Libertarian Party

Libertarian Party
General Information
Chartered:	December 11, 1971
Officers
Chair:	Nicholas Sarwark
Vice-Chair:	Arvin Vohra
Secretary:	Alicia Mattson
Treasurer:	Tim Hagan
Contact
Address:	1444 Duke St. Alexandria, Virginia 22314
Website:	Website
Social Media
Facebook:	Facebook
Twitter:	Twitter

The Libertarian Party is a United States political party founded in 1971. The LP is the largest third party in the United States.

The Libertarian Party was founded on the basic ideas of Libertarianism. This philosophy is rooted in the Non-Aggression Principle and ideas such as Self-Ownership, The Ownership of Property, and the Objectivist notion of man as a heroic being.

Founded in one man's house among friends, the LP has grown to considerable size, reaching more than 4 million votes in a presidential election, and is the first party to have a female candidate on its presidential ticket receive an electoral vote. In 2006, over 13,400,000 votes were cast for Libertarian candidates.

The LP runs on a grassroots Jeffersonian ideal where individuals take the stand. The party has people from all political breeds, and has many variations on it's main ideas, yet the major ideas hold true.

History

In 1971, the Committee to Form a Libertarian Party was established to determine if a new political party was needed, or if one of the existing political parties was a suitable. It has been documented that Richard Nixon's 90 day price and wage freeze in August of that year was a deciding factor in the decision to form the LP.

On 11 December, the committee pulled the trigger, and the committee was replaced by the Libertarian Party. Notice was published in Reason Magazine and possibly other places, which helped efforts to bootstrap the party going into its First National Convention.

At the Denver convention, Ed Carlson proposed a Statement of Principles, and the final draft was a minor variation of one proposed by John Hospers. It was expected that other planks would be routinely removed from the platform as they ceased to be timely or relevant. The Libertarian National Committee was set up, Susan Nolan was elected national chair, and the first national ticket was John Hospers for President and Tonie Nathan for Vice President.

While the Libertarian Party soon discovered the hard way how difficult it was to get on ballots, its presence on two states was adequate to attract the attention of an unhappy Republican elector, Roger MacBride, who gave the Hospers/Nathan ticket his vote, making Tonie Nathan the first woman and the first ethnic Jew to receive an electoral vote.

Timeline

1971

Libertarian Party is founded December 11th, in the home of David Nolan. Disillusioned Republicans, Democrats and political newcomers hope to create an alternative to the old parties.

1972

First national convention held in June in Denver, Colorado. John Hospers, a philosophy professor at the University of Southern California, is nominated as presidential candidate. LP vice presidential candidate Tonie Nathan becomes the first woman in U.S. history to receive an electoral vote.

1975

National convention in New York City. Roger MacBride is nominated as the LP's presidential candidate, David Bergland as his running mate.

1976

MacBride achieves ballot status in 32 states, and receives over 170,000 votes.

1978

Ed Clark receives 5% of the vote in his race for Governor of California.

Dick Randolph of Alaska becomes the first elected Libertarian state legislator.

1979

Presidential nominating convention held in Los Angeles. Ed Clark and David Koch named as presidential and vice presidential candidates.

Permanent ballot status achieved in California as more than 80,000 voters register Libertarian.

1980

Ed Clark appears on the ballot in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Guam, and receives almost one million votes. His campaign runs extensive national television ads and offers many Americans their first look at what the LP has to offer. Many in the media recognize the LP for the first time as a serious political force.

Dick Randolph is re-elected to Alaska state legislature. Ken Fanning, also running as a Libertarian, is elected to Alaska legislature.

1982

Louisiana congressional candidate James Agnew receives 23% of the vote. Alaska gubernatorial candidate Dick Randolph receives 15% of the vote. Arizona gubernatorial candidate Sam Steiger receives 5% of the vote.

1983

David Bergland is nominated in New York City as the LP's presidential candidate. Jim Lewis is his running mate.

1984

On the ballot in 39 states, David Bergland and Jim Lewis come in third in the race for President for the first time in the LP's history. Bergland publishes Libertarianism in One Lesson, a campaign book that eventually sells over 75,000 copies, and is still used by the LP today as an introductory text.

Andre Marrou becomes the third Libertarian elected to the Alaska legislature.

Libertarians are elected to 11 more local offices around the country.

1986

More than 200 candidates across the United States receive 2.9 million votes. Ray Cullen, candidate for Treasurer in California, gets 570,000 votes, largest vote total ever for a third party candidate in California.

1987

Doug Anderson is elected Elections Commissioner in Denver. Libertarians are elected to every seat on the city council in Big Water, Utah.

Former U.S. Congressman Ron Paul resigns from the Republican Party and joins the LP.

Seattle convention nominates Ron Paul for President and Andre Marrou for Vice President.

1988

Ron Paul, on the ballot in 46 states and the District of Columbia, comes in third, receiving more than 430,000 votes nationwide -- almost twice the total of any other "third" party.

1990

Approximately two million people vote for LP candidates.

Election Day is "Double Digit Day," as numerous LP candidates for U.S. Congress and state house draw percentage numbers in teens, twenties, and thirties.

New Mexico state legislature candidate Illa Mae Bolton gets 31% of the vote. California congressional candidate Joe Shea receives 27% of the vote.

A 5% vote for New Hampshire gubernatorial candidate Miriam Luce qualifies LP of New Hampshire as an official party with ballot status.

More than 440,000 Texans vote for Court of Criminal Appeals candidate Carol Caul.

More Libertarian candidates win election in local races -- city council, school board, etc.

1991

New Hampshire state legislators Calvin Warburton and Finlay Rothhaus resign from the Republican Party and join the LP.

Chicago nominating convention names Andre Marrou and Nancy Lord as presidential/vice presidential ticket.

1992

In New Hampshire's presidential primary election Andre Marrou beats incumbent President George Bush 11 votes to 9 in Dixville Notch, the town whose voters always vote first in the nation.

In the general election, four Libertarian state legislators are elected in New Hampshire, with Don Gorman and Andy Borsa joining Warburton and Rothhaus who were re-elected.

Once again the LP's presidential ticket is on the ballot in all 50 states, D.C., and Guam, the only party other than the Democrats and Republicans to achieve this goal.

The more than 700 LP candidates nationwide receive more than 3,700,000 votes for state and federal offices alone. The 23 Libertarian candidates for U.S. Senate receive over 1,000,000 votes, the highest total for a nationally organized third party since 1914.

The LP retains ballot status in 16 states following the 1992 election, two more than it had after the 1988 election.

1993

National Director Stuart Reges testifies before Congress, endorsing legislation to make it easier for third party candidates to participate in presidential debates.

In "off-year" elections, 15 Libertarians win public office, scoring victories in local and county races across the country from Alabama to New York, from Pennsylvania to Minnesota.

Miriam Luce is appointed to the New Hampshire State Liquor Commission, Bonnie Flickinger wins election as Mayor of Moreno Valley, California, and Dr. Jimmy Blake wins a seat on the City Council in Birmingham, Alabama.

1994

In New Hampshire, Jim McClarin becomes the most recent Libertarian elected to a state legislative slot; incumbent Don Gorman is re-elected. Elsewhere, Libertarians are elected to city council positions and local boards. Montana Libertarian candidate receives more than 30% for a statewide office.

Libertarians win ballot status for 1996 in Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, and Wyoming. Coming out of this election, the LP is now automatically qualified to nominate a presidential candidate in 23 states, the most ever.

1995

Membership and voter registrations soar to record levels. The LP moves its national headquarters into the prestigious Watergate Office Building, which the Wall Street Journal dubs "a sign of the times" of the party's growing stature.

In November, three more Libertarians are elected to city councils: Bruce Van Buren (Avondale Estates, Georgia), Dewayne Methaney (Auburn, Georgia), and Doug Carlsten (Brighton, Colorado.)

1996

The Libertarian Party becomes the first third party in American history to earn ballot status in all 50 states two presidential elections in a row. At the nominating convention in Washington, DC, best-selling author Harry Browne gets the party's nomination. He goes on to win 485,759 votes in the general election, the second-best showing in party history.

The party runs almost 800 candidates for office, and 10 of them break the 100,000-vote barrier. LP candidates for statewide and federal office alone win 5.4 million votes, and seven Libertarians are elected or re-elected to office.

1997

Another record-setting "off-year" election for the Libertarian Party, with 39 Libertarians elected to office in November -- including four city council winners: Fred Collins (Berkley, Michigan); Ron Wittig (New Meadows, Idaho); Bob DeBrosse (Piqua, Ohio); and John Gearhart (Palous, Washington). In all, 64 party members join the ranks of Libertarian office-holders during the course of the year.

1998

African-American civil rights leader Roy Innis and talk radio powerhouse Art Bell join the party. In California, Art Olivier becomes mayor of Bellflower, while in Georgia, Dewayne Metheny is elevated to acting mayor of Auburn.

In November, the party sets a new record by running 853 candidates in 44 states. Neil Randall wins election as a State Rep. in Vermont, while Zenneth Caudill and Mary Dufour win partisan office as Jefferson Township Trustees in Indiana. In all, 19 LP candidates are elected.

1999

The party breaks new ground in political activism with its Internet-based campaign against the FDIC's "Know Your Customer" bank spying regulation. After being flooded by 250,000 complaints, the FDIC withdraws the plan.

Party founder David Nolan is named one of the "2,000 Outstanding Intellectuals of the 20th Century" by the International Biographical Centre in England. Fourteen Libertarians are elected to office in local Spring elections, and more than 200 Libertarian candidates are on the ballot in state and local elections in November.

2000

A "Boycott Nosy Census Questions" campaign during the spring generates national newspaper, radio, and TV publicity for the party.

The number of registered Libertarian voters passes 224,000, a 10% increase in less than a year. Folksinger Melanie joins the party. A Rasmussen Research poll reveals that 16% of Americans are ideologically libertarian.

During the year, Libertarians win two Supreme Court cases: Striking down California's "blanket primary" and ending Indiana's random drug-search roadblocks.

The Anaheim, California convention nominates Harry Browne for president and former Bellflower, CA mayor Art Olivier for VP. They head a ticket of 1,436 LP candidates, including 256 candidates for U.S. House -- the first time in 80 years a third party has contested a majority of Congressional seats.

In one of the closest elections in American history, the LP presidential ticket gets 382,892 votes. However, 34 Libertarians are elected to office, Massachusetts U.S. Senate candidate Carla Howell wins a record 11.9% of the vote, and the LP's candidates for U.S. House win 1.6 million votes -- a new record for any third party.

2001

It was the most successful year ever for Libertarians as they elected 96 people to public office. The number of Libertarians in elective office increased to 301, a jump of 45% in a single year; and the total number of Libertarians in public office rose to 522.

Newspapers and political websites published a whopping 141 Libertarian opinion pieces during the year –- an increase of 200% over the previous year’s 46 publications.

On December 11 the Libertarian Party celebrated its 30th anniversary. The Party has grown from a handful of people meeting in David Nolan’s living room to hundreds of elected officials, thousands of candidates, tens of thousands of contributors, hundreds of thousands of registered voters –- millions of Libertarian voters.

2002

The Libertarian Party ran more than 1,642 candidates – the largest slate of candidates ever for the Libertarian Party and the largest for any third party since World War II. That’s almost twice as many as the 845 candidates the Party ran in 1998.

US House candidates polled over 1 million votes for the second time in two election cycles making the Libertarian Party the only other party in history to do so other than Democrats and Republicans.

The “Incumbent Killer” strategy was used to control elections the LP could not yet win. It led to the defeat of Republican Congressman Bob Barr and Democratic Senator Max Cleland. It was also credited with controlling the outcome of the governor’s races in Alabama, Wisconsin, and Oregon, and the US Senate race in South Dakota.

Massachusetts Libertarians gathered 101,000 signatures to put a measure eliminating the state income tax on the ballot. On Election Day voters sent shock waves through the media-political establishment when, even with heavy opposition from Democrats and Republicans, 45 percent of the electorate supported it.

2003

The Libertarian Party clawed its way out of a $400,000 debt helped along by the recession and the aftermath of the September 11 terror attacks and into financial solvency.

Even though it was an off-year election, the LP racked up 46 victories –- over half of them coming in higher level offices such as city and county council, increasing the upward march of Libertarian office-holders. In Michigan, Libertarians were re-elected to city council seats and in 5 states Republican and Democrat incumbents were booted from theirs. As 2003 drew to a close, over 600 Libertarians were serving in public office nationwide.

The LP also saved taxpayers more than $2.1 billion in a single day, defeating: a $1.3 billion sales tax hike in Florida, a proposal to finance a light-rail system and other transportation boondoggles in Arizona, a grocery tax in Colorado, and a property tax hike in Santa Clara County, California.

2004

Party membership rebounded with an increase of 4.5 percent over 2003.

The Libertarian Party nominated Michael Badnarik as their 2004 presidential nominee during the national convention in Atlanta. The LP presidential campaign unveiled Project New Mexico, where they would find a swing state with an inexpensive media market and saturated it with a 10-day ad blitz. After the completion of Project New Mexico, Badnarik's poll numbers quickly rose 5 percent.

American voters were able to vote for the Libertarian Party candidate in 48 states. This led all third parties: Ralph Nader got on only 39 ballots, the Constitution Party got on 35 and the Greens, just 27.

The Libertarian Party generated considerable media attention. In an October 24th New York Times column, John Tierney gave a lengthy mention of Michael Badnarik's campaign.

Four days later, Badnarik appeared on MSNBC's "Countdown" show, where he reached a national audience to push the libertarian message.

2005

In June the Libertarian Party released the "Iraq Exit Strategy: America's Path Forward", a comprehensive plan to withdraw American troops from Iraqi soil, while empowering the Iraqi people with the ability to rule their own nation.

In August the LP transitioned from a members-based organization to a donors-based organization with the passage of the Zero Dues Resolution. The party's new focus will be electing Libertarians to office. This move proved to be highly controversial within the party.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the Libertarian Party did its part to help out the relief effort by "adopting" the town of Franklin, Louisiana. The LP national office was in contact with Franklin's community leaders to determine their specific needs. A call was put out to members across the country who responded with their own aid.

Party Logos

• 

  "Libersign" Logo, adopoted at the 1972 Convention

• 

  Logo used prior to 2015

• 

  "Torch Eagle" logo used since 2015

Party Registration

Voter registration statistics as reported by various state government web sites, Ballot Access News, and dehnbase.org/lpus/library/registration.html

	1980	1982	1984	1986	1988	1990	1992	1994	1996	1998	2000	2002	2004	2006	2008	2010	2012	2014	2016
Alabama
Alaska			1,282							3,226	6,871	7,228	7,258	8,787	6,926	8,984	7,719	7,182	7,557
Arizona	2,839	3,721	3,965		4,937	4,632	5,299	7,574	18,418	17,466	12,576	14,259	18,261	17,446	18,153	24,382	22,086	26,589	31,358
Arkansas																			322
California	86,193	73,442	64,299	53,267	49,075	50,782	71,148	69,951	77,675	82,079	94,937	90,495	89,617	84,093	83,574	91,111	108,736	120,804	139,805
Colorado			576	753	1,033	1,258	1,660	1,945	2,420	3,201	4,259	5,543	6,078	6,555	11,075	10,549	19,585	26,746	37,880
Connecticut							29		70	149	653	741	789	840	987	1,295	1,603	1,780	2,561
Delaware	198		227			166	344	466	566	648	738	762	776	756	756	858	908	1,116	1,519
D. C.																		401	918
Florida	650				1,336	1,516	2,909	3,585	5,509	7,037	9,462	11,852	13,806	15,533	16,883	17,888	19,892	23,665	28,287
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho																	1,312	3,856	5,229
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa															762	1,416	2,203	4,632	8,366
Kansas						531	4,204	5,508	9,829	9,773	9,973	9,416	9,432	9,038	9,786	10,088	11,373	12,993	13,586
Kentucky														341	997	1,661	2,615	4,418	7,456
Louisiana	175		219				325	360		691	1,016	1,170	1,432	2,541	2,669	3,877	6,889	10,478	14,088
Maine							1,048												5,388
Maryland	328		350				2,692		3,785		4,021	6,578	2,626	4,390	7,058	8,996	11,289	14,771	19,343
Massachusetts							204	333	8,157	7,610	16,071	20,578	23,900	19,253	12,534	15,857	13,336	10,920	8,846
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska	214						194		234	64	1,790	3,405	4,717		453	320	3,117	5,719	11,214
Nevada	676	1,003	673	692	739	1,125	2,315	2,847	3,833	4,819	4,715	4,891	6,240	6,088	6,776	6,807	8,448	9,739	13,381
New Hampshire							3,289	3,330	3,207	3,207
New Jersey												208	448	543	1,023	1,387	1,899	2,490	5,391
New Mexico	123		190							1,407	1,183	3,787	4,974	2,805	2,172	2,240	3,541	3,129	5,714
New York													362	1,061	1,545	2,680	3,874	5,376	7,128
North Carolina	489		560				677	1,472	2,585	4,754	6,909	8,903	12,831		3,637	9,254	19,347	25,651	32,097
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma	875		444						141		703	286	689						3,599
Oregon							3,800		10,102	11,946	13,663	12,929	16,971	15,330	13,736	13,469	15,434	17,825	19,065
Pennsylvania								4,408	13,770	23,095	30,248		34,258	36,070	36,509	38,031	36,353	47,501	48,966
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota							346	469	656	924	1,074	1,148	1,091	1,157	1,059	1,080	1,126	1,373	1,620
Tennessee
Texas
Utah												1,836	2,556	2,904	2,639	4,110	5,494	7,168	11,728
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia										420	964					1,360	1,448	1,854	4,679
Wisconsin
Wyoming			54		75		78	53	181	229	246	281	328	452	878	1,288	1,139	1,862	1,615
Total	92,760	78,166	72,839	54,712	57,195	60,010	100,561	102,301	162,545	182,521	224,676	207,483	259,440	235,983	242,587	278,988	330,766	400,027	498,706
States Reporting	11	3	12	3	6	7	18	14	19	20	21	21	23	21	24	25	26	26 & DC	29 & DC

See Also

• Libertarians Stance on Issues
• LP Color and Logo History
• Memoir Mickey, Me and the LP by D. Frank Robinson