Scott Boman

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the former National Hockey League head coach, see Scotty Bowman

Scott ("Scotty") Avery Boman (born April 14, 1962) ^[1][2] has been one of Michigan’s most visible^[3] (and most voted^[4] for) Libertarian politicians since the late 1990s. Boman was the 2006 running mate of Gubernatorial candidate Gregory Creswell in the 2006 Michigan gubernatorial election, and has been a candidate in every state-wide partisan election since 1994 when he ran for State Representative in the 7th district.^[1] While his birth name is “Scott” he has gone by “Scotty” on his literature and in ballot listings.^[5] Also, he became the second Libertarian to be endorsed by the Detroit News, when he competed in the 1997 Detroit City Council general election.^{[6] [7] [8] [9]}

As of January, 2008, Boman has been a member of the Republican Party, and has been actively promoting Republican Presidential candidate Ron Paul by participating in interviews with local media, writing opinion columns, and being an assistant meetup organizer.^[10][11][12]

Contents 1 Early life 2 Political activities prior to 2006 3 2006 Lieutenant Governor candidacy 3.1 Gubernatorial co-candidacy 3.2 Racial preferences 3.3 Civil liberties, prisons and non-violent crime 3.4 Economy 4 Political activities since 2006 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Early life

Boman was son of Democrat politician, and precinct delegate, Ray Howard Boman.^[1] Scott Boman went to grade school at the Detroit Waldorf School^[13], and graduated from Grosse Pointe South High School in 1980. He earned a bachelors of Science in Physics and Philosophy (with a minor in mathematics) from Western Michigan University in 1985. Boman returned to Western Michigan University where he earned his Master of Arts in Physics, and participated in scholarly research ^[14]. In 1999 he earned a MAT in Secondary Education at Wayne State University.^[15][2]

[edit] Political activities prior to 2006

Scott Boman has run for several public offices, and has been elected to leadership positions in a few organizations.^[16]

In 1984 Boman was the founding President of a student social organization at Western Michigan University called ‘’Fellowship of the Purple Cube.’’^[17][18]The organization also organized a protest in support of students who wished to hold an outlawed street party.^[19][17][18] Boman also wrote for the Western Herald ^[20] on this issue and other topics.

In 1994 Boman ran for 7th District State Representative to the Michigan Legislature.^[21] In the same year Boman (along with Emily Salvette and Barb Vozenilek) headed a successful effort to collect 40,700 signatures to restore the Libertarian Party of Michigan's ballot access.^[22]

In 1996 Boman ran for the United States House of Representatives 14th District position^{[23][24][25][26]}

In 1997 Boman became the second Libertarian to be endorsed by the Detroit News, when he ran for member of the Detroit City Council.^[6]

In 1998 he ran for the Wayne State University Board of Governors.^[27]

In 1999 Boman was elected to the Wayne State University Student Council.^[28][29]

He ran again for the Wayne State University Board of Governors in 2000, ^[30] earning more votes than any other minor party candidate, in that election, for any office.^[31][32] His vote total (130,176). This is 46,000 votes more than those cast for the well-known Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader, who's vote total was (84,165).^[33]

In 2002, Boman ran for the State Board of Education^[34][35]

In 2004 the perennial candidate made another run for the State Board of Education^{[36][37][38][39]}

In 2005 he was Vice Chair of the Libertarian Party of Michigan.^[40]

In 2006 Boman was elected to be Chair of the Libertarian Party of Michigan.^[41]

[edit] 2006 Lieutenant Governor candidacy

Main article: Michigan gubernatorial election, 2006

[edit] Gubernatorial co-candidacy

The Granholm and Devos campaigns normally only included a brief mention of the Lieutenant Governor candidate, but Boman shared visibility with the Gubernatorial Candidate Gregory Creswell;^[3] signage contained both of their names in the same Font sizes,^[42] they would both make their candidate profiles available whenever possible, and their hadbills would profile each of them.^[43] They also participated jointly on radio interviews and in radio commercials.^[44][15]

In addition to sharing ballot space and votes, Boman shared many positions on issues with Creswell. This is in some ways predictable since Boman was Chair^[41] of the Libertarian Party of Michigan, at the time, and both candidates closely follow their party’s platform.^[45]

Boman claims to have had the same opinion on many of these issues since he first ran for office as a Libertarian.^[46][2][15]

[edit] Racial preferences

Like Creswell, Boman said his support of the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative (MCRI) was consistent with his opposition to all forms of state-sponsored racial or sexual discrimination. Like Creswell, he spoke in radio commercials that contrasted Libertarians from Democrats and Republicans, by supporting an end to what they called, “racial preferences.”^[16][46][15]

[edit] Civil liberties, prisons and non-violent crime

Boman, like Creswell, held to the notion that people should be free to act as they wish so long as they don’t initiate force against others. He was endorsed by the “Stonewll Libertarians”^[47] for supporting open support of gay rights.^[48] Boman also argued that a respect for civil liberties would eliminate the need for replacing Michigan’s single-business tax. Boman’s alternative was to save money by pardoning people in prison for what he called “victimless crimes,” and an end to state enforcement of drug prohibitions. He focused on medical marijuana as one example of civil liberties worthy of being respected.^[15] He was also a member of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), but choose not to renew his membership in 2006 because of the ACLU opposition to MCRI.^{[49] [50] [51]}

[edit] Economy

Boman also supported a market economy. Both him and Creswell referred to the Macinac Center^[52] when asked for specific ideas on practiocal economic reforms. In general Boman objected to all taxes, but conceded the need to phase them out carefully.^[46][53]

[edit] Political activities since 2006

As of January, 2008, Boman has been a member of the Republican Party. He has been interviewed by Metropolitan Detroit’s major daily newspaper, the Detroit News about his support of Republican Presidential candidate Ron Paul, and cites the Paul candidacy as a reason for becoming a Republican.^[10]

Boman has also encouraged voters to choose Ron Paul in his opinion column,^[11] and has served as an assistant meetup organizer for the The Wayne County Ron Paul Meetup Group.^[12]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• campaign page for Lieutenant Governor campaign
• Scotty Boman's Vote USA Posting
• Greg Creswell's Vote USA Posting.
• Gregory Creswell's early role in placing MCRI on the Ballot
• League of Women Voters Election Guide
• Brass Roots Web page
• Article about early phase of MCRI effort
• Article about Creswell and his running-mate
• Libertarian Party of Michigan Website
• National Libertarian Party website
• University of Michigan Library Reference
• Vote USA Michigan 2006 Election
• International Society for Individual Liberty, Michigan Chapter