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Libertarian Party of Massachusetts

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This article is about the local Massachusetts party. For the affiliate of the national Libertarian Party, see Unified Libertarians of Massachusetts.
Libertarian Association of Massachusetts
AbbreviationLAMA
ChairpersonDon Graham[1][2]
Founded1972; 52 years ago (1972)
Membership (2020)Increase 19,097[3]
IdeologyLibertarianism
National affiliationLiberal Party USA (since 2022)[4]
Libertarian Party (1972–2022)[5][6]
Senate
0 / 40
House of Representatives
0 / 160
U.S. Senate
0 / 2
U.S. House of Representatives
0 / 9
Website
www.lpmass.org

The Libertarian Association of Massachusetts (LAMA), previously known as the Libertarian Party of Massachusetts, is a libertarian political party in Massachusetts. It was affiliated with the national Libertarian Party from its founding until 2022, and is now affiliated with Liberal Party USA.[5][6][4]

Under the system of political parties and political designations in Massachusetts, the Libertarian Association is often the only third political party to receive enough votes to become an officially recognized party alongside the Republican Party and Democratic Party; although the Green-Rainbow Party is sometimes electorally successful enough to qualify. After losing it in 2020, it regained major party status due to the results of the 2022 elections.

History

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Former presidential candidate Ed Clark and Rebecca Shipman, the affiliate's gubernatorial candidate, spoke at the 1982 state convention at the Holiday Inn in Somerville which was attended by the majority of the two hundred registered Libertarians in the state.[7] Later the party attempted to challenge the 40,000 signature requirement to appear on the ballot and force the Secretary of State to accept the 10,000 signatures they had gathered, but the district court rejected the injunction due to "vagueness" in their affidavits.[8]

In the 2002 Senate election the Republican failed to appear on the ballot for the first time in Massachusetts history, coincidentally the previous Republican candidate in 1996 was Bill Weld, resulting in John Kerry's only opponent being Libertarian Michael Cloud which resulted in most conservatives voting for Kerry, but a significant amount voted for Cloud giving him 18.4% of the vote which at the time was the best percentage showing for a Libertarian in a Senate race until Joe Miller received nearly 30% in 2016, but they still hold the total vote record.[9]

At the party's 2018 convention, it formally endorsed ranked-choice voting and nominated candidates for the 2018 midterm elections.[10] Dan Fishman, the political director for the party, ran to be State Auditor of Massachusetts. His campaign was noted for securing an endorsement by the Boston Globe.[11][12][13] Fishman ultimately received 4% of vote in his run which secured ballot access for the Massachusetts state party affiliate.[14][15]

On April 16, 2019, the party's former political director, Dan Fishman, was appointed to be the executive director for the Libertarian Party of the United States.[16]

On June 5, 2022, the party severed its affiliation with the national Libertarian Party in response to the Libertarian National Committee recognizing alternate leadership of the state party.[5][6]

In the 2022 general election, the party ran candidates for governor, U.S. House, auditor, and treasurer. The treasurer election in particular was an opportunity for the Libertarians to regain party status after losing it in 2020, given that it is a two-way race and the requirement for party status is 3% of the vote in any statewide election.[5][17] The party's ballot access efforts in the treasurer's race were successful, with its candidate receiving 23% of the vote.[18]

On December 3, 2022, the party affiliated with the Association of Liberty State Parties at the national level.[4]

In 2024 the party had another split, with dissidents leaving to form the Prosperity and Freedom political group alongside dissidents from the ULM to form a third libertarian group in the state.[19]

Electoral performance

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The best Libertarian showing in Massachusetts in a vote for President of the United States was in the 2016 United States presidential election in Massachusetts when the Libertarian Party's ticket won 4.2% of the vote. Former Massachusetts Republican Governor Bill Weld was on that ticket as the vice president candidate, with Gary Johnson, the candidate for president.

The Libertarian Association of Massachusetts had the best percentage showing of any Libertarian candidate in a race for U.S. Senate until Joe Miller's candidacy in the 2016 United States Senate election in Alaska. Carla Howell in the 2000 United States Senate election in Massachusetts had won 11.9% and Michael Cloud in the 2002 United States Senate election in Massachusetts won 18.4% in a two-person race with Democratic John Kerry and no Republican on the ballot.[9]

Presidential

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Year Presidential nominee Votes
1972 John Hospers (Write-in) 43 (nil %)
1976 Roger MacBride (Write-in) 135 (nil %)
1980 Ed Clark 22,038 (0.9%)
1984 David Bergland Not on ballot
1988 Ron Paul 24,251 (0.9%)
1992 Andre Marrou 7,458 (0.3%)
1996 Harry Browne 20,426 (0.8%)
2000 Harry Browne 16,366 (0.6%)
2004 Michael Badnarik 15,022 (0.5%)
2008 Bob Barr 13,189 (0.4%)
2012 Gary Johnson 30,920 (1.0%)
2016 Gary Johnson 138,018 (4.2%)
2020 Jo Jorgensen 47,013 (1.3%)

House

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Year House candidates Votes Change
2010 None None Steady
2012 1 16,668 (0.7%) Increase 0.7%
2014 None None Decrease 0.7%
2016 1 27,511 (0.9%) Increase 0.9%
2018 None None Decrease 0.9%
2022 1[17]

Senate Class I

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Year Senate nominee Votes Change
2002 Michael Cloud 369,807 (18.4%) Steady
2008 Robert J. Underwood 93,713 (3.1%) Decrease 15.3%
2014 None None Decrease 0.9%

Senate Class II

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Year Senate nominee Votes Change
1982 Howard S. Katz 18,878 (0.9%) Steady
1988 Freda Lee Nason 13,199 (0.5%) Decrease 0.4%
1994 Lauraleigh Dozier 14,484 (0.7%) Increase 0.2%
2000 Carla Howell 308,860 (11.9%) Increase 11.2%
2006 None None Decrease 11.9%
2012 None None Steady
2018 None None Steady

Gubernatorial

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Year Gubernatorial nominee Votes Change
1982 Rebecca Shipman 17,918 (0.9%) Increase 1.7%
1986 None None Decrease 0.9%
1994 None None Steady
1998 Dean Cook 32,184 (1.7%) Increase 1.7%
2002 Carla Howell 23,044 (1.1%) Decrease 0.6%
2022 Kevin Reed 39,244 (1.6%)

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Massachusetts Directory of Political Parties and Designations". Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
  2. ^ "LAMA State Committee". Libertarian Association of Massachusetts. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
  3. ^ Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (4 October 2020). "2020 State Election Enrollment Statistics" (PDF). Retrieved 13 September 2022.
  4. ^ a b c "Libertarian Association of Massachusetts Joins the Association of Liberty State Parties". Libertarian Association of Massachusetts. 3 December 2022. Retrieved 3 December 2022.
  5. ^ a b c d Doherty, Brian (15 September 2022). "Libertarian Party Faces State Rebellions". Reason. Retrieved 24 September 2022.
  6. ^ a b c "LAMA State Committee Resolution to Disaffiliate". Libertarian Association of Massachusetts. 6 June 2022. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
  7. ^ "Mass. Libertarians aiming for permanent ballot spot". Boston Globe. February 7, 1982. Archived from the original on 2019-04-17.
  8. ^ "Election law challenge rejected". Boston Globe. April 16, 1982. Archived from the original on 2019-04-17.
  9. ^ a b "Fight for control of Senate intensifies". CNN. November 1, 2002. Archived from the original on 2002-11-21.
  10. ^ "A Clamor in the Commonwealth; Massachusetts Libertarians Look to the Future in Springfield". Independent Political Report. November 1, 2018. Archived from the original on 2018-11-06.
  11. ^ Welch, Matt (30 October 2018). "Boston Globe Endorses Libertarian Dan Fishman for Massachusetts State Auditor". Reason.com. Reason Foundation. Archived from the original on 17 April 2019. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
  12. ^ Johnston, Bob (30 October 2018). "Boston Globe: "Give this Libertarian a shot"". Libertarian Party. Archived from the original on 18 April 2019. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
  13. ^ "Editorial board endorsement: Dan Fishman, a Libertarian, for auditor – The Boston Globe". BostonGlobe.com. 29 October 2018. Archived from the original on 17 April 2019. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
  14. ^ "2018 Auditor General Election". PD43+ ». Secretary of the Commonwealth of MA. Archived from the original on 17 April 2019. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
  15. ^ Sarwark, Nicholas (31 December 2018). "2018 Libertarian Party victories and 2019 goals". Libertarian Party. Archived from the original on 17 April 2019. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
  16. ^ Sarwark, Nicholas (16 April 2019). "Dan Fishman joins Libertarian Party staff as executive director". Libertarian Party. Archived from the original on 17 April 2019. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
  17. ^ a b Wade, Christian M. (2 October 2022). "Libertarians hope to regain major party status". The Eagle-Tribune. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
  18. ^ Wade, Christian M. (11 November 2022). "Libertarians regain major party status". The Eagle-Tribune. Boston. Retrieved 12 November 2022.
  19. ^ Phillies, George. "New Massachusetts Political Group". Third Party Watch. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
  20. ^ Lips, Evan (8 August 2016). "Weld: 'I'll tell you who's going to win'". NewBostonPost. Archived from the original on 17 April 2019. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
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