Alaska Libertarian Party
The Libertarian Party of Alaska is the affiliate of the Libertarian Party (LP) in Alaska, headquartered in Anchorage, Alaska.
| Alaska Libertarian Party | |
| Region: | 1 |
| Officers | |
| Chair: | Jon Watts |
| Vice-Chair: | Randy Stevens |
| Secretary: | Cean Stevens |
| Treasurer: | Cean Stevens |
| Contact | |
| Address: | 200 W. 34th Ave # 543 Anchorage, AK 99503 |
| Website: | Website |
| Social Media | |
| Facebook: | |
It is the third largest active party in Alaska and has the highest percentage of registered Libertarians of any U.S. state.[1]
Since Libertarian presidential candidates were on the ballot in 1976 Alaska has been a stronghold for Libertarians with it being their best performing state in every election until 1992 and was in the top five except in 2004 and 2008 and many of the first offices held by Libertarians are in Alaska.
Governing Documents
Platform
Bylaws
Constitutions
History
The Alaskan Libertarian Party was founded shortly after the national party and grew to become a stronghold for the new party in the late seventies and throughout the eighties. In 1973 John Hospers and Tonie Nathan, the party's 1972 presidential and vice-presidential nominees, spoke at the party's first state convention in Fairbanks to fifty members of the party.[2][3] During the 1980 Presidential election Ed Clark and Eugene McCarthy both appeared and spoke at their state convention.[4] Two years later the party gained the most votes for a non-write in third party candidate for governor with Dick Randolph receiving 14.91% of the vote and would maintain it until 1990. However, in 1985 Randolph left to run as a Republican in the 1986 gubernatorial election.[5] Despite the success in 1982 the 1986 Alaska gubernatorial election proved to be a failure as the party leadership rejected the primary winner, Mary O'Brannon, and after failing to remove her with a lawsuit due to her failing to meet the residency requirements they instead chose to launch a write-in campaign with the lieutenant governor candidate and runner up in the primary, Ed Hoch, as their candidate.[6][7] O'Brannon defeated Hoch in terms of popular vote with 1,050 against his 107 write-in votes, but she had lost over 14% and 28,000 votes from Randolph's 1982 campaign.[8] Also in 1986 Andre Marrou, the only sitting Libertarian in a state legislature at the time, lost reelection to the state house.[9]
In 1988 the party was successful in placing three legislature candidates on the ballot after the state Supreme Court ruled the filing deadline to be unconstitutional.[10] In 1992 the Alaskan affiliate along with the state's Constitution Party affiliate won a lawsuit against the Alaskan state Elections Division after both of their presidential ballot petitions were rejected.[11]
In 2016, Cean Stevens withdrew after winning the state Libertarian primary to allow Republican Party member and Tea Party favorite nominee of the 2010 U.S. Senate election, Joe Miller her spot on the ticket in the 2016 Senate election and Miller was unanimously approved by the executive board to take Stevens' place.[12] Miller came in second place and garnered nearly 30% of the vote, the highest percentage ever received by a Libertarian U.S. Senate candidate, but did not beat the total vote record established in 2002 Massachusetts Senate election by Michael Cloud.
Historical Addresses
A stamp on a copy of the National Platform 1972 contained within the Alaska Libertarian Party's files has an address of PO Box 87026, College, Alaska, 99701.
Executive Committee
- Leadership (2017)
- Jon Watts, Chair
- Randy Stevens, Vice-Chair
- Cean Stevens, Secretary
- Joel Hadley, Communications Director
- Stephanie Shaeffer, Membership Director
Past Officials and Staff
- Chair
- Grant C LaPoint (c. 1973)
- Maxine A Kelly (c. 1975)
- Lew Beyer (c.1980)
- Len Karpinski (c. 1996)
- Scott Kohlhaas (c. 2011)
- Mark Fish (2012-2014)
- Michael Chambers (2015)
- Robert E. Clift (elected 2015)
- Jason Dowell
- Vice-Chair
- Chuck Green, 2015
- Harley Brown, c. 2011-2014
- Trenton Pool
- Sara Chambers
- Secretary
- Chip Spangler, (c. 2011)
- Stephen Merrill (2012-2014)
- Carolyn Clift (c. 2014)
- Cean Stevens (at least 2015-present)
- Len Karpinski
- Treasurer
- Karen Robinette (2015)
- July Leslie
- Executive Director
- Lynn House (1987-1997)
- Communications Director
- Carolyn Clift (c. 2011)
- Chuck Green (2012-2014)
- Terrence Shanigan (2015)
- Fundraising Director
- Randy Stevens (2015)
- Membership Director
- Dave Lyle (c. 2014)
- Other
- Neal Boyd, elections
- Alan Caruth, webmaster
- Ed Hoch, platform
- Andre Marrou, elections (c. 1983)
- Erinn Marshburn, membership
- Phillip “Logan†Ray, membership
- Chip Spangler, constitution & bylaws
- Billy Toien, nominations
- Ron Windeler, constitution & bylaws
- John Wood platform committee (1982)
Affiliates
Publications
Conventions
- 1973 - held in Fairbanks on February 10th; speakers included John Hospers
- 1974 - held in Anchorage on April 3rd
- 1977 - held April 29th - May 1st; speakers included Bill Rickenbacker, son of Captain Eddie Rickenbacker
- 1980 - held in Anchorage; speakers included Ed Clark, Eugene McCarthy
Elections
Size and Influence
| Year | Minimum Unique Voters |
Minimum Percent Of Voters |
Registered Voters (Oct/Nov) |
Percent of Registered Voters |
Signature Members (Dec) |
Signature Members Per Million Population |
LNC Total Donors 2004 - 2016 Or Active Members 1972 - 2003 (Dec) |
LNC Donors Per Million Population |
State Rank Of Total LNC Donors (Of 51) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 5,402 | 1.90% | 7,442 | 1.30% | 680 | 922 | 77 | 104.42 | 41 |
| 2017 | 7,561 | 1.44% | 710 | 960 | 91 | 123.01 | 39 | ||
| 2016 | 90,825 | 28.27% | 7,557 | 1.43% | 708 | 954 | 92 | 124.01 | 41 |
| 2015 | 7,461 | 1.46% | 671 | 909 | 57 | 77.19 | 39 | ||
| 2014 | 21,290 | 7.46% | 7,182 | 1.41% | 666 | 904 | 66 | 89.58 | 39 |
| 2013 | 7,457 | 1.51% | 650 | 882 | 66 | 89.52 | 41 | ||
| 2012 | 15,028 | 4.98% | 7,719 | 1.52% | 643 | 880 | 69 | 94.38 | 41 |
| 2011 | 8,093 | 1.64% | 629 | 871 | 65 | 89.96 | 43 | ||
| 2010 | 2,682 | 1.04% | 8,984 | 1.81% | 628 | 880 | 63 | 88.25 | 42 |
| 2009 | 8,914 | 1.83% | 624 | 893 | 61 | 87.28 | 42 | ||
| 2008 | 2,483 | 0.76% | 6,926 | 1.39% | 613 | 892 | 71 | 103.28 | 40 |
| 2007 | 8,209 | 1.72% | 602 | 885 | 75 | 110.25 | 38 | ||
| 2006 | 4,029 | 1.69% | 8,787 | 1.88% | 596 | 883 | 55 | 81.45 | 38 |
| 2005 | 9,436 | 2.05% | 573 | 859 | 100 | 149.94 | 36 | ||
| 2004 | 7,157 | 2.28% | 7,258 | 1.53% | 114 | 172.91 | 38 | ||
| 2003 | 7,409 | 1.59% | 121 | 186.61 | 36 | ||||
| 2002 | 3,797 | 1.63% | 7,228 | 1.57% | 115 | 179.03 | 39 | ||
| 2001 | 7,194 | 1.57% | 137 | 216.19 | 37 | ||||
| 2000 | 4,802 | 1.67% | 6,871 | 1.45% | 130 | 207.02 | 40 | ||
| 1999 | 6,752 | 1.49% | 139 | 224.37 | 39 | ||||
| 1998 | 5,046 | 2.22% | 3,226 | 0.71% | 127 | 206.44 | 43 | ||
| 1997 | 109 | 179.03 | 40 | ||||||
| 1996 | 2,276 | 0.93% | 89 | 147.13 | 42 | ||||
| 1995 | 57 | 94.79 | 40 | ||||||
| 1994 | 1,041 | 0.48% | 62 | 103.23 | 35 | ||||
| 1993 | 50 | 83.75 | 35 | ||||||
| 1992 | 1,378 | 0.53% | 59 | 100.50 | 37 | ||||
| 1991 | 70 | 122.96 | 32 | ||||||
| 1990 | 91 | 164.52 | 29 | ||||||
| 1989 | 61 | 111.48 | 33 | ||||||
| 1988 | 5,484 | 2.70% | 63 | 116.24 | 26 | ||||
| 1987 | |||||||||
| 1986 | 4,253 | 2.33% | |||||||
| 1985 | |||||||||
| 1984 | 6,378 | 2.99% | 1,282 | 0.42% | |||||
| 1983 | |||||||||
| 1982 | 29,067 | 14.58% | |||||||
| 1981 | |||||||||
| 1980 | 19,317 | 11.88% | |||||||
| 1979 | |||||||||
| 1978 | 7,722 | 5.95% | |||||||
| 1977 | |||||||||
| 1976 | 6,785 | 5.31% | |||||||
| 1975 | |||||||||
| 1974 | 55 | 0.06% | |||||||
| 1973 | |||||||||
| 1972 | 68 | 0.07% |
External Links
References
| State Organizations of the National Libertarian Party | ||
|---|---|---|
| ||
- ↑ Winger, Richard (September 6, 2016). "Colorado Libertarian Registration Exceeds 1%; First Time any Libertarian Registration That High in Any State, Except in Alaska". Ballot Access News. http://ballot-access.org/2016/09/06/colorado-libertarian-registration-exceeds-1-first-time-any-libertarian-party-registration-in-any-state-except-in-alaska/. Retrieved September 7, 2016.
- ↑ "Hospers featured speaker for Libertarian meeting". https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31148439/fairbanks_daily_newsminer/.
- ↑ "Libertarian leader explains difference at confab here". https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31148481/fairbanks_daily_newsminer/.
- ↑ "Alaska Libertarian Party 1980 convention". https://www.newspapers.com/clip/2310894/alaska_libertarian_party_1980_convention/.
- ↑ "Libertarian Leader Quits Party; Seeking GOP Nod For Governor in '86". https://apnews.com/d6550b0179ea3d33d2a2a1c53e80c90c.
- ↑ "Alaska Libertarian Party launches write-in against Libertarian Party primary victor 1986". https://www.newspapers.com/clip/2312064/alaska_libertarian_party_launches/.
- ↑ "Former Libertarian in Jail Over Ads". Daily Sitka Sentinel. March 17, 1986. https://web.archive.org/web/20190626121018/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/33258687/daily_sitka_sentinel/. Retrieved June 26, 2019.
- ↑ "1986 Gubernatorial General Election Results - Alaska". Alaska Division of Elections. Archived from the original on 2 September 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20090902154442/http://www.elections.alaska.gov/results/86GENR/86genr.pdf. Retrieved 2009-08-31.
- ↑ "Libertarians Lose". Daily Sitka Sentinel. November 5, 1986. https://web.archive.org/web/20190626115815/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/33258499/daily_sitka_sentinel/. Retrieved June 26, 2019.
- ↑ "Judge: Libertarians Should be on Ballot". Daily Sitka Sentinel. September 13, 1988. https://web.archive.org/web/20190626121403/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/33258721/daily_sitka_sentinel/. Retrieved June 26, 2019.
- ↑ "Libertarian, Taxpayers Parties to be on Ballot?". Daily Sitka Sentinel. September 22, 1992. https://web.archive.org/web/20190626120613/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/33258649/daily_sitka_sentinel/. Retrieved June 26, 2019.
- ↑ Herz, Nathaniel (September 6, 2016). "Joe Miller to run as Libertarian in hopes of unseating US Sen. Lisa Murkowski". Alaska Dispatch News. Alaska Dispatch News. https://web.archive.org/web/20160923030904/http://www.adn.com/politics/2016/09/06/joe-miller-to-run-as-libertarian-in-hopes-of-unseating-us-sen-lisa-murkowski/. Retrieved September 7, 2016.