The Libertarian Party’s Mises Caucus has launched a political organization called the American Liberty Party, with one of the new group’s first objectives being to recruit Republican U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky to run for president in 2028.
The effort was launched Tuesday, October 27, by Mises Caucus founder and former chair Michael Heise, who wrote on X that he had spent the past couple of months reaching out to figures within the America First movement about forming a new political group. Heise said the effort is intended to provide flexibility to support “legitimately good” primary candidates while also building an organization that could direct its limited resources toward areas where they would have the greatest impact.
“There is a plan, there are leaders, and there is a strategy,” Heise said. “Big announcements will be coming soon on all of that.”
Heise did not say in his announcement whether the American Liberty Party intends to pursue a ballot access line of its own or primarily function as a political advocacy organization. However, he later suggested in a reply to an X user that the new effort could utilize the Libertarian Party’s existing ballot access by rebranding the party to better represent the movement and its interests.
“You utilize the LP but rebrand it to maximimally represent the movement and its interests and tactics,” Heise said. “New party WITH ballot access”
He also shared a website for the new project, which identifies it as a project of the Mises Caucus and notes that its activities are paid for by Mises PAC. According to its website, the group styles itself as a new home for the America First movement, presenting America First, freedom, and justice as its three central principles. It also seeks to recruit Massie for the presidency, primarily for his unique appeal, his record of opposing federal spending, military interventions, and government overreach, and his efforts to force the release of documents connected to the Jeffrey Epstein investigation.
“What makes Massie’s position in American politics unusual is not that he’s found the middle ground, but that Americans from opposing political traditions have found common ground in him,” the website reads. “For that reason, the emerging coalition of the ALP would like to see Thomas Massie run for president.”
Massie, who has represented Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District since first winning election in 2012, has long been an influential figure in American libertarianism. His current term will end next January after he lost his Republican primary to Trump-backed Ed Gallrein in May.
As for seeking the presidency, Massie declined to rule out a bid for the 2028 election cycle following his defeat, telling NBC News in a May interview that he wasn’t going to “rule in anything.” Massie has also filed paperwork for a potential congressional campaign in 2028, saying the move allows him to continue raising funds while leaving his future political plans open.
Editorial note: This article has been amended to include a later remark from Heise about potentially using the Libertarian Party’s existing ballot access.
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