Massachusetts Libertarians met earlier this month for the Greater Boston Libertarian Party Meetup, including several members of the newly elected Massachusetts Libertarian Party State Committee. Members discussed several topics during the meeting, including potential options for who the state party will run as a presidential nominee later this year.
Like the Libertarian Association of Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Libertarian Party is not affiliated with the Libertarian National Committee. The two organizations share much of the same leadership but are still legally distinct. As a result, the Massachusetts Libertarian Party is not bound by who the Libertarian National Convention selects in May for the party’s presidential ticket.
Additionally, neither organization should be confused with the Unified Libertarians of Massachusetts, which is the recognized state affiliate of the Libertarian National Committee.
Members of the Massachusetts Libertarian Party State Committee were officially elected through the presidential primary ballot earlier this month, with a total of five members elected across Massachusetts. Under Massachusetts General Law, two state committee members are elected along gender lines in each state senate district, resulting in 40 state committeemen and 40 state committeewomen. However, individual political parties can expand upon this number further if they choose to do so.
According to the official blog of the Libertarian Association of Massachusetts, members present at the meeting addressed several local topics important to Libertarians, in addition to suggestions on who to list as the Libertarian Party presidential nominee on the ballot for later this year. Of the five newly elected Massachusetts Libertarian Party State Committee members, three were present at the meetup.
One suggestion was to choose the top vote-getter from all states that have conducted Libertarian primaries, which would be otolaryngologist Charles Ballay, M.D. Alternatively, a similar option suggested would be selecting the winner of the most presidential primaries, which would be Chase Oliver. The committee also considered the possibility of simply adhering to the decisions of the Libertarian National Convention, although that came with certain stipulations.
“The MALP is not an affiliate of the LNC, and is not bound by the nominee selected by the national convention in D.C. However, the state committee could choose to be bound by the national convention’s selection if the reasons for breaking affiliation in June of 2022 were resolved,” the post read.
While not presented as a fourth option, the committee also discussed what it considered a reasonable monetary bid for ballot access in Massachusetts. However, it clarified that no candidate, particularly independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has approached it with intentions to bribe the organization to use its ballot access line. Additionally, the committee neither confirmed nor denied its openness to such offers, just that it would be transparent if one were received.
“The MALP has not yet been offered a bribe by the RFK Jr. campaign for our ballot line,” the post stated. “It is estimated to cost close to $100,000 for an independent candidate to get on the ballot for President in Massachusetts, so a reasonable bid would start at about $50,000. If that call comes, we will be sure to record it and post it here.”
Readers can view the full post on the Libertarian Association of Massachusetts website here.
Ironically, Oliver and Ter Maat might just be good enough for these folks.
Anyway, even if there WERE a former Governor of Massachusetts willing to go on the Libertarian Presidential line in Massachusetts in 2024 to get the 3% needed for ballot status in 2026, that would only inconvenience Libertarian candidates in 2026, because then, as a recognized party, they would not be able to collect ballot access petition signatures from voters registered as members of any other recognized party. This is actually a huge stumbling block.
“If only there was some popular former governor of Massachusetts around who had a history of pulling enough votes, when on the ballot there, to qualify Libertarians for the 3% party status threshold.”
Does anyone in particular come to mind?
If only there was some popular former governor of Massachusetts around who had a history of pulling enough votes, when on the ballot there, to qualify Libertarians for the 3% party status threshold.
Seems to me like yet another reason to be glad that I’ve dropped association w/ any flavor of Libertarian organization in MA, though I’m still registered as “L”….
I’m offended that the idea of ‘auctioning’ the LP ballot line, or selling it in any other way would even be considered as an option….
ART (former LPMA board member, Pres. Elector candidate, NatCon delegate, elected office holder, etc….)
It will be interesting to see if RFK,Jr actually considers attempting to obtain ballot lines in places like MA and NM to avoid the cost of a petition drive in those states.
No state political party, major or minor, is ever bound by the decision of the national presidential convention. State parties have all the power because in every state, all parties choose the nominees for presidential elector. National convention decisions about who the presidential nominee is only have moral force, not legal force. State affiliates of the Democratic, Republican, Libertarian, Green, Constitution, Socialist, Farmer-Labor, Prohibition Parties have at one time or another nominated someone for president in their state who was not the national convention choice.