Libertarian Party (United States)

The Libertarian Party (LP) is a political party in the United States. It promotes civil liberties, non-interventionism, laissez-faire capitalism, and limiting the size and scope of government. The world's first explicitly libertarian party, it was conceived in August 1971 at meetings in the home of David Nolan in Westminster, Colorado, and was officially formed on December 11, 1971, in Colorado Springs. The organizers of the party drew inspiration from the works and ideas of the prominent Austrian school economist Murray Rothbard. The founding of the party was prompted in part due to concerns about the Nixon administration's wage and price controls, the Vietnam War, conscription, and the introduction of fiat money.

The party generally supports "personal liberty" and fiscal conservatism, as compared to the Democratic Party's modern liberalism and progressivism and the Republican Party's social conservatism and right-wing populism. Gary Johnson, the party's presidential nominee in 2012 and 2016, claims that the Libertarian Party is more socially liberal than Democrats, and more fiscally conservative than Republicans. Its fiscal policy positions include lowering taxes and 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 social policy positions include ending the prohibition of illegal drugs, advocating criminal justice reform, supporting same-sex marriage, ending capital punishment, and supporting the right to keep and bear arms.

As of May 2024,^[update] it is the third-largest political party in the United States by voter registration. In the 2020 election, the Libertarians gained a state legislative seat in the Wyoming House of Representatives, the first such win for the party since 2000. The first and only Libertarian in the United States 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 Mises Caucus (LPMC) became the dominant faction on the Libertarian National Committee, leading to internal conflicts and significant policy changes, specifically regarding immigration and abortion. Some classical liberalism-minded dissidents split from the Libertarian Party to form the Liberal Party USA, while others formed the Classical Liberal Caucus.

The first Libertarian National Convention was held in June 1972. In 1978, Dick Randolph of Alaska became the first elected Libertarian state legislator. Following the 1980 federal elections, the Libertarian Party assumed the title of being the third-largest party for the first time after the American Independent Party and the Conservative Party of New York (the other largest minor parties at the time) continued to decline. In 1994, over 40 Libertarians were elected or appointed which was a record for the party at that time. 1995 saw a soaring membership and voter registration for the party. In 1996, the Libertarian Party became the first third party to earn ballot status in all 50 states two presidential elections in a row. By the end of 2009, 146 Libertarians were holding elected offices.

Tonie Nathan, running as the Libertarian Party's vice presidential candidate in the 1972 presidential election with John Hospers as the presidential candidate, was the first female candidate in the United States to receive an electoral vote.

The 2012 election Libertarian Party presidential candidate, former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson, and his running mate, former judge Jim Gray, received the highest number of votes—more than 1.2 million—of any Libertarian presidential candidate at the time. He was renominated for president in 2016, this time choosing former Massachusetts Governor William Weld as his running mate. Johnson/Weld shattered the Libertarian record for a presidential ticket, earning over 4.4 million votes. Both Johnson and Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein received significantly more news coverage in 2016 than third-party candidates usually get, with polls showing both candidates potentially increasing their support over the last election, especially among younger voters.

The Libertarian Party has had significant electoral success in the context of state legislatures and other local offices. Libertarians won four elections to the Alaska House of Representatives between 1978 and 1984 and another four to the New Hampshire General Court in 1992. Neil Randall, a Libertarian, won the election to the Vermont House of Representatives in 1998 running on both the Libertarian and Republican lines. In 2000, Steve Vaillancourt won election to the New Hampshire General Court running on the Libertarian ballot line. Rhode Island State Representative Daniel P. Gordon was expelled from the Republicans and joined the Libertarian Party in 2011.