Libertarian Party of California

The Libertarian Party of California (LPC) is the California affiliate of the national Libertarian Party (LP). The party chairwoman is Mimi Robson, and is based in Sacramento, California, in Sacramento County.[5] As of 2016 Libertarians represent approximately 0.74% of the state's registered voters.[6]

Libertarian Party of California
Abbreviation	LPC
Chairman	Mimi Robson
Founded	1971 (1971)
Headquarters	770 L Street #950 Sacramento, CA 95814
Ideology	Libertarianism[1] Non-interventionism[2] Fiscal conservatism[3] Economic liberalism[3] Cultural liberalism[3] Laissez-faire[3]
Senate	0 / 40
House of Representatives	0 / 80
U.S. Senate	0 / 2
U.S. House of Representatives	0 / 4
Statewide Executive Offices^1	0 / 8
Elected officials	14 (2016 Est.)[4]
Website
ca.lp.org
Politics of United States Political parties Elections ^1California Department of Education is a nonpartisan state executive position.

History

In 1972 the party considered suing county clerks in Placer and Butte counties for refusing to allow voters to register as Libertarians.[7] In 1978 Ed Clark, who had been the affiliate's chairman from 1973 to 1974 and later the national presidential candidate in 1980, ran as an independent for governor of California to gain party recognition and received over five percent.[8] However, the Secretary of State ruled that the two percent requirement was for retaining party recognition and not gaining party recognition and that since Clark had ran as an independent and not a Libertarian it would not count either way.[9] The party filed a lawsuit against the decision, but it was first dismissed then ruled against on appeal. The Libertarian Party of California has hosted the Libertarian National Convention in 1977, 1979, 1980, and in 2000.

Current officials

• Jeff Hewitt -- District 5 Riverside County Supervisor board member (2018-present)[10]
• Scott Wooden -- Del Mar Union School District board member[11]
• Kent Fowler -- Feather River Recreation and Park District board member[12]
• James Guadagni -- Liberty School District board member[13]
• Vern Dahl -- Lucia Mar Unified School District board member[14]
• Susan Marie Weber -- Palm Desert City councilor[15]
• Brian Holtz -- Purisima Hills Water District board member[16]
• Kate O'Brien -- Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District board member[17]
• John Harrington -- San Gabriel city councilor[18]
• Jack Hickey -- Sequoia Hospital Healthcare board member[19]
• Jonathan D. Hall -- Tehachapi Cummings Water District board member[20]
• Robert Dickson -- Timber Cove Fire Protection District board member[21]
• John Camera -- Van Nuys Neighborhood councilor[22]
• Wallace Stewart -- Vista Fire Protection board member[23]

Former officials

• Calimesa City councilor Mayor and Jeff Hewitt (2011-2015)(2015-2018)[24]
• Art Olivier -- Bellflower city coucilor and mayor (1994-1997; 1998-1999)

Electoral performance

Year	Presidential nominee	Votes	Change
1972	John Hospers (write-in)	980 (0.05%)
1976	Roger MacBride	56,388 (0.72)	0.71%
1980	Ed Clark	148,434 (1.73%)	1.01%
1984	David Bergland	49,951 (0.53%)	1.20%
1988	Ron Paul	70,105 (0.71%)	0.18%
1992	Andre Marrou	48,139 (0.43%)	0.28%
1996	Harry Browne	73,600 (0.73%)	0.30%
2000	Harry Browne	45,520 (0.42%)	0.31%
2004	Michael Badnarik	50,165 (0.40%)	0.02%
2008	Bob Barr	67,582 (0.50%)	0.10%
2012	Gary Johnson	143,221 (1.10%)	0.60%
2016	Gary Johnson	478,500 (3.37%)	2.27%

Senate Class I

Year	Senate nominee	Votes	Change
1982	Joseph Fuhrig	107,720 (1.38%)
1988	Jack Dean	79,997 (0.82%)	0.56%
1992	Richard Benjamin Boddie	247,799 (2.30%)	1.48%
1994	Richard Benjamin Boddie	179,100 (2.10%)	0.20%
2000	Gail Lightfoot	187,718 (1.77%)	0.33%
2006	Michael S. Metti	133,851 (1.57%)	0.20%
2012	Gail Lightfoot	101,648 (2.09%)	0.52%
2018	Derrick Michael Reid	59,999 (0.90%)	1.19%

Senate Class III

Year	Senate nominee	Votes	Change
1980	David Bergland	202,481 (2.43%)
1986	Breck McKinley	66,261 (0.90%)	1.53%
1992	June R. Genis	235,919 (2.18%)	1.28%
1998	Ted Brown	93,926 (1.13%)	1.05%
2004	Jim Gray	216,522 (1.80%)	0.67%
2010	Gail Lightfoot	175,235 (1.75%)	0.05%
2016	Gail Lightfoot Mark Matthew Herd	141,105 (1.88%)[lower-alpha 1]	0.13%

Gubernatorial

Year	Gubernatorial nominee	Votes	Change
1978	Ed Clark[lower-alpha 2]	377,960 (5.46%)	0.58%
1982	Dan P. Dougherty	81,076 (1.03%)	4.43%
1986	Joseph Fuhrig	52,628 (0.71%)	0.32%
1990	Dennis Thompson	145,628 (1.89%)	1.18%
1994	Richard Rider	149,281 (1.72%)	0.17%
1998	Steve Kubby	73,845 (0.88%)	0.84%
2002	Gary David Copeland	161,203 (2.16%)	1.28%
2003	Ned Roscoe Ken Hamidi John Hickey	5,887 (0.06%)[lower-alpha 3]	2.10%
2006	Art Olivier	114,329 (1.32%)	1.26%
2010	Dale Ogden	150,898 (1.49%)	0.17%
2014	None	None	1.49%
2018	Zoltan Istvan Nickolas Wildstar	26,028 (0.38%)[lower-alpha 4]	0.38%

Lieutenant Gubernatorial

Year	Lieutenant nominee	Votes	Change
1994	Bob New	180,896 (2.13%)
1998	Thomas Tryon	109,888 (1.35%)	0.78%
2002	Pat Wright	104,920 (1.44%)	0.09%
2006	Lynnette Shaw	142,851 (1.67%)	0.23%
2010	Pamela Brown	574,640 (5.86%)	4.19%
2014	None	None	5.86%
2018	Tim Ferreira	99,949 (1.53%)	1.53%

Attorney General

Year	Attorney General nominee	Votes	Change
1994	Richard N. Burns	274,335 (3.33%)
1998	Joseph S. Farina	149,430 (1.87%)	1.46%
2002	Ed Kuwatch	127,152 (1.76%)	0.11%
2006	Kenneth Weissman	177,469 (2.10%)	0.34%
2010	Timothy J. Hannan	246,583 (2.56%)	0.46%
2014	Jonathan Jaech	99,056 (2.42%)	0.14%
2018	None	None	2.42%

Secretary of State

Year	Secretary of State nominee	Votes	Change
1994	Peggy Christensen	248,748 (3.02%)
1998	Gail Lightfoot	216,853 (2.69%)	0.33%
2002	Gail Lightfoot	204,527 (2.82%)	0.13%
2006	Gail Lightfoot	171,393 (2.04%)	0.78%
2010	Christina Tobin	157,974 (2.21%)	0.17%
2014	None	None	2.21%
2018	Gail Lightfoot	155,879 (2.36%)	2.36%

State Treasurer

Year	State Treasurer nominee	Votes	Change
1994	John Petersen	335,452 (4.09%)
1998	John Petersen	183,436 (2.32%)	1.77%
2002	Marian Smithson	168,401 (2.34%)	0.02%
2006	Marian Smithson	334,056 (4.01%)	1.67%
2010	Edward Teyssier	217,818 (2.27%)	1.74%
2014	None	None	2.27%
2018	None	None

State Controller

Year	State Controller nominee	Votes	Change
1994	Cullene Marie Lang	128,378 (1.56%)
1998	Pamela Pescosolido	147,397 (1.84%)	0.28%
2002	None	None	1.84%
2006	Donna Tello	188,934 (2.26%)	2.26%
2010	Andrew Favor	291,657 (3.03%)	0.77%
2014	None	None	3.03%
2018	None	None

Insurance Commissioner

Year	Insurance Commissioner nominee	Votes	Change
1994	Ted Brown	346,007 (4.21%)
1998	Dale Ogden	169,922 (2.11%)	2.10%
2002	Dale Ogden	236,688 (3.29%)	1.18%
2006	Dale Ogden	305,772 (3.67%)	0.38%
2010	Richard Bronstein	362,037 (3.95%)	0.28%
2014	None	None	3.95%
2018	None	None

State Assembly

Year	Number of candidates	Votes	Change
1992	46	343,366 (3.29%)
1994	35	166,510 (2.08%)	1.21%
1996	26	142,577 (1.54%)	0.54%
1998	38	144,427 (1.85%)	0.31%
2000	52	316,668 (2.83%)	0.98%
2002	36	162,472 (2.35%)	0.48%
2004	34	324,414 (2.85%)	0.30%
2006	21	122,036 (1.51%)	1.34%
2008	15	171,324 (1.43%)	0.08%
2010	18	115,714 (1.23%)	0.20%
2012	0	0 (0.00%)	1.23%
2014	1	30,735 (0.41%)	0.41%
2016	4	130,798 (1.01%)	0.60%
2018	5	145,514 (1.23%)	0.22%

Voter registration

Libertarian voter registration in the state of California has experienced significant growth.[25]

Year	Registered voters	Voter gain or loss from previous year
2017	141,461	1,656
2016	139,805	17,929
2015	121,876	1,072
2014	120,804	11,168
2013	109,636	900
2012	108,736	16,490
2011	92,246	1,135
2010	91,111	7,748
2009	83,363	211
2008	83,574	154
2007	83,420	45
2006	83,465	503
2005	83,968	5,649
2004	89,617	77
2003	89,540	955
2002	90,495	2,865
2001	93,360	1,540
2000	94,900	12,561
1999	82,339

Governance

The Libertarian Party of California is a "political party that has detailed statutory provisions applicable to its operation", which are in division 7, part 3 of the California Elections Code.[26][27] The Libertarian State Central Committee, the governing body of the Libertarian Party of California, functions pursuant to its standing rules and bylaws.[28] The regular officers of the Central Committee are the chairman, two regional vice chairmen, secretary, and treasurer.

County central committees

There are semi-autonomous county central committees for many of California's 58 counties. The counties which currently have active affiliates are as follows:

• Alameda
• Contra Costa
• El Dorado
• Kern
• Kings
• Los Angeles
• Monterey
• Nevada
• Orange
• Placer
• Riverside
• Sacramento
• San Bernardino
• San Diego
• San Francisco
• San Mateo
• Santa Clara
• Ventura
• Yolo

Notes

1. Combined
2. Ran as independent.
3. Combined
4. Combined

References

1. Rothbard, Murray Newton (1978). For a New Liberty: The Libertarian Manifesto. p. 153. Even more remarkably, the Libertarian party achieved this growth while consistently adhering to a new ideological creed—"libertarianism"—thus bringing to the American political scene for the first time in a century a party interested in principle rather than in merely gaining jobs and money at the public trough.
2. "Libertarian Party opposes further intervention in Iraq". June 18, 2014.
3. "Ideological Third Parties and Splinter Parties". June 3, 2017. Archived from the original on January 16, 2015. Retrieved July 11, 2017.
4. "Elected Officials - Libertarian Party". LP.org. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
5. "Home - Libertarian Party of California". Libertarian Party of California. Retrieved March 20, 2018.
6. "Voter Registration Statistics - California Secretary of State". www.SOS.ca.gov. Retrieved March 20, 2018.
7. "LPC Lawsuit". The Californian. October 14, 1972. p. 4. Archived from the original on December 9, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
8. "Libertarian runs for state governor". Oakdale Leader. February 22, 1978. p. 6. Archived from the original on December 9, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
9. "Liberatarians in appeal for spot on ballot". The San Francisco Examiner. March 15, 1979. p. 42. Archived from the original on December 9, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
10. "Libertarian Jeff Hewitt Wins Seat on Riverside County Board of Supervisors". December 7, 2018.
11. "The San Diego Union-Tribune - San Diego, California & National News". www.SanDiegoUnionTribune.com. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
12. "Voters choose incumbent Noble, candidates Fowler and Emberland for rec district board". Chicoer.com. March 10, 2006. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
13. "Tulare County Office of Education - School Districts". www.TCOE.org. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
14. "Lucia Mar: Early results show Martin, Millis and Dahl winning school board seats". SanLuisObispo.com. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
15. "Councilwoman-elect Susan Marie Weber: Fourth Time's the Charm". Patch.com. December 5, 2012. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
16. "Brian Holtz, Candidate for Purissima Hills Water District". Patch.com. August 25, 2012. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
17. "Simi Valley Acorn". Simi Valley Acorn. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
18. "Election 2015: Voters return Harrington to San Gabriel City Council". PasadenaStarNews.com. March 4, 2015. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
19. "Jack Hickey seeks a different seat on the Sequoia Healthcare District board than the one he already has". MercuryNews.com. August 22, 2012. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
20. "Board of Directors - Tehachapi-Cummings County Water District". TCCWD.com. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
21. "Special District Roster". SonomaCounty.ca.gov. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
22. http://old.lp.org/candidates/elected-official/john-camera
23. "California Libertarian Activist Vol. III Issue 1 (04-29-2017) - Libertarian Party of California". LP.org. June 11, 2017. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
24. "Hewitt voted in as Calimesa's new mayor". NewsMirror.net. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
25. "Voter Registration Statistics - California Secretary of State". www.SOS.ca.gov. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
26. Eu v. San Francisco County Democratic Central Committee (1989), 489 U.S. 214 Archived March 12, 2014, at the Wayback Machine. "The State of California heavily regulates its political parties. … The California Elections Code (Code) provides that the 'official governing bodies' for such a party are its 'state convention,' 'state central committee,' and 'county central committees,' …"
27. California Elections Code § 7250
28. "". Bylaws and Convention Rules of the Libertarian Party of California As Amended in Convention April 29, 2017.

External links

• Libertarian Party of California
• Libertarian Party of California on Twitter