Libertarian Party (United States)
American political party / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Libertarian Party (LP) is a political party in the United States that promotes civil liberties, non-interventionism, laissez-faire capitalism, and limiting the size and scope of government. The party was conceived in August 1971 at meetings in the home of David F. Nolan in Westminster, Colorado,[10][11] and was officially formed on December 11, 1971, in Colorado Springs.[11] The organizers of the party drew inspiration from the works and ideas of the prominent Austrian school economist Murray Rothbard.[12] The founding of the party was prompted in part due to concerns about the Nixon administration, the Vietnam War, conscription, and the introduction of fiat money.[13]
 | This article may rely excessively on sources too closely associated with the subject, potentially preventing the article from being verifiable and neutral. (June 2023) |
Libertarian Party | |
|---|---|
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| Chairperson | Angela McArdle (TX) |
| Governing body | Libertarian National Committee |
| Founder | David Nolan |
| Founded | December 11, 1971; 52 years ago (1971-12-11) |
| Headquarters | 1444 Duke St. Alexandria, Virginia 22314 |
| Membership (2022) |  700,544[1] |
| Ideology | |
| International affiliation | International Alliance of Libertarian Parties |
| Colors | Gold-yellow |
| Slogan | "The Party of Principle" |
| Seats in the Senate | 0 / 100 |
| Seats in the House of Representatives | 0 / 435 |
| State governorships | 0 / 50 |
| Seats in state upper chambers | 0 / 1,972 |
| Seats in state lower chambers | 1 / 5,411[lower-alpha 1] |
| Territorial governorships | 0 / 5 |
| Seats in territorial upper chambers | 0 / 97 |
| Seats in territorial lower chambers | 0 / 91 |
| Other elected officials | 322 (November 2022)[update][9] |
| Election symbol | |
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| Website | |
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The party generally promotes a classical liberal platform, in contrast to the Democratic Party's modern liberalism and progressivism and the Republican Party's conservatism.[14][non-primary source needed] Gary Johnson, the party's presidential nominee in 2012 and 2016, claims that the Libertarian Party is more culturally liberal than Democrats, and more fiscally conservative than Republicans.[15] Its fiscal policy positions include lowering taxes, abolishing the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), decreasing the national debt, allowing people to opt out of Social Security and eliminating the welfare state, in part by utilizing private charities. Its cultural policy positions include ending the prohibition of illegal drugs, advocating criminal justice reform,[16] supporting same-sex marriage, ending capital punishment, and supporting gun ownership rights.[14]
As of 2023,[update] it is the third-largest political party in the United States by voter registration.[17] In the 2020 election, the Libertarians gained a seat in the Wyoming House of Representatives, giving them their first state legislative win since 2000.[18][19][20] As of August 2022,[update] there are 310 Libertarians holding elected office: 193 of them partisan offices and 117 of them non-partisan offices.[9] There are 693,634 voters registered as Libertarian in the 31 states that report Libertarian registration statistics and Washington, D.C.[21] The first electoral vote for a woman was that for Tonie Nathan of the party for vice president in the 1972 United States presidential election due to a faithless elector supporter who eschewed his expected votes for President Richard Nixon and Vice President Spiro Agnew in favor of the Libertarian ticket. The first and only Libertarian in Congress was Justin Amash, who joined the Libertarian Party in 2020 and left the U.S. House of Representatives in 2021 after choosing not to seek re-election.
In 2022, the paleolibertarian Mises Caucus (LPMC) became the dominant faction on the Libertarian National Committee, leading to internal conflicts and significant policy changes, such as regarding immigration and abortion.[22][23]