February 2026
Celebrating Ayn Rand
Hello Liberty Lovers of Riverside County!
If you would like an essay featured in the Liberty Letter, or if you read or watched something awesome that you think should be in the Suggested Reading of one of these newsletters, reach out to us at admin@rclp.us and let’s chat!
These emails may be too long for some email inboxes. If so, scroll to the bottom to find a link to read them in your browser (and don’t be afraid to click through to like and comment at Substack directly). All the contact information you need is also at the bottom.
From the Chair
Alisa Zinoviena Roenbaum is most famously known as Ayn Rand, founder of Objectivism, author, and philosopher. Some of you may have read The Fountainhead or Atlas Shrugged. Today we celebrate her 121st birthday. Her ideas strongly intersected with libertarianism, particularly in her advocacy of minimal government, individual liberty, and free markets, though she famously rejected the libertarian label itself, viewing the movement as philosophically inconsistent.
While many libertarians credit Rand with shaping their political outlook, her uncompromising moral framework and sharp critiques of both conservatism and libertarianism have made her a controversial influence. Despite ongoing debate, her work remains a significant touchstone in discussions of individualism, capitalism, and the philosophical roots of libertarian ideas.
So, was she right or was she wrong about the movement being philosophically inconsistent? How do you feel about your Libertarian Party? As the new Chair of the Riverside County Libertarian Party, I challenge you to come up with an idea on how we can prove her wrong. Any and all ideas are accepted and appreciated. You need to be a part of this. California needs us now more than ever. I’m counting on you. You can do it, you’ve got this.
–Wendy Hewitt
In the News: Your 2026 RCLP Officers
At the January convention the RCLP elected new officers. Old friends are back, and new faces have joined. Here they are!
Chair: Wendy Hewitt
As the new Chair of the Riverside County Libertarian party I am proud to say I have been very involved in the Libertarian party for several years. I have served in many positions. I have also been elected to my local City Council and plan on running again for other positions. I believe it is important to stay involved with your local government and to show up and speak out. I am serving as Chair to help my friends and neighbors stand up for freedom, choice and responsibility.
Vice Chair: Mitchell Pearce
Maggie Pearce is the name of the angel inhabiting a woman’s body that I’m married to. Maggie grew up in Communist China. We were introduced by one of my patients after she arrived here on an H-1 visa. She received her bachelor’s of accounting having learned it in English while she was still in China. She founded what became our company in 2001.
Fed up with the decades long push toward America’s insolvency by the Socialists and Communists among the Democrats and the invertebrates among the Republicans, I’ve taken refuge and placed my hopes in the Libertarian Party. Had I actually known the Party during the George W years, I would have been Libertarian since then. Better late (2022) than never. I bring non-profit board, 40 years of teaching and practicing chiropractic, nutrition, and Asian medicine; 20 years of real estate broker; and 10 years of litigation experience as a certified paralegal. My advocacy experience includes breaking the boycott of chiropractors by hospitals, imaging centers, laboratories and Kaiser Permanente in northern California in 1982-1987 and preserving the California scope of chiropractic 1993-2002. As my sons take up the defense of liberty against our enemies outside the US; I now, using the tools of USgeocoder LLC, persuasion and politics, take it up against those within.
Vice Chair: Vincent Puccio
Vincent Puccio is a former Chairman of the Riverside County Libertarian Party and a resident of Riverside County since the 1990s.
Secretary: Loren Dean
I grew up in the city of Riverside and have always called it my hometown. Nevertheless, I spent 15 years working out of state, mostly in Oklahoma, where I discovered the Libertarian party around 2013 and realized it fit my own general contrariness quite nicely. I returned to the land of my people, my beloved Inland Empire, in late 2019 to remarry and start a new chapter of my life. I got connected with the RCLP (at a meetup in the fabled back room of Bob’s Big Boy in Calimesa, IYKYK) and started volunteering to help. Now I can’t stop, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Treasurer: Marcus Schuff
I grew up in Temecula and graduated from Linfield Christian High School. I served in the US Army and was deployed with Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. I attended Mt. San Jacinto College and North Dakota State University where I studied Liberal Arts, Humanities, New Media and Web Design. I became a libertarian during Ron Paul’s presidential run in 2008, and I was a Ron Paul Delegate in North Dakota in 2012. I have been back in Temecula since 2020 where I want to continue the fight for liberty. I own and operate my own small business developing websites and apps. I am an avid Scuba Diver and hold seven dive certifications, and I am working towards a Master Scuba Diver Certification.
More Suggested “Reading” This Month
(It’s not always reading; it’s the internet, you know how it is)
Our utterly ridiculous State Assemblything, Corey Jackson, is proposing his latest genius plan: a “special program” to promote EV manufacturing in Riverside County. Corey, you know what would be super great instead? Cutting regulation so business can just happen, not creating a new wing of the state bureaucracy to talk about it. Read the Press-Enterprise try to praise Jackson for his very smart bill here (and click through there to find a link to the actual bill, which is in fact astonishingly stupid): https://www.pressenterprise.com/2026/01/26/could-inland-empire-become-the-detroit-of-ev-manufacturing/
Or if you don’t subscribe to the PE, just read the truly amazing AB 72 here (or what there is of it now, in all its gut-and-amend absurdity): https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB72
What kind of regulation might be worth cutting? This kind. Want California to be more like Europe, Corey? Beat them to the implementation of this idea:
https://thetorch.media/ is an independent Libertarian web portal publishing articles from all across the spectrum of liberty-loving thought. They’re worth a look.
https://news.lp.org/ is the website for the Libertarian Party news portal. Check it out, subscribe there for updates, and check out how to contribute yourself!
Calendar Notes
As always, bookmark and regularly check our website for the most up-to-date event details: https://rclp.us
2 February: Ayn Rand’s birthday
Salute!
14-15 February 2026: LPCA state convention
The 2026 annual convention of the Libertarian Party of California will be held over Presidents Day Weekend, at the Handlery Hotel in San Diego. Find the details here: https://ca.lp.org/convention/
You can make a reservation at the convention hotel, either by phone or online. The online portal is here: https://reservations.handlery.com/sd/book/dates-of-stay?groupID=4961907
If you would prefer to register by phone, call the hotel directly at 619-298-0511 or 800-676-6567. Mention “LP of California” to see if they still have rooms in our discounted block.
21-25 May 2026: LNC Convention
This is the national big one, this time in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Registration is open at https://www.lnc2026.com/
Voter Registration and Party Membership
If you vote, be sure your registration is Libertarian. Whether you vote or not, stay abreast of your registration details on the California Secretary of State page at this link: https://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/cavoter
Being a registered Libertarian voter certainly allows you to call yourself a real libertarian. However, there is more you can do. You can join the national Libertarian Party as a “sustaining member” by signing the membership application statement and paying dues to the national organization. Note that while paying dues at the state level (California) makes you a local “central committee member,” national membership is separate.
Join with this online form: https://lpca.app.neoncrm.com/forms/join
Join us in taking a stand for a world set free!
Find us on the web at https://rclp.us
Email us at admin@rclp.us
LPCA Discord server: https://discord.gg/wfXzapGsTd
LNC Discord server: https://discord.gg/fxdH2bre