I was reading a Libertarian Party document from 2000 the other day that named a goal of fielding 218 LP candidates for the US House of Representatives; that it would be the first time since the 1800’s that a third party had competed for a majority in the House.
I Expected to Find a lot of Candidates
After the wars, the encroachments on our liberties in the last eight years – and the promise of more of the same – I thought the LP might be close to that goal this year.
So I emailed the national LP. This year, only about 125 LP candidates will appear on the ballot for US House and Senate, they said. Bummer.
We Need to Know Who our LP Candidates Are
This got me wondering more about our LP candidates and I noticed Paulie was thinking along the same lines. Given that LP.org lists a paltry few candidates for a paltry few states, I decided to develop a website to document for the public, all in one place, the complete list of LP candidates for any given election year, starting, naturally, with 2008.
Introducing “Libertarian Party Candidates”
I cranked out Libertarian Party Candidates in just 5 work days (using Django), so it’s not polished. But I plan to improve it further for future election years.
Some Interesting Facts I Discovered
I was shocked to discover some interesting facts about the Libertarian Party while developing LPC.
- Nationally, there are only 544 LP candidates on the fall ballot (so far).
- The LP is fielding candidates for only 109 of 435 US House seats up for grabs.
- 19 states and the District of Columbia so far have 0 candidates.
- Texas is fielding 169 candidates, the most of any state. Nicely done!
LPC As Measuring Stick and Incentive
Anyway, I hope that LPC will serve as a measuring stick and therefore provide incentive to field more candidates in 2010 and hopefully reach that goal of 218 US House candidates in 2012.
If you have any ideas, comments, suggestions, new lists, corrections, complaints, etc., please let me know.
3 replies on “Guess How Many Libertarians are Running for Office this Year”
Thank you for this valuable resource. I really appreciate your efforts.
Hello , My daughter Carmel, just rang me, with this valuable information.
I do so wish for a STRONG 3 rd + party in the USA, something like the Dutch -system
We are Dems, but this Election we are very undecided, so the libertian party gives another optin-on.
Sincerely.
the Fogartys.. ps I have been to Habana many times in the Mid to late 50’s
I’m glad people are finding it useful. Thanks for commenting.
If you have any suggestions for the next iteration, please let me know.