The Libertarian Party of Michigan’s newly nominated candidate for U.S. Senate is attracting criticism from several members of the Libertarian National Committee over policy positions on her website they warn conflict with the national party’s platform.
Lydia Christensen was nominated for U.S. Senate at the Libertarian Party of Michigan’s Candidate Nominating Convention in Troy on June 28, joining a slate that the party has publicized as including candidates for numerous statewide offices, Congress, state Legislature, and several university boards. Christensen had previously presented herself publicly as an independent candidate, including on her campaign website, but has since updated her information with the Federal Election Commission to reflect her as a Libertarian candidate following the convention.
Her campaign website also now identifies her as Michigan’s “Libertarian candidate for U.S. Senate” and that she “speaks for all Michiganders free from left-right party constraints.”
Christensen’s nomination soon drew attention from LNC Region 6 Representative Alfa Shaw, who raised concerns on the committee’s public Business List about whether Christensen was registered as a Libertarian or a member of the state or national party. Shaw called the nomination “embarrassing” and included several screenshots from Christensen’s campaign website showing policy positions he found alarming.
The images specifically drew attention to Christensen’s views on Social Security, the Second Amendment, healthcare policy, and federal legislation related to striking workers, with Shaw visibly highlighting language indicating support for federal action, expanded public programs, or additional regulation to varying degrees.
Most of the screenshots included by Shaw are still consistent with the current language on Christensen’s campaign website. As of publication, her website still states she supports “Medicaid for All” with comprehensive care plans, expanded Social Security benefits, and protections for workers participating in general strikes and collective action against eviction, foreclosure, or financial ruin. She also supports an increase in the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour, adjusted for inflation.
The sole exception concerns Second Amendment language that earlier said she would support federal legislation strengthening background checks. The current version of her website appears to have since removed that specific language while keeping her support for responsible gun ownership and safety education, as well as opposition to firearm confiscation.
Following Shaw’s objections, LNC Region 1 Alternate Sonja Feintech questioned whether the national party had an obligation to reject candidates she said were “completely against” the party. This drew a response from Vice Chair Amanda Griffiths, who said state and local parties have “significant leeway” to choose their own candidates and that national intervention would raise bylaws and Judicial Committee questions. She also said the LNC could simply express displeasure or take less intensive measures if local candidates campaign in ways that otherwise sharply conflict with the Libertarian platform.
Other LNC members urged more restrained approaches, though they still expressed varying degrees of frustration with the situation. At-large Representative Steven Nekhaila said he did not see the nomination as the LNC’s fault or responsibility, though he said he would like to know more about Michigan’s candidate selection process and how it led to Christensen’s selection. At-large Representative Richard Longstreth similarly said candidate selection rests with state affiliates and warned against applying a purity test on the grounds that individual Libertarian candidates may vary in how closely they align with the platform.
Region 8 Alternate Rose Leatherman added further context to how the nomination potentially came about, saying the criticism from several of her peers ignored Michigan’s apparent alternatives. She specifically named David Franklin, another prospective candidate for the nomination she called an “unapologetic white nationalist” open about his views, and also pointed to a former state party chair at the convention who, she said, encouraged members to instead vote for “None of the Above” for the benefit of a Republican in the race. Leatherman argued that given those options, Christensen may have been seen by enough delegates as the best available option.
Absent from the discussion is a regional representative for Michigan, as the state is considered part of “Region 0,” the classification for when a state has no regional representation on the national committee and is represented only through the party’s at-large members. In a follow-up response, Shaw said the state being regionless “complicates communication on the matter.”
The discussion also coincides with an earlier series of threads on the LNC’s public Business List relating to affiliate autonomy, as several Libertarian state affiliates have recently adopted resolutions calling for the LNC to respect the ability of state affiliates to make their own choices on matters not otherwise specified by the bylaws and to provide clearer procedures before disciplining state parties.
Among those parties that have come forward with resolutions are Oregon, Delaware, Hawaii, and Maine. While the first three affiliates approach the issue more generally, Maine goes a step further and ties its resolution to current events relating to the disaffiliation of the Libertarian Party of New Hampshire. The Wisconsin affiliate has also reportedly adopted its own resolution, though that language wasn’t shared on the list.
Independent Political Report reached out to Christensen to ask her about some of the points mentioned by members of the national committee. In an emailed response, Christensen confirmed she is a member of the Libertarian Party of Michigan but not currently a dues-paying member of the national Libertarian Party. She also said her platform had been public throughout the campaign and was available to delegates before the vote.
Christensen said she told delegates at the convention that she considers herself a “civil liberties libertarian” and a “participatory economic populist,” and that her convention speech focused on warrantless surveillance, ending FISA 702, repealing remaining provisions of the Patriot Act, and ending mass surveillance. “The nomination came from LPMI delegates, and state party membership is the relationship that matters for that decision, a point several national committee members made themselves in the discussion you reference,” she said.
Regarding specific platform issues, Christensen confirmed that she removed earlier campaign language supporting stronger background checks, but only because her position on firearms had organically changed and that she now fully supports the Second Amendment. On Social Security, Christensen said she opposes cutting benefits for those who already paid into the system, while supporting a voluntary opt-out for workers going forward. She also acknowledged that her support for a voluntary Medicaid for All option breaks from the national party platform, but said she was similarly open about that view with convention delegates.
“My reasoning is simple,” Christensen wrote. “A Michigan family choosing between a public plan and a private insurance oligopoly has more freedom than a family with no choice at all. Reasonable libertarians disagree with me on this plank, and I respect that. The disagreement is real, and it was argued honestly, in the open.”
Despite everything, Christensen acknowledged that some national members will still disagree with her on parts of her views, but called it fine.
“The Libertarian Party of Michigan nominated a candidate who will spend the next four months telling Michigan voters that surveillance without warrants is unconstitutional, that the Second Amendment means what it says, and that they deserve real choices in the systems that govern their lives,” she said. “I think that is a candidacy worth supporting, and the delegates in Troy agreed.”
Be First to Comment