The Maryland Libertarian Party will offer a full slate of candidates for federal office this November, including nominees for each of Marylands eight seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The partys certification, which required more than 10,000 signatures, was confirmed last week by the State Board of Elections.

This is our third general election where weve run close to a full slate for federal office, said Robert Johnston, the partys state chairman. Johnston credited the growing popularity of U.S. Rep. Ron Paul (R) of Texas and dissatisfaction with Americas recent history of wars and government bailouts with pushing libertarian principles into the mainstream.

In addition to a presidential ticket featuring former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson and running mate Jim Gray, a retired California judge, the Maryland Libertarian slate will include Senate candidate I. Dean Ahmad of Bethesda, who is challenging Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin (D).

The partys other candidates include congressional hopefuls Muir Boda of Salisbury, who is running in the states 1st Congressional District; Leo Dymowski of Dundalk in District 2; Paul Drgos of Pasadena in District 3; Scott Soffen of Ellicott City in District 4; Arvin Vohra of Bethesda in District 5; Nickolaus Mueller of Baltimore in District 6; Ronald Owens-Bey of Baltimore in District 7 and Mark Grannis of Chevy Chase in District 8.

In 2008, 7,040 Libertarian voters turned out for the presidential election, while 3,140 turned out for the gubernatorial election in 2010, according to reports from the State Board of Elections.

dleaderman@gazette.net

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Gazette.Net: Libertarians will appear on Maryland ballot