Liberal Party of Pennsylvania should not be confused with Keystone Party of Manitoba.
| Liberal Party of Pennsylvania | |
| Colorcode: |
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| Chairman: | Steve Scheetz |
| Founder: | Gus Tatlas, Jenn Moore, Steve Scheetz, Nicole Shultz |
| Ideology: | Libertarianism Classical Liberalism Left-libertarianism |
The Liberal Party of Pennsylvania is a third party in Pennsylvania founded as the Keystone Party of Pennsylvania in 2022, rebranding to the Liberal moniker in 2024, with a focus on political solutions through the electoral process and Classical Liberalism.
The party was founded by members of the Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania who felt the Libertarian Party was "veering too hard to the right".[1] The party's first chairman was the Chairman of the York County branch of the Libertarian Party, Gus Tatlas. The Keystone Party was founded in April 2022 with the stated goal of bridging the gap between the two main parties in the state and to better represent issues relevant to Pennsylvanians.[2] [3] Instead of building their party on divisive rhetoric, Keystone Party leaders purport to seek to build an inclusive dialogue of political issues Pennsylvanians can agree on like governmental reform, fair elections, social and criminal justice reform, individual rights and taxation.[4] There had previously been a call to form a "Keystone Party" in 1912 among various Democratic Pennsylvania Representatives for the 1912 United States elections due to the stranglehold that Political Bosses had over the state party, although, ultimately, the split never occurred.[5]
The party's candidates received ballot access on August 1 for the 2022 Pennsylvania elections by receiving more than 5,000 signatures of registered voters.
Their candidate for the 2022 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania was Dan Wassmer. Wassmer is a lawyer originally from Nassau County, New York, but now lives in Pike County. A former Libertarian, he was the Libertarian candidate for Attorney General in 2020. He received 25,808 votes or 0.5% of the electorate placing him in last place among options on the ballot.[6]
Their candidates for the 2022 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election were Joseph P. Soloski for Governor and Nicole Shultz for Lieutenant Governor.[7] [8] Soloski is an accountant from Centre County and former Libertarian. He ran for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, District 81 in 2016 and in the 2020 Pennsylvania State Treasurer election both as a Libertarian. He initially sought the nomination from the Libertarian party, but withdrew and joined the Keystone party.[9] [10] Shultz is another former Libertarian. She originally ran as a candidate for the Libertarian nominee for Lt. Governor, withdrew, and announced her candidacy for the Libertarian nominee for governor. Upon losing that election she joined the Keystone party and successfully sought their bid for Lt. Governor. She is an auditor from Windsor Township, York County, Pennsylvania and had been the Pennsylvania Libertarian Party's treasurer from 2021 to 2022.[11] [12] [13] Soloski and Shultz's ticket got 20,036 votes or 0.4% of the electorate. Like Wassmer, this put them in last place for candidates on the ballot.[14]
The party also stood two candidates for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in district 93 and district 104 respectively.[15] In district 93 Keystone candidate Kristine Cousler-Womack received 887 votes, or 3% of the electorate falling behind both the incumbent Mike Jones and his Democrat challenger Chris Rodkey.[16] In district 104, Keystone candidate David Kocur received the best showing of the party in terms of percentage. He received 4,838 votes or 29.5% of the electorate, falling behind Democrat candidate Dave Madsen.[17] [18]
Party founder and leader Gus Tatlas voiced his support for the bi-partisan MarchOnHarrisburg movement, led by Rabbi Michael Pollack, on November 27, 2022. The movement seeks to implement legislation that would result in a "gift ban" to outlaw the ability for members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly to receive "gifts" in exchange for voting a certain way on bills.[19]
On January 23, 2023, two members of the Keystone party sued Dauphin County for violating their first amendment rights. The two members of the party, Dave Kocur, the party's candidate in the 104th district, and Kevin Gaughen, a former Libertarian who was elected auditor of Silver Spring Township in 2021 and member of the party board,[20] were told that they must immediately cease collecting signatures and vacate from Fort Hunter Park by Dauphin County Parks and Recreation director Anthea Stebbin alongside two security officers in June, 2022.[21] The County stated in their defense that when they purchased the land which would become the park in 1980, one of the clauses of the deed was that no political activities would take place on the property. The pair argued that since it is public parkland, that the clause of the deed is unconstitutional and that the County government shouldn't be allowed restrict First Amendment rights based on clauses of deeds. The pair's legal team, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), cited a 1966 Supreme Court case, Evans v. Newton, which states that any local government's property-conveyance restrictions must comport with the Constitution.[22] The county was noted as being unusually confrontational on the issue by the American Civil Liberties Union. The County called FIRE's legal notice a "threat" and refused to negotiate with either the defendants, their legal team, or the ACLU, forcing the issue to reach litigation.[23] On April 26, 2023, the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania found in favor of Gaughen and Kocur and ordered Dauphin County and Stebbin to end the unconstitutional ban on political speech in Fort Hunter Park, as well as pay Gaughen and Kocur $91,000.[24]
John Waldenberger, a perennial candidate best known for his 2018 bid for the 53rd District switched from the Libertarian party after the Mises takeover and has become the Keystone Party's treasurer.[25] [26] [27] Waldenberger, a longtime citizen participant in the Telford borough council, has been leading an effort to remove Robert Jacobus, a Republican borough councilmen due to his staunchly anti-LGBT policies and is running against him in the 2023 election as a member of the Keystone party.[28] [29] Waldenberger would go on to get last place with 497 votes, however, Jacobus lost his seat to a slate of Republican and Democratic challengers.[30]
On April 26, 2023, party chairman Kevin Gaughen announced on X that the Keystone party would be taking steps to become a nationwide party by "creating bylaws, adopting a platform, selecting our national board of directors, forming new state affiliates, and possibly nominating candidates".[31] Gaughen stated that the new National Keystone Party would not be "Libertarian Party 2.0" and would differ from the Libertarian party in three main ways. Firstly, the party would exclude "kooks" such as anarchists and extremists. Secondly, the party will not focus on creating "bold" statements and hosting rallies, instead the goal of the party will be to run candidates. And thirdly, the National Keystone party will be professional with "mature public messaging, competent leadership, and we intend to only nominate candidates who we believe will increase the goodwill of the organization". The national Keystone Party never officially formed, as the party instead chose to affiliate with the Liberal Party USA in 2024 instead.
On March 12, 2024, the Keystone Party announced on X that they were rebranding as the Liberal Party of Pennsylvania and was joining the national Liberal Party USA, a coalition of Libertarian splinter parties that subscribe to Classical Liberalism and was formerly known as the "Association of State Liberty Parties".[32] The newly rebranded party announced that it would run candidates for Attorney General, Treasurer, Auditor General and United States Senate.
| No. | Name | Tenure | Residence | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Gus Tatlas | April 2022 - ???? | York | Former Chairman of the Libertarian Party of York County | |
| 2. | Kevin Gaughen | ???? - ???? | [33] | ||
| 3. | Steve Scheetz | ???? - |
The Party's officially endorsed stances are:[34]