Nicholas Sarwark


Nicholas Joel Sarwark is an American attorney and businessman who served as the 19th chair of the Libertarian National Committee, the executive body of the Libertarian Party of the United States. Prior to his election in 2014, he served on several LP national committees and as chair of the Libertarian Party of Maryland State Committee and vice chair of the Libertarian Party of Colorado State Committee. He is the only LP chair to have served three terms.
Sarwark ran for mayor in the 2018 Phoenix mayoral election, finishing fourth with 10.5 percent of the vote.
Sarwark declined to run for another term as LNC chair in 2020, being replaced by Joe Bishop-Henchman.

Early life and education

Sarwark was born on August 27, 1979, in Phoenix, Arizona. He graduated from Washington Adventist University in 1998 with a BS in computer science and a minor in philosophy, later receiving his juris doctor from American University Washington College of Law in 2008. Whilst attending law school, Sarwark clerked for the libertarian law firm Institute for Justice.
In the early 1990s, Sarwark's father brought him to Maricopa County Libertarian gatherings, and Sarwark subsequently joined the party in 1999.

Career

Sarwark was chairman of the Libertarian Party of Maryland from 2001 to 2003, holding numerous LP officer and local-level roles there. Prior to being elected chairman of the Libertarian National Committee in 2014, Sarwark served as a deputy public defender in Colorado and as vice-chairman of the Libertarian Party of Colorado. Sarwark was re-elected in 2016, and again in 2018.
Sarwark ran in the 2018 Phoenix mayoral election, garnering 10.5 percent of the vote, placing fourth among four candidates, and did not advance to the 2019 run-off.

Personal life

Sarwark married his wife, Valerie in 2009. After building a family in Denver, he returned to Phoenix in 2014 to join his family's independent car dealership, where he served as vice-president. Sarwark and his wife have four children. In 2019, Sarwark and his family moved to Manchester, New Hampshire, recognizing the success of the grassroots libertarian movement the Free State Project.

Electoral history