Alaska Libertarian Party
State affiliate of the Libertarian Party
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Alaska Libertarian Party is the affiliate of the Libertarian Party (LP) in Alaska, headquartered in Anchorage.
Alaska Libertarian Party | |
|---|---|
| |
| Abbreviation | AKLP |
| Chairman | Nicholas Conrad |
| Founded | 1974 |
| Headquarters | Anchorage, Alaska |
| Membership (2021) |  6,789[1] |
| Ideology | Libertarianism |
| Colors | a shade of Blue; Yellow |
| Senate | 0 / 20 |
| House of Representatives | 0 / 40 |
| U.S. Senate | 0 / 2 |
| U.S. House of Representatives | 0 / 1 |
| Other elected officials | 0 (February 2025)[update][2] |
| Website | |
| aklp.org | |
It is the third-largest active[a] 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
- Alaska Public Office Commissioner Robert Clift (2017–present) – Appointed to a five-year term by Bill Walker
- Alaska Public Office Commissioner Adam Schwemley (2017–present) – Appointed to a five-year term by Bill Walker
- Ketchikan Gateway Borough School Board member Stephen Bradford (2021–present).[2]
Former officials
- Bethel City councilor Richard Robb (2017–2018)[19][20]
- Cordova City councilor Ken Jones (2017–2021)[21][22]
- State Representative Dick Randolph (1978–1982) – First person to be elected to partisan office under the banner of the Libertarian Party
- State Representative Ken Fanning (1980–1982) – Second person to be elected to partisan office under the banner of the Libertarian Party
- State Representative Andre Marrou (1985–1987) – 1988 vice presidential nominee and 1992 presidential nominee
- Juneau City councilor Sara Chambers (2006–2010)
Chairman
Electoral performance
Presidential
| Year | Presidential nominee | Votes | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | John Hospers (write-in) | 45 (0.1%) |  |
| 1976 | Roger MacBride | 6,785 (5.5%) | 5.4% |
| 1980 | Ed Clark | 18,479 (11.7%) | 6.2% |
| 1984 | David Bergland | 6,378 (3.1%) |  8.6% |
| 1988 | Ron Paul | 5,484 (2.7%) | 0.3% |
| 1992 | Andre Marrou | 1,378 (0.5%) | 2.2% |
| 1996 | Harry Browne | 2,276 (0.9%) | 0.4% |
| 2000 | Harry Browne | 2,636 (0.9%) | 0.0% |
| 2004 | Michael Badnarik | 1,675 (0.5%) | 0.4% |
| 2008 | Bob Barr | 1,589 (0.5%) | 0.1% |
| 2012 | Gary Johnson | 7,392 (2.5%) | 2.0% |
| 2016 | Gary Johnson | 18,725 (5.9%) | 3.4% |
| 2020 | Jo Jorgensen | 8,897 (2.5%) | 3.4% |
| 2024 | Chase Oliver | 3,040 (0.9%) | 2.3% |
House
| Year | House nominee | Votes | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Betty Breck | 4,182 (2.3%) | |
| 1988 | None | None | 2.3% |
| 1998 | None | None | |
| 2000 | Len Karpinski | 4,802 (1.8%) | 1.8% |
| 2002 | Rob Clift | 3,797 (1.7%) | 0.1% |
| 2004 | Alvin A. Anders | 7,157 (2.4%) | 0.7% |
| 2006 | Alexander Crawford | 4,029 (1.7%) | 0.7% |
| 2008 | None | None | 1.7% |
| 2010 | None | None | |
| 2012 | Jim McDermott | 15,028 (5.2%) | 5.2% |
| 2014 | Jim McDermott | 21,290 (7.6%) | 2.4% |
| 2016 | Jim McDermott | 31,770 (10.3%) | 2.7% |
| 2018 | None | None | 10.3% |
| 2020 | None | None | |
| 2022 | Chris Bye | 4,570 (1.7%) | 1.7% |
Senate Class II
Senate Class III
Gubernatorial
| Year | Gubernatorial nominee | Votes | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | Dick Randolph | 29,067 (14.9%) | |
| 1986 | Mary Jane O'Brannon[b] | 1,050 (0.6%)[c] | 14.3% |
| 1990 | None | None | 0.6% |
| 1994 | None | None | |
| 1998 | None | None | |
| 2002 | William Toien | 1,109 (0.5%) | 0.5% |
| 2006 | William Toien | 682 (0.3%) | 0.2% |
| 2010 | William Toien | 2,682 (1.1%) | 0.8% |
| 2014 | Carolyn Clift | 8,985 (3.2%) | 2.2% |
| 2018 | William 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 7,235 | (1.6%) | [29] |
| 2003 | 7,235 | (1.6%) | [30] |
| 2004 | 7,331 | (1.6%) | 0.0%[31] |
| 2005 | 6,932 | (1.5%) | 0.1%[32] |
| 2006[d] | 9,400 | (2.0%) | 0.6%[33] |
| 2007 | 8,587 | (1.8%) | 0.2%[34] |
| 2008 | 8,117 | (1.7%) | 0.1%[35] |
| 2009 | 6,742 | (1.3%) | 0.4%[36] |
| 2010 | 9,280 | (1.9%) | 0.6%[37] |
| 2011 | 8,804 | (1.8%) | 0.1%[38] |
| 2012 | 8,051 | (1.6%) | 0.1%[39] |
| 2013 | 7,687 | (1.5%) | 0.1%[40] |
| 2014 | 7,523 | (1.6%) | 0.1%[41] |
| 2015 | 7,176 | (1.4%) | 0.2%[42] |
| 2016 | 7,477 | (1.5%) | 0.1%[43] |
| 2017 | 7,599 | (1.4%) | 0.0%[44] |
| 2018 | 7,579 | (1.4%) | [45] |
| 2019[e] | 7,251 | (1.3%) | 0.2%[46] |
See also
Notes
- The Alaskan Independence Party has more registered voters, but has only ran four candidates in the past decade and none in 2018
- The party leadership rejected O'Brannon and ran a write-in campaign with Ed Hoch as their candidate
- Hoch: 107 (0.1%)
14.9% - Listed as political group
- Listed as political group