There have been Libertarian Party candidates on presidential primary ballots in every election since 1988. In the last election, there were state-run primaries for the LP in six states and privately organized efforts in another six, including New Hampshire, carried out by mail and conventions, and Iowa, where the LPIA held caucuses. While increased ballot access hurdles in some states and factional conflict within the party may prevent 50-state status in 2024, improved electoral performance in statewide races and in presidential campaigns over the past dozen years mean the LP presence in primaries is greater than ever before. These contests, while not binding on delegates to the Libertarian National Convention, present otherwise unobtainable opportunities for outreach and exposure.
With several individuals already actively campaigning for the LP presidential nomination, these are the states where primary contests may take place:
State-run primaries:
February 3rd/24th – South Carolina – In the Palmetto State, parties choose the date of their primary and along with a filing fee assessed by the state election commission of up to $20,000 the parties themselves may require an additional filing fee of undetermined amount. The Democrats are set to hold their primary on the 3rd, while the Republicans chose the 24th. SCLP has never chosen to have a primary and is unlikely to do so in 2024.
March 5th – Maine – The LP is currently an officially recognized party thanks to a court ruling stemming from Libertarian voters being unconstitutionally disaffiliated after the 2018 election. The court order stipulates that LPME needs to have the requisite number of affiliated voters, 5,000, by January of 2024. However, Maine requires political parties to opt in or out of presidential primaries by Oct. 1st and for those that do, candidates will need to turn in a petition with at least 2,000 signatures by Dec. 1st. LPME declaring for a primary and candidates filing for it would support the voter registration drive to secure party status. However, the state may be reluctant to allow a Libertarian presidential primary and if one is pursued the matter would likely end up in court.
March 5th – California – Between 150 and 68 days before the election date, the Secretary of State selects generally recognized candidates for inclusion, with an opportunity for candidates not selected to petition for a ballot line. In 2020 thirteen Libertarians were selected and listed. Voters affiliated Libertarian may vote in the party’s presidential primary and, if the state party authorizes it which they have in the last two elections, unaffiliated voters as well.
March 5th – Massachusetts – Similar to California, the Secretary of the Commonwealth may place generally recognized candidates on the presidential primary ballot. The state party chair may also place names, and there is a petition process requiring 2,500 signatures due by Dec. 22nd. Ten Libertarians were listed in 2020. Those registered Libertarian, as well as unaffiliated voters, may participate in the LP primary.
March 5th – North Carolina – The state party may submit a list of names of generally recognized candidates to the state election board which may add candidates as well. There is a petition process but it would be exceedingly difficult to gather the necessary 10,000 signatures that would be due by Dec. 27th. There were sixteen Libertarians with a ballot line in 2020. Voters affiliated Libertarian as well as those who are unaffiliated may participate in the LP primary.
March 5th – Oklahoma – Candidates must pay a $5000 fee or gather signatures equal to 1% of potential voters(only registered Libertarians due to the OKLP choosing to prohibit unaffiliated voters) to obtain a ballot line in the presidential primary. The filing period will be Dec. 4th, 5th, & 6th. There is a petition effort planned to ensure LP participation in the primary process for the first time.
March 5th – Utah – The state party must declare their intent to participate in the presidential preference primary election by Aug. 10th. Should UTLP choose to take advantage of the opportunity, candidates will be required to submit a $500 fee with their declaration of candidacy between Aug. 15th and Dec. 1st. The state party may choose to close the primary to only voters affiliated Libertarian or open it to unaffiliated voters or go farther and allow participation by those registered with other parties.
March 19th – Kansas – After not holding presidential primaries since 1992 Kansas will have them again for 2024. Candidates will be required to pay a fee of $10,000 or submit a 5,000 signature petition by January 19th. LPKS would have the option of declining to have a primary by notifying the Sec. of State by Dec. 1st.
March 19th – Arizona – The state party has the option to decline participation in a state-run primary. This was done in 2008 and the AZLP held an online primary, won by George Phillies, in which fewer than 70 votes were cast. Barring declination, which was also done in 2020, candidates would need to either gather 500 signatures or show that they are on the ballot in the presidential preference primaries of at least two other states, with a filing deadline of Dec. 11th. Arizona’s open primary law does not apply to presidential preference primary; only voters affiliated as Libertarian would be able to participate.
May 14th – Nebraska – The Secretary of State selects generally recognized candidates for inclusion, with an opportunity for candidates not selected to petition for a ballot line. In 2020 six Libertarians were selected and listed. LPNE may allow unaffiliated voters to participate if it chooses.
May 14th – West Virginia – Candidates must pay a $2500 fee or gather 10,000 signatures by Jan. 27th. LPWV would have the option to allow unaffiliated voters along with those registered Libertarian.
June 4th – Montana – Candidates turn in their filing along with 500 signatures by March 20th. The state does not have partisan voter registration, voters choose which primary ballot they want. With an election date later than the LNC convention, the utility of candidate participation is low.
June 4th – New Mexico – The Land of Enchantment is another state where candidates are automatically placed on the ballot, by a state nominating committee in this case. There is a petition method for those not chosen but there’s little reason to bother since the primary is later than the nominating convention.
June 4th – South Dakota – Parties submit names for the primary and may choose not to participate. LPSD has bylaws requiring delegates to be chosen at state convention which precludes having a primary which would take place after the nominating convention as it has since 2000. Prior to that, it was in February and the LP participated in 1996.
Caucus/party-run primary states:
(Because these contests are administered by the state parties themselves, many details are yet to be set)
Undetermined – New Hampshire – The LP last qualified to participate in the state’s presidential primary in 1996. In 2020, LPNH ran its own contest using ranked choice voting, carried out by mail and in-person at the state convention. Presumably they will do so again, with the convention most likely to be scheduled in January, and one should assume that as they did four years ago they will require candidate filing, which was October through mid-November last time.
Undetermined – Missouri – The LP has participated in presidential primaries in the Show Me state in each of the past six elections, but Missouri eliminated it’s primary for 2024. It remains to be seen if LPMO will carry out a party-run caucus or primary next year.
Jan. 15th – Iowa – With LPIA regaining major party status on the back of Rick Stewart’s gubernatorial result, state laws regarding caucuses will apply including the in-person participation requirement. The party will need to decide how it responds. The GOP will caucus on Jan. 15th to retain first-in-the-nation status according to state law but Democrats, restructuring their calendar due to opposition to the traditional order, will have an all-mail process.
March 5th – Minnesota – LPMN has held its own caucus during the past two presidential election cycles, on the same day as the establishment parties in 2016 and one week prior in 2020. Presumably they will do so again. In past practice they have not had a filing requirement.
March/April – Ohio – The LP does not have ballot status in Ohio, where the state Legislature has been hostile to alternative parties in general and the LP in particular. LPOH conducted an online caucus from March 16th to April 11th which featured ranked choice tabulation and candidates who had filed with the FEC and showed at least $1 in fundraising. It would be reasonable to expect a similar process in 2024.
April – Connecticut – LPCT does not have major party status and so is not a participant in state-run primaries. In 2020 the party conducted a four-day online primary from the 25th to the 28th of April. Plans for 2024 have not yet been announced.
May 21st – Oregon – The LP has not been eligible to participate in state-run primaries in Oregon, a state which features voting done entirely by mail. LPOR conducted a primary by mail in 2016 but did not do so in 2020. They have not made an announcement regarding 2024 as of this time.
Additional notes:
Any LP state affiliate may choose to have a party-run primary or caucus and determine all aspects of the process.
Numerous state affiliates will have more informal straw polls at their conventions or other events.
Delegates will nominate the LP presidential candidate at the Libertarian National Convention in Washington, DC, May 24th through 26th.
Well done. Thank you.
An excellent and thorough article that must have required a lot of research.
Here’s an example of a wide-open version of what I’m mentioning. The Tories in Canada had a race after this in 2022 but that one was pretty one-sided that Poillievre won almost sweeping the country.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Conservative_Party_of_Canada_leadership_election
That’s not really a caucus looking at the link when there’s no interaction between the voters. The minimum percentage viability thing for the precincts and then seeing where those supporters under the threshold move to is the best thing in my opinion about the Iowa caucuses. It’s live ranked choice voting where you can take into consideration what others around you have done, which makes it no different than a Convention voting system.
I did read the article this week you linked to at your site regarding the argument against the LP Convention system. I agree to a point but the problem with the primary system used by Republicans and Democrats for us is 1.) we’re small, they’re large, so we’re subject to entryism, and 2.) we have no way to control who is voting for the Libertarian presidential candidate in a lot of states. I strongly believe in freedom of association, so I don’t understand why political parties should be forced to allow people to vote for their candidates that are not party members.
I think a route to go is maybe the Westminster system of how they select party leaders. I’ll speak to Canada because I know Canadian politics pretty well compared to most Americans. They have a contest declared open. All candidates that want to throw in their names as running for leader pay a fee to the party meant to cover costs. That gets rid of all the candidates there for grandstanding and “Hey, Look at Me!” You set a future date where the only people eligible to vote for party leader are party members. So this acts as fundraising for the party and takes care of my freedom of association concerns. Then the candidates for leader campaign in party-sponsored debates. And at a certain point in time ballots are sent out to the addresses on file. I’m sure there are some qualms about this but you could manage those. There are scoring concerns as far as 1 person, 1 vote or you could base it more probably on size of states for how much percentage you get there. That way if a guy got 1000 people to register in Vermont, Vermont’s weight toward determining the winner only corresponds to their size in the Electoral College or House of Representatives.
Great article!
Ryan, The Iowa LP has done non-binding caucus straw polls in the past including the 2018 Governor nomination and the 2020 LP Presidential nomination. I would assume there is a good chance that they will do one again; however, I am no longer affiliated with them or live in the state.
https://lpia.org/2020/02/08/libertarian-party-of-iowa-presidential-caucus-winner-and-results/
I personally think having an Iowa Libertarian caucus would be pretty cool, but understand local party members may have a different opinion.
The Oregon LP did conduct a primary by mail in 2020, but it did not include presidential preference on the ballot.