The chair of the newly organized Massachusetts Libertarian Party State Committee recently penned a letter to both the Unified Libertarians and the Libertarian Association of Massachusetts, expressing his intention to expand the wider movement while seeking to grow both groups and their sub-affiliates.
State Committee Chair Kevin Reed issued the letter as one of his first actions since assuming the role. Unlike the Unified Libertarians of Massachusetts, which is the recognized state affiliate of the Libertarian National Committee, and the Libertarian Association of Massachusetts, which is previously the affiliate but is now associated with the Liberal Party, the Libertarian State Committee is a separate state-recognized political committee established as a result of the 2022 state elections.
A new Libertarian State Committee was elected on the presidential primary ballot in Massachusetts earlier this month.
In the letter, dated last Thursday and acquired by Independent Political Report, Reed reached out to members of both groups with the goal of identifying Libertarians across Massachusetts to establish what he calls “permanent party status.” While there is no true permanent status for a political organization, under Massachusetts General Law, parties can gain state recognition and ballot access by either earning 3% of the vote in a statewide campaign or by registering at least 1% of all registered Massachusetts voters as members of that organization.
“In the coming days, we will begin the vital work of identifying party members in each vacant region who can contribute to our mission,” Reed wrote. “Our goals are clear: we aim to support the expansion of membership into ULMA and LAMA or their subaffiliates, build an infrastructure that fosters a grassroots movement, and establish core constituencies. My overall objective is the permanent party status of the Libertarian party in the Commonwealth. These efforts are in service to electing candidates who will stand for liberty in the birth state of America.”
In 2022, Reed was among several candidates affiliated with the Libertarian Association of Massachusetts who sought statewide office. He ran for Governor of Massachusetts alongside Peter Everett as his running mate, earning 39,244 votes for 1.6% of the total.
While Reed and Everett’s vote totals fell short of the 3% threshold needed for state recognition, fellow Libertarian candidate Cris Crawford did meet the requirement. Crawford garnered 516,019 votes and 23.1% of the total in her bid for State Treasurer.
Her campaign ultimately led to the establishment of the Libertarian State Committee along with ballot access, and voters registered with the Libertarian Party were able to pull a Libertarian ballot in the 2024 presidential primary.
If LAMA declines to put the Libertarian national Presidential candidate on the ballot, and the LNC petitions to put that person on the ballot for President, they can petition for Senate with the same nominating papers at almost no extra cost.
Reed is advocating for a completely wrong-headed objective that will make it far more difficult for Libertarian Party candidates for anything other than President to get on the ballot.
Will the party try to get a US Senate candidate on the party’s primary ballot this year? It’s very difficult but a US Senate nominee could probably get 3% of the vote in November and keep the party on the ballot for 2026.