Arizona Libertarian Party
The Arizona Libertarian Party is the Arizona affiliate of the national Libertarian Party. The party saw early support from established politicians such as from former Representative Sam Steiger and after stagnation in the 1980s and early 90s saw a rapid increase in voter registration and vote totals in the mid-to-late 90s.
History
1970s
The Arizona Libertarian Party was one of the earliest affiliates to be formed with it having 35 dues paying members by late 1972 and held a state convention to plan on how to seek legal recognition as a party. In 1973 the party was organized and elected its officials and the following year had grown to over 200 members.In January 1975, the party announced that it would begin its first ballot access drive to collect the 11,044 signatures needed to gain ballot access for the 1976 elections and by June had submitted petitions with 9,913 signatures with plans to submit the remaining signatures later. However, the deadline for the signatures passed while officials were counting, but the Libertarian Party was successful in gaining a court ordered extension to the deadline and were given ballot access after the counting of the signatures concluded on July 21.
The party's 1978 state convention was attended by Washington Post columnist Nicholas von Hoffman and former Republican Representative Sam Steiger whom addressed them on political fundraising. Under Arizona law at the time in order for a party to maintain political party recognition it would need to receive 5% of the total votes cast in an election and under that rule the party lost its recognition as it only received 1.4% of the total votes. The party filed a lawsuit against Arizona's ballot access laws to maintain party recognition, but officially lost its recognition on March 1, 1978, when the Arizona Supreme Court ruled 3-2 that Arizona's ballot access law was constitutional.
1980s
The national party's presidential candidate, Ed Clark, attended the party's 1979 and 1980 state conventions and offered support to their attempts to regain ballot access and to place a ballot measure to eliminate taxes placed on food or food products and to repeal Arizona's auto-emissions tests. Although the party was unsuccessful in placing their auto-emissions test repeal measures onto the ballot their food sales tax repeal was successful and removed the state's 4% sales tax on food products and were successful in regaining ballot access and placing Ed Clark onto the Arizona 1980 presidential ballot.At their 1982 state convention Ed Clark addressed them for the third time, but announced that he would not seek the party's 1984 presidential nomination as to prevent it from becoming a cult of personality. The party had been struggling in their attempts to maintain ballot access with the difficulty of obtaining enough signatures to gain ballot access and gaining the 5% needed in a gubernatorial or presidential race to maintain it, but shortly before their state convention Sam Steiger, who had attended one of their previous conventions and had been sympathetic to the party since his failed 1976 Senate campaign, announced that he would run for governor as a Libertarian to help the party reach the 5% goal although he admitted that he had no chance of winning. In the 1982 gubernatorial election Steiger narrowly passed the 5% requirement giving the party automatic ballot access for the 1984 elections.
Despite the fact that the party qualified for automatic ballot access at the state level due to a technicality the party was not qualified for automatic ballot access at the county level as Stieger only received 5% of the vote in two counties leaving them unqualified in every county except for in Maricopa and Coconino counties. They attempted to appeal to the courts to have the law overturned, but were ruled against by the attorney general. The party lost its automatic ballot access after David Bergland only took 1.03% in the presidential race. The next year the party hosted the 1985 National Convention for the national Libertarian Party in Phoenix.
In 1986, Ken Sturzenacker, the chairman of the party, resigned after the executive committee ousted him from his post after he was accused of spending money without authorization and for failing to collect enough signatures to gain ballot access for the 1986 elections. The party failed for the first time since 1974 to collect enough signatures to appear on the ballot and were 10,000 signatures short by the time of Ken's resignation. Due to their lack of ballot access the party was unable to field a gubernatorial candidate so for the 1986 gubernatorial election the party endorsed Evan Mecham in the race which he won.
1990s
Despite Andre Marrou's failure to obtain 5% statewide in Arizona's presidential election the party was able to obtain recognition and automatic ballot access at the county level with multiple candidates easily passing the 5% requirement. In 1993, Tucson officials refused to give ballot access to a Libertarian attempting to run for city council as according to their signature requirement he would need 5% of the total number of votes for the previous Libertarian candidate regardless of what party they were registered to while the Arizona affiliate stated that it would only be 5% of all registered Libertarians in the city. The party appealed the decision to a superior court which ruled in their favor allowing their city council candidate to run.In 1994, John Buttrick became the first Libertarian gubernatorial candidate to appear on the ballot in 12 years since Sam Stieger in 1982 after a successful ballot access drive by the party. Buttrick failed to meet the 5% requirement to get automatic ballot access, but the party was successful in other areas where they took 7% in the Senate race which was the best performance for a Libertarian nationally at the time, maintained ballot access in Pima County, and increased voter registration to almost 8,000 which brought them closer to the 14,000 that would give them automatic ballot access.
The Pima County Libertarian Party was disaffiliated with the Arizona party in 1996, after a legal dispute in 1995 over whether the Pima County or Maricopa County affiliate represented the statewide party, was due to them carrying out party elections against the orders of the state party which started a three-year legal dispute. The party missed the deadline for it to submit its eight presidential electors putting Harry Browne's presidential ballot access in Arizona at risk, but after a court appeal they were given access by a superior court. The party also saw its registered voter amount rise above the amount needed to become a recognized party in Arizona and would not have to submit petitions to gain ballot access.
In 1999, after a court ordered the Pima and Maricopa County affiliates to meet and elect officers in accordance with state law, which was ignored by the Maricopa affiliate causing a contempt of court motion, a new state chairman was elected and the Pima County Libertarian Party was re-affiliated with the state party.
2000s
Another legal dispute arouse during the 2000 presidential campaign when two different groups claimed to be the official Libertarian Party of Arizona. In early 2000, a superior court ruled that the group not recognized by the national Libertarian Party was the official state party and gave it access to the voter list rather than the Tucson-based group recognized by the national party. Arizona continued its recognition of the rival faction when it gave the Libertarian presidential ballot access to author L. Neil Smith, who failed to win the national party's nomination, was supported by the rival group, which was upheld after a lawsuit filed by the national party and Harry Browne who would be forced to file as independents, but due to the short time frame were unable to appear on the ballot. Smith only received one-third of the votes Browne took in 1996, but the party was more successful in the Senate race where they took over 5% again due to no Democratic candidate running in the race.In 2001, the group not recognized by the national party along with the Democratic and Republican parties of Arizona attempted to challenge election laws that dealth with the election of party officials, but were against in appellate court. The rival Libertarians later filed a lawsuit to bar independents from voting in political party primaries and end Arizona's open primaries and won in federal district court, but the ruling was overturned in appeals court. The affiliate recognized by the national party at the same time lost its lawsuit to strike down Arizona's short filing period for independents that it filed during the 2000 presidential election. By 2004 the legal disputes between the two groups had been settled and the national presidential candidate was placed onto the ballot in Arizona. The party filed a lawsuit stating that as the Arizona State University raised donations and were working for the state they were in violation of the law and could not hold the debate without Michael Badnarik, but the presidential debate still happened.
2010s
In 2011, the Arizona Green and Libertarian parties filed a lawsuit due to the new voter registration card only including the two largest parties while all other parties would have to be written in. The courts ruled in favor of Arizona as "the state has a legitimate interest in keeping the registration form simple". They attempted to have the U.S. District Court reconsider its decision and to bring the case to the Supreme Court, but both attempts failed.The party struggled to field candidates in 2016 due to a dramatic increase in signature requirements by state Republicans to limit Libertarians on the ballot. However, Libertarian justice of the peace candidate Gregory Kelly was able to overcome the new signature requirements to get on the ballot, and achieved 25,356 votes in the Highland District race.
The Libertarian party's most successful candidate in 2014 by both percentage and votes was Maricopa County Assessor candidate Rebecca Kielsky with 208,394, or 29.26% of the votes.
The most successful candidate in 2012 by both percentage and votes was Maricopa County Attorney candidate Michael Kielsky with 288,281, or 27.55% of the votes.
Elected officials
- Ruth E. Bennett -- Continental Elementary School District Board member
- Levi Tappan -- Page Mayor
- Barbara Neville -- Santa Cruz County National Resource Conservation District
- Levi Tappan -- Page City councilor
- Scott Stewart -- Pima County Community College Board member
Electoral performance
Presidential
| Election year | Vote percentage | +/– | Votes | Presidential candidate | Vice presidential candidate | Result |
| 1976 | 7,647 | Roger MacBride | David Bergland | Lost | ||
| 1980 | 1.12 | 18,784 | Ed Clark | David Koch | Lost | |
| 1984 | 1.12 | 10,585 | David Bergland | James A. Lewis | Lost | |
| 1988 | 0.11 | 13,351 | Ron Paul | Andre Marrou | Lost | |
| 1992 | 0.69 | 6,759 | Andre Marrou | Nancy Lord | Lost | |
| 1996 | 0.57 | 14,358 | Harry Browne | Jo Jorgensen | Lost | |
| 2000 | 0.64 | 5,775 | L. Neil Smith | Vin Suprynowicz | Lost | |
| 2004 | 0.21 | 11,856 | Michael Badnarik | Richard Campagna | Lost | |
| 2008 | 0.05 | 12,555 | Bob Barr | Wayne Allyn Root | Lost | |
| 2012 | 0.85 | 32,100 | Gary Johnson | Jim Gray | Lost | |
| 2016 | 2.77 | 106,327 | Gary Johnson | Bill Weld | Lost |
Gubernatorial
| Election year | Vote percentage | +/– | Votes | Gubernatorial candidate | Result |
| 1978 | 10,421 | V. Gene Lewter | Lost | ||
| 1982 | 3.12 | 36,649 | Sam Steiger | Lost | |
| 1986 | 343,913 | Evan Mecham | Won | ||
| 1990 | 0.03 | 316 | Ed Yetman | Lost | |
| 1994 | 3.09 | 35,222 | John A. Buttrick | Lost | |
| 1998 | 0.45 | 27,150 | Katherine Gallant | Lost | |
| 2002 | 1.01 | 20,356 | Barry Hess | Lost | |
| 2006 | 0.31 | 30,268 | Barry Hess | Lost | |
| 2010 | 0.27 | 38,722 | Barry Hess | Lost | |
| 2014 | 1.57 | 57,337 | Gary Johnson | Lost | |
| 2018 | 3.81 | 0 | - | Lost |
Senate Class I
| Year | Senate nominee | Votes | Change |
| 1976 | Allan Norwitz | 7,310 | |
| 1982 | Randall Clamons | 20,100 | 1.79% |
| 1988 | Rick Tompkins | 20,849 | 0.99% |
| 1994 | Scott Grainger | 75,493 | 4.96% |
| 2000 | Barry Hess | 70,724 | 1.68% |
| 2006 | Richard Mack | 48,231 | 1.90% |
| 2012 | Marc J. Victor | 102,109 | 1.39% |
| 2018 | - | - | 4.55% |
Senate Class III
| Year | Senate nominee | Votes | Change |
| 1980 | Fred R. Esser | 12,008 | 4.71% |
| 1986 | - | - | 1.37% |
| 1992 | Kiana Delamare | 22,613 | 1.64% |
| 1998 | John C. Zajac | 23,004 | 0.63% |
| 2004 | Ernest Hancock | 51,798 | 0.37% |
| 2010 | David Nolan | 80,097 | 2.07% |
| 2016 | - | - | 4.71% |
House
| Year | Number of candidates | Votes | Change |
| 1992 | 3 | 26,724 | |
| 1994 | 5 | 36,886 | 1.46% |
| 1996 | 3 | 27,554 | 1.33% |
| 1998 | 4 | 18,042 | 0.23% |
| 2000 | 6 | 41,670 | 1.04% |
| 2002 | 8 | 40,308 | 0.53% |
| 2004 | 8 | 146,316 | 4.45% |
| 2006 | 8 | 90,214 | 1.78% |
| 2008 | 8 | 61,100 | 3.41% |
| 2010 | 8 | 72,216 | 1.62% |
| 2012 | 7 | 82,282 | 0.46% |
| 2014 | 3 | 23,767 | 2.17% |
Voter registration
| Year | RV. | % | Change |
| 1980 | 2,839 | ||
| 1982 | 3,721 | 0.05% | |
| 1988 | 4,937 | 0.03% | |
| 1990 | 4,632 | 0.02% | |
| 1992 | 5,299 | 0.02% | |
| 1994 | 7,574 | 0.10% | |
| 1996 | 18,418 | 0.45% | |
| 1998 | 17,466 | 0.05% | |
| 1999 | 15,265 | 0.04% | |
| 2000 | 12,576 | 0.15% | |
| 2001 | 14,976 | 0.11% | |
| 2002 | 14,259 | 0.05% | |
| 2003 | 15,628 | 0.06% | |
| 2004 | 18,261 | 0.01% | |
| 2005 | 18,241 | 0.01% | |
| 2006 | 17,446 | ||
| 2007 | 18,631 | 0.01% | |
| 2008 | 18,153 | 0.08% | |
| 2009 | 24,842 | 0.19% | |
| 2010 | 24,382 | 0.03% | |
| 2011 | 23,392 | 0.03% | |
| 2012 | 22,086 | 0.03% | |
| 2013 | 25,845 | 0.09% | |
| 2014 | 26,589 | 0.02% | |
| 2015 | 27,099 | ||
| 2016 | 31,358 | 0.05% | |
| 2017 | 31,941 | ||
| 2018 | 31,583 | 0.02% | |
| 2019 | 32,258 | 0.01% |