The announcement Wednesday by the Kansas Democratic Party that anti-abortion activist Randall Terry isn’t eligible to be on the party’s April 14 caucus ballot won’t deter the Democratic presidential candidate’s White House bid.
“This is nothing but a suppression of free elections by the DNC (Democratic National Committee),” said Gary Boisclair, a Terry volunteer. “We are going to continue to campaign.”
Boisclair, who said he is part of the Terry advance team, stopped by the Great Bend Tribune Thursday afternoon on his way to meet Terry in Cheyenne. Wy., for campaign appearances.
“We have lawyers working on this,” he said. They are willing to sue state or national Democratic committees.
The Kansas Democratic Party determined that the 52-year-old Terry is not a bona fide Democrat and won’t be awarded any delegates from the party’s caucuses.
Terry, the West Virginia resident and founder of Operation Rescue, is seeking the Democratic nomination for president. His supporters were setting up Kansas campaign headquarters Wednesday in Wichita.
But Kansas Democratic Party attorney Joe Sandler says the party’s delegate selection rules only recognize candidates who have demonstrated a commitment to the party’s goals and objectives.
Sandler said Terry also missed two state deadlines and submitted his application only days ago.
The state party issued a brief statement saying Terry’s name won’t be on the caucus ballot. “After reviewing our Kansas Delegate Selection Plan and conferring with our attorney regarding Mr. Terry’s application, the KDP has determined that Randall Terry does not meet the established requirements for presidential caucus candidates and therefore cannot be placed on the ballot. These established guidelines apply to all candidates and are mandatory requirements for placement on the Kansas Democratic Party Presidential Caucus ballot.”
However, Terry says he meets legal and party requirements to be a candidate.
Additionally, his participation in the Alaska Democratic presidential district caucuses was also rejected Wednesday. Patti Higgins, the state Democratic chairperson, told Terry the National Democratic Party had determined he is not eligible to run as a candidate for the Democratic nomination.
“They picked a fight,” Boisclair said. “We’ve done everything right.”
The actions of the Kansas and Alaska Democratic establishments resulted from pressure applied by the DNC, Boisclair said. “They say we don’t stand behind the goals of the Democratic Party.”
This is funny, he said. “The Democratic Party has always said it fights for the little guy. We are fighting for the littlest guy.”
The candidate received 18 percent of the vote in Oklahoma’s Democratic primary earlier this month and could claim at least one delegate under party rules. He was hoping to do better in a conservative state like Kansas.
Terry announced his candidacy in January 2011, and on Jan. 21 of this year, held news conferences in Wichita and Salina announcing the opening of Kansas campaign headquarters in Wichita.
Two-pronged campaign
Terry has two main goals as a presidential candidate, Boisclair said.
“First, he wants to push abortion to the front of the stage” and protect unborn babies from conception until birth. “The second goal is to bring about the defeat of the current president.”
It has been a long-time dream of Terry’s to become president, Boisclair said. He has stands on energy policy (believing oil money is funding terrorism), the threat of Islam and monetary policy (all entitlement programs should be phased out). “His platform is well thought-out.
“We’re the slave labor force,” Boisclair said of tax-paying Americans. “Our forefathers didn’t come here for a safety net, they came for freedom.”
A television ad campaign ready to launch, including some graphic and disturbing footage. Terry sees these as offensive, but necessary to force the abortion issue. “Hate the pictures, but hate the injustice more,” Boisclair said.
Terry hopes to sway just enough Catholic and evangelical voters who voted for President Obama in 2008 to cast ballot for him to bring defeat the president. “This is not a game for him.”
Background
Terry is a New York native and attended Elim Bible Institute, Lima, N.Y. starting in 1981. He then earned a bachelor’s degree from Whitfield College School of Religion in 1995. He also attended Empire State College, State University of New York, with a communications concentration in 2006. He has since studied diplomacy and terrorism.
He is married to Andrea Sue Kollmorgen, having divorced his first wife Cindy Dean in 2001. He has two grown daughters and two grown adopted children.
Terry was the owner of Great Buy Used Cars in Binghamton, N.Y., when in 1986 he planned Operation Rescue with the Rev. Daniel J. Little, his pastor from the Church at Pierce Creek. He served as director of Operation Rescue through 1990. He is currently head of the Society for Truth and Justice based out of Purgitsville, W.Va.
He ran unsuccessful for the Florida State Senate in 2005 and for the U.S. House of Representatives from New York in 1999.
Since 1986, he has been arrested 50 times for his activism. He is best known in Kansas for organizing the massive 1991 Summer of Mercy abortion protests in Wichita and has written five books.
Other declared Democratic candidates include:
• President Barack Obama
• Darcy Richardson, born 1955, progressive activist, author, historian, blogger, and Democratic Party strategist from Florida.
• Jim Rogers, born 1935, retired college professor, from Oklahoma.
• Vermin Supreme, performance artist, from Massachusetts.
