The Libertarian Party of Ohio’s State Central Committee elected new state leadership and filled several Executive Committee vacancies during its regular organizational meeting held earlier this month.
In a statement published June 15, the party said the State Central Committee met over the previous weekend and elected Zach Hall as chair, Steve Perkins as vice chair, Dr. Michael Fricke as treasurer, and Carl Fryman as secretary. Hall had previously served as treasurer of the State Central Committee, while Fricke was a committee member from Ohio’s 14th Congressional District.
For its Executive Committee, the State Central Committee elected Hall and Jennifer Crayton to at-large seats. It also said it filled two existing vacancies by electing Tom Pruss as Executive Committee vice chair and Homer Taft as Executive Committee treasurer. The meeting also finished the process of seating appointed members who were unable to appear on the primary election ballot, giving it what the party called “full representation and participation from across Ohio.”
“The Libertarian Party of Ohio is united and ready to move forward,” Hall said in the statement. “Our newly elected leadership team and seated committee members are committed to advancing the principles of liberty throughout Ohio. We look forward to working closely with the Executive Committee to maintain a stable, effective organization that can continue growing our party, supporting our candidates, and expanding the cause of freedom across the state.”
The two committees serve distinct roles within the Libertarian Party of Ohio. State law provides for a state central committee to act as a party’s “controlling committee,” which the affiliate describes on its website as functioning “similar to a corporation’s board of directors.” When the party has ballot access in even-numbered years, such as it does now, members of the State Central Committee are elected through the primary process. In years when it lacks ballot access, the party handles those elections internally.
The party’s bylaws also give the State Central Committee responsibility for electing the Executive Committee, which oversees the organization’s general operations, including working with staff and appointed directors and establishing the party’s operating budget. The Executive Committee is typically elected during odd-numbered years, with its next regular elections taking place in 2027.
Prior to the organizational meeting, internet archives show that Cassaundra Fryman served as chair of the State Central Committee, with James Barbour as vice chair, Hall as treasurer, and Jon Cowan as secretary. The most recent Executive Committee officers before the meeting were Chair Michael Sweeney, Vice Chair James Mills, Secretary Ken Holpp, and Treasurer Bill Redpath. Barbour, Tricia Sprankle, and Drew Werley served as the latter committee’s at-large members.
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