Wes Benedict

Wes Benedict
Executive Director Libertarian Party
2013—2018
Predecessor:	Carla Howell
Successor:	Dan Fishman
Executive Director Libertarian Party
2009—2011
Predecessor:	Shane Cory
Successor:	Carla Howell
Personal Details
Residence:	Texas
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Wes Benedict is a former Executive Director for the national Libertarian Party, as well as for the Libertarian Party of Texas. He has served as county chair for the Travis County Libertarian Party.

Background

Benedict graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 1991 with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and graduated from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor with a Masters of Engineering in Manufacturing. He then went on to intern at Intel Corporation and then became a Consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers. After his consultant job, Benedict bought a 1/3 stake in a countertop and marble company and became CEO. He later sold the business and became an activist in the Libertarian Party of Texas (LPT).

Activism

Wes Benedict has run for public office a total of 6 times. He has run for City Council 3 times, County Commissioner 2 times, and County Judge 1 time. He also served as Travis County Chairperson. Also, while serving as LPT executive director, he served as an elected regional representative to the Libertarian National Committee from 2006-2008.

Texas Ballot Access

Because no statewide candidate gained more than 5% of the vote in Texas, the LPT was forced to either get 46,000 valid signatures or lose ballot access. Wes Benedict helped to lead the ballot access drive which became a success after turning in over 82,000 signatures.

LPT Executive Director

With ballot access gained and under new leadership, the LPT hired Wes Benedict as its first executive director. While he was LPT executive director, Benedict was able to accomplish several things including:

• Running 173 candidates, a Texas record
• Helping to get a total of 8 Libertarians elected to non-partisan offices
• Triple donor base in three years to over 900 active donors
• Raise $244,000 for the 2007-2008 elections

LP Executive Director

In 2009, Wes Benedict was hired to become the LP National Executive Director starting on July 17, 2009. During his time as executive director, Benedict helped build the donor and membership base. He also overhauled the website and at the end of the 2nd quarter of 2011, the Libertarian Party had nearly $300,000 on hand. The party also saw the number of candidates increase nationwide. He stepped down at the end of 2011 but returned to the position two years later.

Preceded by: Carla Howell	Libertarian Party Executive Director 2013-2018	Succeeded by: Daniel Fishman
Preceded by: Shane Cory	Libertarian Party Executive Director 2009-2011	Succeeded by: Carla Howell
Preceded by: Rock Howard (as political director)	Libertarian Party of Texas Executive Director 2004-2008	Succeeded by: Robert Butler