United States Pirate Party Opens Leadership Nominations Ahead of National Conference

The United States Pirate Party will choose a new national leadership team at its annual conference in Boston later this month, with members now able to nominate candidates for nine officer roles up for election.

The party opened nominations this month for the roles of chair, vice chair, secretary, treasurer, state moderator, auditor, swarmcare manager, webmaster, and director of public relations. Notably, it uses specific titles for several of these positions, including captain for chair, first officer for vice chair, scribe for secretary, and quartermaster for treasurer.

Under Pirate National Committee bylaws, candidates for national officer positions must be at least 18, active in a state Pirate Party or otherwise active in Pirate politics where no affiliate exists, and attend at least one prior weekly national committee meeting. Candidates for captain also may not simultaneously serve as an affiliate representative.

In a May 9 statement, the party said members may nominate others or themselves, though nominees must still accept before being considered candidates. It also said nominees will be required to complete an interview starting this year, conducted during the national committee meeting that prospective candidates are required to attend.

The party added that nominations would close within two weeks of the notice. A party representative later told Independent Political Report that the deadline is May 23.

The elections will take place during the party’s 2026 Annual National Conference, scheduled for June 6 and 7 at the Residence Inn by Marriott Boston Harbor on Tudor Wharf. The business portion of the conference, including leadership elections, is expected to take place that Saturday afternoon.

The party has promoted the conference under the shortened name “Hoist the Colours and Spill the Tea (20 Years a Pirate),” though it said earlier in the year that its formal name is “Piratey McPirateface, of the House of Supreme, Heir to the Crown of the United States of America, Held By His Father Vermin Supreme, and Sole Heir to the Kingdom of Libertalia, By the Grace of God, King of Castile, of León, of Aragon, of the Two Sicilies, of Jerusalem, of Dalmatia, of Croatia, of Navarre, of Granada, of Toledo, of Valencia, of Galicia, of Mallorca, of Seville, of Sardinia, of Córdoba, of Corsica, of Murcia, of Jaén, of the Algarves, of Algeciras, of the Canary Islands, of the East and West Indies, of the Islands and Mainland of the Ocean Sea; Archduke of Austria; Duke of Burgundy, of Brabant, of Milan, of Athens and Neopatria; Count of Habsburg, of Flanders, of Tyrol, of Barcelona, of Roussillon, and of Cerdanya; Marquess of Oristano and Count of Goceano, Duke of Sealand, Mayor of Des Moines, Mr. Florida 1999, Reborn, Runs for Something to Spill This Tea and Hoist the Colours Over the Stolen Pirate National Conference of 2024, aka Hoist the Colours and Spill the Tea.”

According to additional details, the first day will also include a visit to the USS Constitution and talks on topics of interest to Pirate Party members. The second day will include activities tied to Boston’s history and what the party calls family-friendly programming. In its earlier notices, the party also suggested there will be guest speakers, but has not yet identified any names.

It is not yet known how many current officers will seek reelection. All nine positions are currently staffed, with Jolly Mitch Davilo serving as captain since 2025. Each position up this year carries a one-year term running through the party’s 2027 conference.