Alaska Libertarian Party Explained

Libertarian Party of Alaska
Chairman:Nicholas Conrad
Ideology:Libertarianism
Headquarters:Anchorage, Alaska
Website:alaskalp.org
Country:United States
Abbreviation:AKLP
Seats1 Title:Senate
Seats2 Title:House of Representatives
Seats3 Title:U.S. Senate
Seats4 Title:U.S. House of Representatives
Seats5 Title:Other elected officials
Seats5:1 [1]
Colors:a shade of Blue; Yellow
Membership Year:2021
Membership:6,789[2]

The Libertarian Party of Alaska is the affiliate of the Libertarian Party (LP) in Alaska, headquartered in Anchorage.

It is the third-largest active party in Alaska and has the highest percentage of registered Libertarians of any state.[3] Since 2012 candidates running as Libertarians who have won the Democratic-Libertarian-Independence primary have always polled between 5% and 30% in at least one state or federal election every election.

Since Libertarian presidential candidates were on the ballot in 1976, Alaska has been a stronghold for Libertarians with it being their best-performing state in every election until 1992 and was in the top five except in 2004 and 2008. Many of the first offices held by Libertarians were in Alaska.

History

The Alaskan Libertarian Party was founded shortly after the national party and grew to become a stronghold for the new party in the late seventies and throughout the eighties. In 1973 John Hospers and Tonie Nathan, the party's 1972 presidential and vice presidential nominees, spoke at the party's first state convention in Fairbanks to fifty members of the party.[4] [5] During the 1980 presidential election Ed Clark and Eugene McCarthy both appeared and spoke at their state convention.[6]

Dick Randolph was elected to the Alaska House of Representatives as a Libertarian in the 1978 election. Randolph and Ken Fanning were elected to the state house in the 1980 election. Randolph received 15% of the popular vote as the party's nominee in the 1982 gubernatorial election, but the Libertarians lost both of their seats in the state house. He became the leader of the party, but left to run for the Republican nomination in the 1986 gubernatorial election. Republican Representative Fritz Pettyjohn said that Randolph was "the glue that held the party together" and his "departure will be a death blow". Andre Marrou was elected to the state house in 1984.[7] [8] [9]

In the 1986 gubernatorial election the party leadership rejected the primary winner, Mary O'Brannon, and chose to launch a write-in campaign with the lieutenant governor candidate and runner up in the primary, Ed Hoch, as their candidate after failing to remove her with a lawsuit due to her failing to meet the residency requirements.[10] [11] O'Brannon defeated Hoch in terms of popular vote with 1,050 against his 107 write-in votes, but she had lost over 14% and 28,000 votes from Randolph's 1982 campaign.[12] Marrou, the only sitting Libertarian in a state legislature at the time, lost reelection to the state house.[13]

In 1988 the party was successful in placing three legislature candidates on the ballot after the state Supreme Court ruled the filing deadline to be unconstitutional.[14] In 1992, the Alaskan affiliate along with the state's Constitution Party affiliate won a lawsuit against the Alaskan state Elections Division after both of their presidential ballot petitions were rejected.[15]

From 2009 to 2010 the party was engaged in a voter registration drive to reach 9,786 registered voters due to a 2004 bill that changed the Alaskan party qualification rules so that a party using the registration test must have registration of 3% of the last vote cast resulting in mid-term years having higher voter registration amounts needed than presidential election years. From April to June 2009 party registration increased by over 1,000 voters.[16] [17]

In 2016, Cean Stevens withdrew after winning the state Libertarian primary to allow Republican Party member and Tea Party favorite nominee of the 2010 Senate election, Joe Miller her spot on the ticket in the 2016 Senate election and Miller was unanimously approved by the executive board to take Stevens' place.[18] Miller came in second place and garnered nearly 30% of the vote, the highest percentage ever received by a Libertarian Senate candidate, but did not beat the total vote record established in 2002 Massachusetts Senate election by Michael Cloud.

Current officials

Former officials

Chairman

Electoral performance

Presidential

Year Presidential nominee Votes Change
John Hospers (write-in) 45 (0.1%)
6,785 (5.5%) 5.4%
198018,479 (11.7%) 6.2%
19846,378 (3.1%) 8.6%
19885,484 (2.7%) 0.3%
1,378 (0.5%) 2.2%
19962,276 (0.9%) 0.4%
2,636 (0.9%) 0.0%
1,675 (0.5%) 0.4%
20081,589 (0.5%) 0.1%
7,392 (2.5%) 2.0%
201618,725 (5.9%) 3.4%
2020Jo Jorgensen8,897 (2.5%) 3.4%

House

Year House nominee Votes Change
1986Betty Breck 4,182 (2.3%)
1988None None 2.3%
1998None None
2000Len Karpinski 4,802 (1.8%) 1.8%
2002Rob Clift 3,797 (1.7%) 0.1%
2004Alvin A. Anders 7,157 (2.4%) 0.7%
2006Alexander Crawford 4,029 (1.7%) 0.7%
2008None None 1.7%
2010None None
2012Jim McDermott 15,028 (5.2%) 5.2%
2014Jim McDermott 21,290 (7.6%) 2.4%
2016Jim McDermott 31,770 (10.3%) 2.7%
2018None None 10.3%
2020NoneNone
2022Chris Bye 4,570 (1.7%) 1.7%

Senate Class II

Year Senate nominee Votes Change
2002Leonard Karpinski 2,354 (1.0%)
2008Fredrick Haase 2,483 (0.8%) 0.3%
2014Mark Fish 10,512 (3.7%) 1.9%
2020NoneNone 3.7%

Senate Class III

Year Senate nominee Votes Change
1986Chuck House 3,161 (1.8%)
1992None None 1.8%
1998Scott A. Kohlhaas 5,046 (2.3%) 2.3%
2004Scott A. Kohlhaas 1,240 (0.4%) 1.9%
2010David Haase 1,459 (0.6%) 0.2%
201690,825 (29.2%) 28.6%

Gubernatorial

Year Gubernatorial nominee Votes Change
198229,067 (14.9%)
1986Mary Jane O'Brannon 1,050 (0.6%) 14.3%
1990None None 0.6%
1994None None
1998None None
2002William Toien 1,109 (0.5%) 0.5%
2006William Toien 682 (0.3%) 0.2%
2010William Toien 2,682 (1.1%) 0.8%
2014Carolyn Clift 8,985 (3.2%) 2.2%
2018William Toien 5,402 (1.9%) 1.3%

Voter Registration

The stagnate registration rate is due to the fact that the Democratic-Libertarian-Independence primary is open which allows any member of either party to vote for a candidate.

Year RV. % Change
20027,235 (1.6%) [29]
20037,235 (1.6%) [30]
20047,331 (1.6%) 0.0%[31]
20056,932 (1.5%) 0.1%[32]
20069,400 (2.0%) 0.6%[33]
20078,587 (1.8%) 0.2%[34]
20088,117 (1.7%) 0.1%[35]
20096,742 (1.3%) 0.4%[36]
20109,280 (1.9%) 0.6%[37]
20118,804 (1.8%) 0.1%[38]
20128,051 (1.6%) 0.1%[39]
20137,687 (1.5%) 0.1%[40]
20147,523 (1.6%) 0.1%[41]
20157,176 (1.4%) 0.2%[42]
20167,477 (1.5%) 0.1%[43]
20177,599 (1.4%) 0.0%[44]
20187,579 (1.4%) [45]
20197,251 (1.3%) 0.2%[46]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Elected Officials. June 1, 2024.
  2. Web site: Alaska Division of Elections. www.elections.alaska.gov.
  3. Web site: Winger. Richard. Colorado Libertarian Registration Exceeds 1%; First Time any Libertarian Registration That High in Any State, Except in Alaska. September 6, 2016. Ballot Access News. September 7, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160907152651/http://ballot-access.org/2016/09/06/colorado-libertarian-registration-exceeds-1-first-time-any-libertarian-party-registration-in-any-state-except-in-alaska/. September 7, 2016. live. mdy-all.
  4. News: Hospers featured speaker for Libertarian meeting . 9 February 1973 . Fairbanks Daily News-Miner . https://web.archive.org/web/20190501222237/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31148439/fairbanks_daily_newsminer/ . 1 May 2019 . live . 3 . Newspapers.com.
  5. News: Libertarian leader explains difference at confab here . 12 February 1973 . Fairbanks Daily News-Miner . https://web.archive.org/web/20190501222837/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31148481/fairbanks_daily_newsminer/ . 1 May 2019 . live . 2 . Newspapers.com.
  6. News: Alaska Libertarian Party 1980 convention . 21 April 1980 . Daily Sitka Sentinel . https://web.archive.org/web/20190424082729/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/2310894/alaska_libertarian_party_1980_convention/ . 24 April 2019 . live . 1 . Newspapers.com.
  7. News: October 23, 1985 . Libertarian Leader Quits Party; Seeking GOP Nod For Governor in '86 . . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20190410140300/https://apnews.com/d6550b0179ea3d33d2a2a1c53e80c90c . April 10, 2019.
  8. News: October 27, 1982 . Libertarian Party a political force in Alaska . 51 . . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240206094533/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-sentinel/140356986/ . February 6, 2024 . Newspapers.com.
  9. News: August 21, 1982 . Libertarians Make Push . 3 . . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240206233629/https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-sitka-sentinel/140412491/ . February 6, 2024 . Newspapers.com.
  10. News: Alaska Libertarian Party launches write-in against Libertarian Party primary victor 1986 . 7 October 1986 . Daily Sitka Sentinel . https://web.archive.org/web/20190626121018/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/33258687/daily_sitka_sentinel/ . 26 June 2019 . live . 3 . Newspapers.com.
  11. News: Former Libertarian in Jail Over Ads . 17 March 1988 . Daily Sitka Sentinel . https://web.archive.org/web/20190626121018/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/33258687/daily_sitka_sentinel/ . 26 June 2019 . live . 8 . Newspapers.com.
  12. Web site: 1986 Gubernatorial General Election Results – Alaska . 2009-08-31 . Alaska Division of Elections . https://web.archive.org/web/20090902154442/http://www.elections.alaska.gov/results/86GENR/86genr.pdf . 2 September 2009 . dead.
  13. News: Libertarians Lose . 5 November 1986 . Daily Sitka Sentinel . https://web.archive.org/web/20190626115815/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/33258499/daily_sitka_sentinel/ . 26 June 2019 . live . 7 . Newspapers.com.
  14. News: Judge: Libertarians Should be on Ballot . 13 September 1988 . Daily Sitka Sentinel . https://web.archive.org/web/20190626121403/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/33258721/daily_sitka_sentinel/ . 26 June 2019 . live . 3 . Newspapers.com.
  15. News: Libertarian, Taxpayers Parties to be on Ballot? . 22 September 1992 . Daily Sitka Sentinel . https://web.archive.org/web/20190626120613/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/33258649/daily_sitka_sentinel/ . 26 June 2019 . live . 1 . Newspapers.com.
  16. News: Alaska Libertarian Party Registration Drive Ahead of Schedule. https://web.archive.org/web/20190102044032/http://ballot-access.org/2009/12/27/alaska-libertarian-party-registration-drive-ahead-of-schedule/. dead. January 2, 2019. Ballot Access News. January 2, 2019. December 27, 2009.
  17. News: Alaska Libertarian Party Makes Headway on Ballot Access. https://web.archive.org/web/20191107033431/http://ballot-access.org/2009/06/23/alaska-libertarian-makes-headway-on-ballot-access/. dead. November 7, 2019. Ballot Access News. November 7, 2019. June 23, 2009.
  18. News: Joe Miller to run as Libertarian in hopes of unseating US Sen. Lisa Murkowski. https://web.archive.org/web/20160923030904/http://www.adn.com/politics/2016/09/06/joe-miller-to-run-as-libertarian-in-hopes-of-unseating-us-sen-lisa-murkowski/. dead. September 23, 2016. Alaska Dispatch News. Alaska Dispatch News. Herz. Nathaniel. September 6, 2016. September 7, 2016.
  19. Web site: 27 September 2017 . 2017 Bethel City Council Candidate Richard Robb . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20170927221635/http://kyuk.org/post/2017-bethel-city-council-candidate-richard-robb . 2017-09-27 . 2019-04-09.
  20. Web site: 2018-10-10 . Mayor Richard Robb Has Passed The Torch . 2024-06-01 . KYUK . en.
  21. Web site: 23 March 2017 . Kenneth Byron Jones wins City Council Seat B . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20170323202001/http://www.thecordovatimes.com/2017/03/23/kenneth-byron-jones-wins-city-council-seat-b/ . 2017-03-23 . 2019-04-09.
  22. Web site: Smith . Zachary Snowdon . 2021-03-03 . Schaefer defeats Jones in city council race - The Cordova Times . 2024-06-01 . thecordovatimes.com . en-US.
  23. Web site: LNC Minutes July 17, 2016. April 12, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20170701011522/http://www.lp.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/2016_07_17-LNC-Minutes-approved.pdf. July 1, 2017. live. mdy-all.
  24. Web site: Alaska Libertarian party boots chair weeks before election. The Washington Times. 2019-04-12. https://web.archive.org/web/20190412132741/https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/oct/14/alaska-libertarian-party-boots-chair-weeks-before-/. 2019-04-12. live.
  25. Web site: Executive Committee . 26 September 2022 . Alaska Libertarian Party.
  26. Web site: Meeting Minutes . 13 July 2024 . Alaska Libertarian Party.
  27. Web site: Executive Committee . 13 July 2024 . Alaska Libertarian Party.
  28. Web site: Political Parties and Groups in Alaska . 13 July 2024 . State of Alaska Division of Elections.
  29. Web site: Alaska Registered Voters 2002. 2019-04-11. https://web.archive.org/web/20161225035836/http://www.elections.alaska.gov/statistics/2002/01Jan_2002.pdf. 2016-12-25. live.
  30. Web site: Alaska Registered Voters 2003. 2019-04-11. https://web.archive.org/web/20161223151540/http://www.elections.alaska.gov/statistics/2003/01Jan_2003.pdf. 2016-12-23. live.
  31. Web site: Alaska Registered Voters 2004. 2019-04-11. https://web.archive.org/web/20180630063329/http://www.elections.alaska.gov/statistics/2004/vi_vrs_stats_party_2004.01.07.htm. 2018-06-30. live.
  32. Web site: Alaska Registered Voters 2005. 2019-04-11. https://web.archive.org/web/20180630063316/http://www.elections.alaska.gov/statistics/2005/vi_vrs_stats_party_2005.01.06.htm. 2018-06-30. live.
  33. Web site: Alaska Registered Voters 2006. 2019-04-11. https://web.archive.org/web/20180630063301/http://www.elections.alaska.gov/statistics/2006/vi_vrs_stats_party_2006.01.03.htm. 2018-06-30. live.
  34. Web site: Alaska Registered Voters 2007. 2019-04-11. https://web.archive.org/web/20180630063241/http://www.elections.alaska.gov/statistics/2007/vi_vrs_stats_party_2007.01.04.htm. 2018-06-30. live.
  35. Web site: Alaska Registered Voters 2008. 2019-04-11. https://web.archive.org/web/20180630063227/http://www.elections.alaska.gov/statistics/2008/vi_vrs_stats_party_2008.01.03.htm. 2018-06-30. live.
  36. Web site: Alaska Registered Voters 2009. 2019-04-11. https://web.archive.org/web/20180630063209/http://www.elections.alaska.gov/statistics/vi_vrs_stats_party_2009.01.03.htm. 2018-06-30. live.
  37. Web site: Alaska Registered Voters 2010. 2019-04-11. https://web.archive.org/web/20180630063154/http://www.elections.alaska.gov/statistics/vi_vrs_stats_party_2010.01.03.htm. 2018-06-30. live.
  38. Web site: Alaska Registered Voters 2011. 2019-04-11. https://web.archive.org/web/20180630063135/http://www.elections.alaska.gov/statistics/vi_vrs_stats_party_2011.01.03.htm. 2018-06-30. live.
  39. Web site: Alaska Registered Voters 2012. 2019-04-11. https://web.archive.org/web/20180630063115/http://www.elections.alaska.gov/statistics/vi_vrs_stats_party_2012.01.03.htm. 2018-06-30. live.
  40. Web site: Alaska Registered Voters 2013. 2019-04-11. https://web.archive.org/web/20180630063054/http://www.elections.alaska.gov/statistics/vi_vrs_stats_party_2013.01.03.htm. 2018-06-30. live.
  41. Web site: Alaska Registered Voters 2014. 2019-04-11. https://web.archive.org/web/20180630063035/http://www.elections.alaska.gov/statistics/vi_vrs_stats_party_2014.01.03.htm. 2018-06-30. live.
  42. Web site: Alaska Registered Voters 2015. 2019-04-11. https://web.archive.org/web/20190411044718/http://www.elections.alaska.gov/statistics/vi_vrs_stats_party_2015.01.03.htm. 2019-04-11. live.
  43. Web site: Alaska Registered Voters 2016. 2019-04-11. https://web.archive.org/web/20171219123621/http://elections.alaska.gov/statistics/2016/JAN/vi_vrs_stats_party_2016.01.03.htm. 2017-12-19. live.
  44. Web site: Alaska Voter Registration by Party/Precinct.
  45. Web site: Alaska Voter Registration by Party/Precinct.
  46. Web site: Alaska Voter Registration by Party/Precinct.

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