Libertarian National Committee At-Large member Steven Nekhaila announced on Monday that he will seek the LNC Chair position at the Libertarian National Convention. Nekhaila is the third candidate to formally declare for the position.
“This serves as my formal announcement of my intention to seek the nomination for Chair of the Libertarian National Committee,” Nekhaila stated over his official Facebook page. “It is with deep passion and a great sense of service to the Party and its members that I seek your support for this role. As the only over-qualified candidate with extensive experience within the Party and necessary administrative, management, and non-profit expertise, I am uniquely positioned to lead.”
Steven Nekhaila, who is a franchise owner for several restaurant chains, states that he has been active in Libertarian politics his entire adult life. He got his start as a founding member of the Libertarian Party of the Florida Keys in 2014 before later becoming a regional representative to the Libertarian Party of Florida. He ultimately became chair of the Florida affiliate from 2019 to 2023. On a national level, Nekhaila has been a member of the Libertarian National Committee since 2016, first serving as an alternate before becoming a full member.
In his announcement, Nekhaila states that he aims to instill in the Libertarian National Committee the same levels of “professionalism, discipline, planning, and results” that he experienced during his tenure as Chair of the Libertarian Party of Florida and in his professional business activities. Specific goals include tightening the Libertarian Party’s budget and adopting a “Milei approach” to governance, enhancing its fundraising efforts, and ensuring that party messaging remains “unapologetically libertarian” while still growing its political influence. To further support these goals, Nekhaila also proposes returning the Libertarian National Committee to an employee Executive Director model and has offered to temporarily take on this role if necessary.
Nekhaila will face incumbent Libertarian National Committee Chair Angela McArdle and former LNC Chair Mark Rutherford at the Libertarian National Convention in Washington, D.C., next month.
Nekhalia is part of the leardership team that nearly bankrupted the LPF after 1 state convention. His tenure in leadership lead to decreased support for the Libertarian Party in Florida. Libertarian statewide candidates 223356 votes in 2014 and 196956 votes in 2016 before Nekhalia and friends came to power. After Nekhalia, statewide Libertarian candidates won less than 30000 votes. That’s his record. Alot of talk and PR with zero results to back it up
…many candidates… With our voting scheme, multiple candidates is mostly a non-issue.
The only thing that matters for Angela McCardle’s reelection is the support of Michael Heise.
Will having many candidates for Chair improve the chances of Angela McCardle’s re-election?
The party officers and organization are support services for libertarians and should not be in the business of directing messaging. We have got to get away from this sort of top-down thinking.