| Liberal Party USA | |
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| Chairman: | Trisha Butler |
| Foundation: | December 3, 2022 (as Association of Liberty State Parties) February 12, 2024 (as Liberal Party USA) |
| Membership Year: | 2024 |
| Membership: | 31,343 |
| Split: | Libertarian Party |
| Ideology: | Classical liberalism |
| Country: | United States |
Liberal Party USA (formerly known as Association of Liberty State Parties) is a liberal political party in the United States that is affiliated with multiple state parties. In 2022, the state libertarian parties from Massachusetts and New Mexico disaffiliated from the national United States Libertarian Party and affiliated with one another. The Libertarian Party of Virginia also split, with some members leaving to form a new party, the Virginia Classical Liberal Party that affiliated with Liberal Party USA.[1] Additionally, the Liberal Party of Pennsylvania is associated with the organization.[2]
At the 2022 Libertarian National Convention members of the Mises Caucus, a paleolibertarian group, successfully staged a takeover of the Libertarian Party and shifted the party in a rightward direction.[3] The caucus successfully got their members elected to sweep leadership positions, including Angela McArdle as chairwomen and Joshua Smith as vice-chairman. After the takeover, many non-Mises-affiliated members walked out, criticizing the group for rejecting libertarian orthodoxy and for several allegedly racist statements Caucus members had made in the past. More ardent members of the party started to splinter, with Pennsylvania, that state with the most elected Libertarian officeholders, seeing a hardliner Mises-affiliated member, Rob Cowburn being named chairman, resulting in dissidents splitting to form the Keystone Party of Pennsylvania.
After the Mises-dominated Libertarian Party adopted the national divorce as part of the party's official core rallying cries, more moderate members of the party began to mutiny, with the state Libertarian affiliates in New Mexico and Virginia disaffiliation from the national party, and in the case of Virginia, dissolving itself.[4] The party in New Mexico also highlighted that according to LP bylaws, that there can never be more than two executive positions overturned in a single convention, making the Mises sweep illegal. The Mises-dominated party quickly changed the bylaws after their sweep to amend this. After Mises-affiliated libertarians in Virginia reformed their branch of the party quickly seeing backing from the national party, the dissidents then formed a splinter group, the Virginia Classical Liberal Party. Additionally, after the Libertarian Association of Massachusetts disaffiliated, Mises hardliners formed the Libertarian Party of Massachusetts, which the national party recognized as the official libertarian branch in the state. Mises was also able to block the disaffiliation of the New Hampshire party.
The Association of Liberty State Parties (ALSP) was officially formed on December 3, 2022, as a national party committee between the Massachusetts and New Mexico parties, and the Virginian splinters. The party's first goal was to organize a national convention for the nomination of candidates for President and Vice President of the United States, and to expand into more states.[5]
After briefly flirting with creating their own national political party, the Keystone Party of Pennsylvania announced that they would be joining a renamed and rebranded ALSP, which would become the Liberal Party USA on February 12, 2024.[6] As part of their new affiliation to the Liberal Party USA, the Keystone Party also announced that they would be changing their name to the Liberal Party of Pennsylvania.[7] [8] In May 2024, party co-founder, and former leader of the Keystone Party, Kevin Gaughen, announced the addition of three state affiliates in Missouri, Utah, and Wyoming, as well as the adoption of the party's official bylaws.[9] The party also announced the creation of a Nebraska affiliate on their social media on July 26, 2024.
The inaugural LPUSA National Convention is tentatively scheduled to be held December 7–8 in Houston, Texas in 2024.[10] The party backtracked on earlier promises and announced that they would not have a candidate for the 2024 United States presidential election. Additionally, the Massachusetts party has reported they will run Libertarian candidates Chase-Ter Maat on their ballot line.