I am the communications director for the Libertarian Party of North Carolina (LPNC), a position I have held for about two years. I am a lifetime member of the national Libertarian Party (LP). I have run for office twice as a Libertarian in North Carolina, and I have worked on several campaigns, extensively this most recent cycle. I am as embedded in Libertarian politics as one can be in North Carolina, and I am here to tell you that, despite some rumors to the contrary, the LPNC just had its best year yet, with lots more to come.
The Libertarian Party has gone through turbulence in recent years, with the national party still figuring out some things about how it wants to look going forward. The turmoil was significant enough that the LPNC suffered and took some major losses. Nevertheless, we are now firing on all cylinders, polar opposite from where we were just a couple years ago.
Without getting too didactic, I do have to share a little insider baseball to understand how we got here. Much of the current discord is driven by disagreements between factions either associated with or against the Mises Caucus (MC). The MC formed in 2017 in the mold of Ron Paul libertarianism.
For roughly four years, the hallmark of discourse in the LP was vitriol between the two dominant factions, which grew progressively more caustic, especially following what many Libertarians viewed as a weak response to the Covid tyranny by LP leaders. Riding the tailwinds generated by this prominent frustration among membership, the MC won most of the roles — from the Executive Council down — at the 2022 national party convention in Reno. Many of the state affiliates followed suit, in a shift in LP direction broadly known as the “Reno Reset.”
One chapter of drama had ended, and another began at peak intensity. Fissures between the opposing factions erupted into canyons. People who agree on 95% of everything became openly hostile to each other, and escalating words led to escalating actions. The fallout included shifts in membership, donors, partners, affiliates, and high-profile Libertarian leaders.
As fierce as the national LP’s battle for hearts, minds, and control became, the spillover was worse at many state party affiliates, where vitriol was magnified by the concentrated volunteer structures and close proximity of people involved. I hate acknowledging it, but North Carolina was no exception. While the LPNC state convention where MC members won most of the spots on the Executive Committee was smooth and friendly, the lead-up to it was not.
Joe Garcia, the previous LPNC chair, had taken over leadership under strange circumstances, following the resignation of his predecessor. This created some lingering confusion at the LPNC, which, when coupled with suspicions driven by the national infighting, and magnified by poor communication, led to a similar paradigm of two recalcitrant sides, each convinced that the sins of the other bore full responsibility for anything and everything that went wrong.
Our state convention went smoothly because a number of people had walked away from the LPNC. We had driven away a number of active volunteers and engaged LPNC members by behaving like the duopoly.
The national LP has a long way to go in figuring out its structure and strategic direction. Infighting (which has been a consistent feature of the Libertarian Party since the beginning) continues, based on the latest iteration of the same minor structural differences that have always existed.
I am proud to say that North Carolina chose a different path. Over the last two years, we worked to:
- proactively react to opportunities,
- come together around strategic goals,
- identify weaknesses and implement solutions,
- allocate resources in places where they drove meaningful impact and growth, and
- build on prior successes.
We don’t look at caucus affiliation or personal beliefs — if you are a productive member who wants to fight for liberty in our great state, you are welcome in the LPNC. To support this, we have fostered an environment that never shies away from criticism while we are learning to strive for constructive dialogue.
Under the aegis of Ryan Brown (the youngest North Carolina state party chair until Anderson Clayton), the unified focus of the LPNC has paid off. Much of 2023 was spent re-configuring how we operated as an organization. In 2024, we reaped the rewards of that approach. We raised awareness and drove support for issues affecting North Carolina. We worked with other third parties in the state to push back against uniparty dominance, foster dialogue, and move the needle on pertinent governance.
We had a successful campaign cycle by many measures. The LPNC had more state-level third-party candidates than any other state — in fact, 20% of third-party state house candidates were Libertarians in North Carolina. We set new records for percentages, vote totals, fundraising, and volunteers. We covered margins in key races, affecting the balance of power at the General Assembly and the US House. We remain the second-largest Libertarian state affiliate by membership and the largest by percentage of registered voters.
While some members — including valuable, experienced volunteers — who stepped away from more active participation out of frustration remain on our “come home” wish list, many others have entered and re-entered the fray, and their contributions have been invaluable.
We are proving that a voluntary society works.
None of this would be true without the solid framework that generations of the LPNC spent put in place (…we have stood on the shoulders of giants). But to come this far, this fast, is largely attributable to the relentless drive and laser-focus of more-recent volunteers, both of which are traits often associated with the MC.
Most importantly, we’re just getting warmed up. My message is this: We are not pretending it’s perfect, or that there won’t be other bumps in the road. But things are good, and getting better. The big tent remains open for business at the Libertarian Party of North Carolina, and the principles of liberty are alive and well.