Columbus, Ohio

I have been an enormous fan of Gary Johnson since he ran for President under the Libertarian ticket back in 2012. Admittedly I did not know a lot about Mr. Johnson when he was the governor of New Mexico, but I wish I had.

I was fortunate enough to see both him and Judge Gray speak on several different occasions throughout the convention. Among many other amazing projects, they are currently pursuing a lawsuit against the Commission on Presidential Debates. While this entity might sound like a public institute, it is actually a private non-profit with massive corporate sponsors. The Woman League of Voters famously denounced the entity when they co-opted the debate process back in the late 1980s. No candidate outside of the Republican and Democrat party has been able to participate in the process since Ross Perot's pseudo-success of 1992.

Canvassing East Austin with some of our new campaign volunteers. From left to right: Fox Buchele, David Coon, Eric Guerra, Kevin Ludlow, Tara Vancil

With the large amount of volunteers we have out on the campaign trail, it's not uncommon for us to go out canvassing several times per week. Today my volunteer coordinator, Tara Vancil, managed to organize some of our newer volunteers. We spent a few hours canvassing East Austin.

To date we have canvassed between 6,000 and 7,000 homes within the district; we have no intention of slowing down between now and November 4th.

Generally speaking we've had very positive reactions to the campaign flyers and have received countless emails, phone calls, and even more volunteers from the process. I am definitely looking forward to continuing our canvassing efforts throughout all of District 46. Our goal is to reach every potential voter at least once.

A cartoon of my political self drawn by the people over at CoinTelegraph. I love cartoons.

Following the success of the AMA on /r/Bitcoin/, a number of independent news agencies around the world picked up the story of my candidacy in Texas. One of those agencies was none other than CoinTelegraph.

I especially liked the article they wrote about the campaign given the fact that they turned me into a cartoon. I mean really, who doesn't want to be drawn in cartoon form?

Aesthetics aside, they gave our campaign wonderful reviews. Specifically, they cited our ability to conduct a very peaceful debate within a digital arena that typically sheds blood across the political spectrum. We've heard this kind of compliment from numerous sources over the past few months of campaigning. I'm overjoyed that we're being able to connect with so many people in so many different parts of the country.

It's always nice to see that the ideas of freedom are still alive and well. I think people are yearning for politicians that will follow through with those ideals in office. I know I'm looking forward to following through with them once I have a shot in the House.

Our second campaign billboard on Interstate-35. This particular billboard was dedicated to the /r/bitcoin/ community on Reddit. We also have a few more images of the billboard available.

Thanks to the wonderful support of the /r/bitcoin/ community, our campaign has now installed a second billboard on the Interstate! This billboard is dedicated explicitly to supporting net-neutrality. It is located on the upperdeck northbound side of IH35 just north of Manor Road.

Unlike our existing billboard just a few miles north, this billboard will only run for a 24-hour period. It is our hope to get Austinites asking questions about net-neutrality any way we can. And of course we're hoping it also drives people to consider our campaign themes of sensible drug policies, equality for the LGBT community, and civil liberties.

Thank you to the amazing and generous people of /r/bitcoin/ who made this billboard possible. Last month's AMA on /r/bitcoin/ drove over 16,000 people to our campaign website! We could not be doing this well without your continued support and exposure!

Thank you again!

Our first campaign billboard! It is located on IH35 northbound just north of the US290 interchange (near the Pappadeauxs)

Thanks to the wonderful and generous support of the Reddit community we have installed our first campaign billboard. The billboard is located on the northbound side of IH35 just north of US290.

The billboard is scheduled to be up for the remainder of the campaign season. Naturally we're hoping it drives people to the campaign's message of sensible drug policies, equality for the LGBT community, and a focus on civil liberties.

Thank you to all of those who contributed to the campaign on April 24th and May 12th. We could not do this without your continued support!

Jacob Lavoro and Kevin Ludlow posing at a local dinner. Jacob is currently facing up to 99 years in prison for baking THC brownies in Williamson County, Texas

Many of you have probably heard about the 19-year-old kid from Round Rock, Texas that is facing up to 99 years in prison for allegedly baking and selling pot brownies. That's him standing next to me in the photo.

The Libertarian Party of Williamson County has been working with Jacob and his family in an effort to help him with his current legal nightmare. The reason he is facing this kind of prison sentence is due to the fact that the district attorney has thus far chosen to weigh the entire amount of material confiscated and declare that the weight of the "illegal substance". Of course this is patently absurd. Included in this weight were eggs, flour, water, chocolate, even the glass bowl, and likely just a few grams of THC.

I have been calling on all Texas State Legislators to speak out against this kind of inhumanity. We are all victims of a vicious state apparatus when this kind of prosecution comes to light. Not only is this a victimless crime, but the situation has been publicly fabricated and few inside of the state seem to care very much at all. It's simply not possible that a district attorney cannot conclude of her own intelligence that there were not several pounds of THC in Jacob's Betty Crocker concoction.

Furthermore, what possible sense does it make to ruin the life of a 19-year-old young man? He'll forever be marked a criminal and if he does serve time, society will be paying for him while simultaneously loosing out on any productive value he would bring to the community (not to mention contributions to the tax base).

As a State Representative I would absolutely love to get involved in situations like this at ground zero. I would proudly attend court proceedings and use whatever influence I could as a legislator to sway an opinion of the court towards a sensible outcome.

A direct link to the radio broadcast can be found here. I come on the air just after the 19:30 mark.

This evening I had the pleasure of being on air with Ryan Dixon and Harlan Deitrich, hosts of The Crypto Show on local Austin station 90.1 FM. Harlan, by the way, is the loveable owner of Brave New Books located at 1904 Guadalupe.

I had been originally invited to participate in a weekly Bitcoin meetup. A friend of mine started the group some time back and had asked me to speak about my campaign. The whole thing was a wonderful experience. It was fun to speak with so many people working on Bitcoin and other Alt-currencies; as a software engineer, I've spent a lot of time in that field myself.

As kind of a bonus to the evening, Ryan Dixon asked if I would be interested in doing a segment on the campaign on The Crypto Show.

Check out this archived episode page for the broadcast I was part of. My interview is the first part of the show and starts just after the 19:30 mark on the MP3 file.

Kevin Ludlow (leftmost), Jake Benson (2nd from right), and Dan Held (rightmost)

Following the success of the /r/bitcoin/ AMA, I was contacted by Dan Held and Jake Benson. Both Dan and Jake are originally from Texas, but have been living in California for awhile now. They are both very active players in the Bitcoin market and moved to San Francisco to work on their respective startups.

Jake is the CEO of a new Bitcoin company called LibraTax and Dan is the co-founder of ZeroBlock and the Director of Product for Blockchain.

The both of them have some pretty cool thoughts on how Bitcoin is going to continue maturing. More specific to my campaign, they also have some good insight on the political future of Bitcoin and the Bitcoin community. LibraTax in particular is an amazingly useful application for keeping up with tax requirements from Bitcoin investments. Although I'm not sure it was designed for this, I am willing to wager it will have a significant application in campaign finance reporting too.

The Bitcoin logo, symbolic of the 16-hour long AMA I participated in on /r/Bitcoin

Following the unprecedented success of the AMA (ask me anything) I did in /r/Austin/, I decided I would try reaching out to a slightly larger audience.

I had a number of leaders in the Bitcoin community reach out to me after the Austin AMA and ask what I would do for Bitcoin as a state legislator. Naturally I am a huge proponent of Bitcoin and absolutely want to see it succeed. It very well may turn out to be that thing that finally requires the dollar to step in line and so I would be willing to take any steps necessary to ensure the government leaves it alone and lets it grow as the market dictates.

Following the success of the previous AMA, I followed the same general formula and posted the following title: I'm running for the Texas State Legislature. I support LGBT rights, pot, and net-neutrality and oppose the NSA and TSA. I also happen to be a long-time Bitcoin enthusiast. I'd love your support.

I did not think for a second that I would be able to top the previous AMA, but I was very wrong. I wound up answering campaign questions from Redditors for more than 16 straight hours. We drove a record 16,000 people to the campaign website in a single day and raised enough money to finally kickstart the campaign into full gear.

From here on out it's pretty clear to me that there is a strong demand for common sense politics in the State of Texas. I intend to remain passionately focused on bringing that message to the constituents of TX House District 46 and am genuinely looking forward to the remainder of the campaign.

In an effort to begin getting the word of my campaign out on social media, I decided to reach out to the Reddit community today. Specifically I was only intending to reach the /r/Austin/ subreddit, but the conversation seems to have spread far beyond what I anticipated.

I posted a link to my website around 11:45am with the following Reddit title: I'm running for State Representative in District 46 (east Austin, north of 7th). I'm pro-pot, pro-gay, pro-open-internet, oppose the TSA, and oppose the NSA. Here's my website. Soon after posting the link I left my office for lunch.

A few messages trickled in while I was eating and I quickly answered them. Twenty or so minutes past that and something started happening that I would have never expected, a full-blown AMA organically developed.

I've always wanted to participate in an AMA and having now completed one can definitely say I enjoyed the process. I had the opportunity to personally converse with more than 600 people. Thankfully I am a pretty fast typist (10fastfingers puts me at 117 WPM) because it was the only way I could provide ongoing and thorough answers to all of the questions pouring in.

When it was all said and done I had answered more than 400 questions, had more than 20 people offer to volunteer themselves to the campaign, drove almost 5,000 people to the campaign website, and even raised several hundred dollars.

The AMA is currently the 29th highest post in /r/Austin/ of all time.

Patrick Dixon addresses the body at the 2014 Libertarian State Convention in Temple, Texas

The recent Libertarian Party State convention in Temple, Texas was a great success. In addition to electing some very intelligent, well-spoken, and qualified people as statewide candidates, we had an opportunity to address the official party platform.

I'm very proud to say that after many hours of debate, the Libertarian Party of Texas has removed any language from its platform that would even hint at the idea of supporting closed borders. As a long-time supporter of open-borders, I was very pleased to see this change adopted and am proud to say I voted for the language.

So as of 2014, the official party language on border control reads as follows:

"The Libertarian Party believes in and encourages free and fair trade among nations which allows the easy exchange of currency, goods, labor, and services."

This was considerably shorter than the platform committee had come back with and I'd like to personally thank Art DiBianca for proposing this particular language.

The Texas Home School Coalition logo. While I initially thought that this organization might be of some interest, it turns out that they're an exceedingly right-wing conservative organization that from what I can tell cares more about restricting the rights of gays and women than supporting home schooling.

On December 12th, 2013 I received an email from the Texas Home School Coalition.

The email read as follows:

To the campaign office of Kevin Ludlow,

No trick questions are asked. Feel free to call our office at 806-744-4441 if any clarifications are needed.

• Please describe your philosophy of government and what practical steps you would take to implement your philosophy.
  
  My philosophy of government is trivial: the government is to be restrained and limited its powers. Individual freedom and choices are the responsibility of the individual, not the government. The government can be (and should be) used an an arbitrator (of sorts) to address grievances between parties. Further legislation need not be created as a result of arbitrated agreements.
  
  Implementation of this philosophy is educational in nature. It would be terribly contradictory to force the implementation of the philosophy I described above.
   
• Which of the following most closely describes your public policy views on social issues?
  
  Social Moderate
   
• Which of the following most closely describes your public policy views on fiscal issues?
  
  Fiscal conservative.
   
• Please add any additional explanation concerning your public policy views.
  
  I think the goal of my public policy views is to shoot for a very hypothetical restrained-government ideal, but to tactfully go after policies that do individual freedom a great harm on a large scale (essentially prioritizing).
   
• Do you believe taxes are too high?
  
  Yes.
   
• Will you vote, under any circumstances, to raise taxes?
  
  No.
   
• If yes, what circumstances?
  
  Never.
   
• Will you work to lower taxes?
  
  Yes.
   
• Will you support the introduction and passage of an amendment to the Texas Constitution requiring a two-thirds majority vote in each house to raise taxes?
  
  Yes.
   
• Do you believe that abortion is the taking of human life?
  
  No.
   
• Do you believe the U.S. Constitution supports the right to have an abortion?
  
  Yes.
   
• Do you support taxpayer funding of abortions?
  
  No.
   
• Do you believe that an unborn child is a person under the 14th amendment to the U.S. Constitution?
  
  No.
   
• Would you vote to prohibit abortion?
  
  No.
   
• Would you vote to prohibit abortion in the case of rape?
  
  No.
   
• Would you vote to prohibit abortion in the case of incest?
  
  No.
   
• Would you vote to prohibit abortion to save the life of the mother?
  
  No.
   
• Briefly explain how your view of abortion might impact your public policy votes.
  
  I am not in favor of abortions and am interested in promoting REAL educational talking points around the topic rather than pursuing the never-ending partisan black/white discussion that we're engaged in.
  
  That said, I do not believe the government should intervene in this matter in any way at all (perhaps other than to provide - or at least promote - the spread of information on the controversial topic).
  
  I will not cater to any religious belief system. I believe that radical left-wing individuals on this topic need be more sympathetic to their counter-believers, and that radical right-wing individuals need to be more pragmatic and compassionate to their counter-believers.
   
• Do you favor adding "sexual orientation" as a protected minority under existing civil rights laws?
  
  Yes.
   
• Do you favor conferring married tax status, health care and other benefits to homosexuals through the legal recognition of homosexual marriages?
  
  Yes.
   
• Do you favor allowing homosexuals to adopt children?
  
  Yes.
   
• Do you favor laws that restrict the production, sale, and distribution of pornography?
  
  No.
   
• Will you work to restore parents’ fundamental constitutional right to direct the care, control and upbringing of their children by amending the Texas Family Code to stop the lawsuit abuse of fit parents under the grandparent access statute as related to HB 2547 in the 83rd Legislative Session?
  
  Yes.
   
• Will you oppose any legislation that would result in the regulation of private and home schools?
  
  No.
   
• Will you oppose legislation which transfers power from the elected State Board of Education to the Commissioner of Education?
  
  Yes.
   
• Will you oppose efforts to change the elected State Board of Education to a board appointed by the Governor?
  
  Yes.
   
• Will you oppose efforts to undermine parental rights in CPS investigations as attempted in SB 1440 in the 81st legislative session?
  
  No.
   
• Will you support legislation allowing home school students to take part in extra-curricular activities at public schools?
  
  Yes.
   
• Would you support legislation to end the use of daytime curfews by cities and counties to circumvent state compulsory attendance laws?
  
  Yes.
   
• Will you support the Second Amendment right to own and bear arms?
  
  Yes.
   
• Do you believe gun control laws reduce crime?
  
  No.
   
• Will you support the death penalty in appropriate cases?
  
  No.
   
• Will you support the decriminalization of drugs?
  
  Yes.
   
• Will you support efforts to have Texas judges appointed instead of elected?
  
  No.
   
• Is there anything else you would like to tell us?
  
  While some questions in this survey may not be "trick questions" as suggested by the introduction, a number of them are simply not black and white (yes vs no) questions.
  
  For example with respect to homosexual marriage, I do not support any type of government intervention of marriage at all. Therefore answering whether I would support homosexual marriage (in essence) is rather misleading for me. I believe all people are given identical rights.
  
  Additionally the question of "Do you believe that abortion is the taking of human life?" is simply NOT a yes/no question. I answered no as it fits the political spectrum from which I believe. Is a 1-day embryo life - NO. Is a 250-day-old fetus life - probably yes. But this does not change my political stance on the matter.
  
  Please call me with any other questions.