The Libertarian Party of Virginia (LPVA) is the

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

affiliate of the

Libertarian Party Active parties by country Defunct parties by country Organizations associated with Libertarian parties See also * Liberal parties by country * List of libertarian organizations * Lists of political parties Lists of political part ...

Ballot laws

Ballot access laws

Virginia has one of the most restrictive ballot access laws in the United States. According to the Code of Virginia subsectio
24.2-101
without "major party" status for automatic ballot access in Virginia, the LPVA has had to gather petition signatures to get on the ballot. The requirement for statewide elections, such as the U.S. Senate, is 10,000 signatures, including at least 400 from each of Virginia's 11 congressional districts. However, after the Virginia Republican presidential primary in 2012, Virginia lawmakers reduced the 10,000 signature requirement for presidential candidates by half. Now, according to Code of Virginia § 24.2-543, a petition to put a

third-party Third party may refer to: Business * Third-party source, a supplier company not owned by the buyer or seller * Third-party beneficiary, a person who could sue on a contract, despite not being an active party * Third-party insurance, such as a Ve ...

independent candidate An independent or non-partisan politician is a politician not affiliated with any political party or bureaucratic association. There are numerous reasons why someone may stand for office as an independent. Some politicians have political views th ...

on the ballot for U.S. President "shall be signed by at least 5,000 qualified voters and include signatures of at least 200 qualified voters from each congressional district." Thus, this revision makes it easier for presidential candidates to obtain ballot access; yet, the law still remains as a barrier to entry for minor party candidates. In order for the Party to gain automatic ballot access as a major party, one of its nominated candidates must receive 10% of the vote in a statewide race. To obtain the signatures necessary to receive statewide ballot access in Virginia, it has been quoted to cost between $45,000 to $90,000. Should the LPVA meet the ten percent threshold, career journalist James Bacon noted: "Sparing the Libertarian Party the expense of petitioning to get its candidates on the ballot would allow it to husband its resources to help candidates campaign... That would be huge."

Ballot access litigation

From time to time, the Libertarian Party of Virginia has taken legal action over Virginia's ballot access laws.

''Libertarian Party of Virginia v. Judd''

In 2013, the

ACLU The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...

supported the Libertarian Party of Virginia, and contended that the Libertarians would suffer "irreparable harm" given Virginia's ballot access laws. In '' Libertarian Party of Virginia vs. Judd'', the LPVA won the case regarding state residency requirements for petition circulators per the

United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (in case citations, 4th Cir.) is a federal court located in Richmond, Virginia, with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts: * District of Maryla ...

on May 29, 2013. It was the first time a minor party had won a constitutional election law case in the Fourth Circuit since 1989 and 1988. In response to the Fourth Circuit's ruling, the State of Virginia via former Attorney General

Ken Cuccinelli Kenneth Thomas Cuccinelli II ( ; born July 30, 1968) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security from 2019 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, ...

as well as several other states, like Oklahoma, submitted petitions to the

Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

asking to reverse the Fourth Circuit's decision. On December 2, 2013, the petitions against the Fourth Circuit's ruling were denied by the Supreme Court, and so the Libertarian Party of Virginia won the case regarding state residency requirements for petition circulators.

''Sarvis v. Judd''

In July 2014, The Rutherford Institute supported the Libertarian Party of Virginia and alleged Virginia ballot laws favored "the election chances of Democrat and Republican candidates at the expense of Libertarian Party and independent candidates." In ''Sarvis vs. Judd'' a lawsuit was filed on behalf of the Libertarian Party of Virginia, several Libertarian Party candidates and an independent (non-party) candidate for public office in the November 2014 general election. The lawsuit challenged the

Virginia State Board of Elections The Virginia State Board of Elections (SBE) was created in 1946 as a nonpolitical agency responsible for ensuring uniformity, fairness, accuracy and purity in all elections in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The SBE promotes the proper administration ...

and the laws which require minor-party candidates to gather signatures on petitions to achieve ballot access as well as the laws which require minor-party and independent candidates' names to be placed below those of major-party candidates on the ballot.

Notable Virginia Libertarians

Roger MacBride Roger Lea MacBride (August 6, 1929 – March 5, 1995) was an American lawyer, political figure, writer, and television producer. He was the presidential nominee of the Libertarian Party in the 1976 election. MacBride became the first presidenti ...

, the first

presidential elector The United States Electoral College is the group of presidential electors required by the Constitution to form every four years for the sole purpose of appointing the president and vice president. Each state and the District of Columbia appo ...

in U.S. history to cast a vote for a woman, and the presidential nominee for the

in the 1976 election. *

Bill Redpath William Bruce Redpath (born October 9, 1957) is a former Chairman, Treasurer and At-Large Representative of the Libertarian National Committee, and past Chairman of the Virginia Libertarian State Committee. An eight time candidate for public of ...

, former National Chairman for the

from 2006 to 2010, and the immediate past chairman of the LPVA. *

Robert Sarvis Robert Christopher Sarvis (born September 15, 1976) is an American attorney. While attending law school, he was the co-founder and editor-in-chief of the '' NYU Journal of Law & Liberty''; he also clerked for Judge E. Grady Jolly on the U.S. Co ...

, the LPVA's 2013 gubernatorial candidate whose performance was the best performance for a minor party gubernatorial candidate in the U.S. South in nearly 40 years.

Office holders

The LPVA has and has had members elected and appointed to varying positions of government. These have included positions for: town councils; soil and water conservation committees; budget advisory committees; community leadership institutes; buildings, roads and grounds committees; and school boards.

Elections

1999 state elections

In 1999, Timothy Belton ran in the 65th district and got 22.8 percent of the vote. John Girardeau ran in the 72nd district and got 17.1 percent.

2000 presidential election

In the 2000 presidential election, the Libertarian nominee was

Harry Browne Harry Edson Browne (June 17, 1933 – March 1, 2006) was an American writer, politician, and investment advisor. He was the Libertarian Party's Presidential nominee in the U.S. elections of 1996 and 2000. He authored 12 books that in total hav ...

, who gathered the requisite signatures to appear on the ballot in the general election. Browne received 0.6% of the vote in Virginia. In the 8th Congressional district, Ron Crickenberger received 1.3% of the vote for Representative. In the 11th Congressional district, Robert K. McBride received 2.0% of the vote for Representative.

2001 gubernatorial election

ran for Governor against

Mark Warner Mark Robert Warner (born December 15, 1954) is an American businessman and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Virginia, a seat he has held since 2009. A member of the Democratic Party, Warner served as the 69th governo ...

(D) and

Mark Earley Mark Lawrence Earley (born July 26, 1954) is an American attorney and former politician. A Republican, he was elected to the Virginia State Senate (1988–1998), and then elected Attorney General of Virginia (1998 to 2001). In 2001, he resigned a ...

(R) receiving 0.8% of the vote. Gary Reams ran for Lieutenant Governor. ;House of Delegates Bill Peabody ran in the 39th district and got 0.9% of the vote. Micah Gray ran in the 41st district and got 15.9% of the vote. Christine Austen ran in 47th district and got 2.8% of the vote. Jim Simpson ran in the 51st district and got 2.3% of the vote. John H. Girardeau III ran in the 65th district and got 2.0% of the vote. Robert Stermer ran in the 96th district and got 1.0% of the vote. Also in 2001, ACLU lawyers represented four Libertarian candidates (Redpath, Reams, Belton, and Girardeau) seeking to be listed on the ballot as Libertarians rather than independents. Joining them as plaintiffs in their federal lawsuit were two Virginia voters, John Buckley and Shelley Tamres.

2002 midterm election

Libertarian Ron Crickenberger ran as an independent in the 8th Congressional district, although he was referred to by the media, by the LPVA website, and by his own campaign website as a Libertarian candidate. He received 2.7% of the vote.

2004 presidential election

In the 2004 presidential election, the Libertarian nominee was

Michael Badnarik Michael J. Badnarik ( ; August 1, 1954 – August 11, 2022) was an American software engineer, political figure, and radio talk show host. He was the Libertarian Party nominee for President of the United States in the 2004 elections, and plac ...

, who received 0.4% of the vote in Virginia.

2005 state election

;House of Delegates Donald Ferguson ran in the 36th district and got 20.1% of the vote. Scott McPherson ran in the 37th district and got 1.5% of the vote. Charles Eby, Jr. ran in the 67th district and got 2.4% of the vote. Matthew Martin ran in the 73rd district and got 27.1% of the vote.

2006 midterm elections

Wilbur N. Wood III appeared on the ballot in

Virginia's 10th congressional district Virginia's 10th congressional district is a U.S. congressional district in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is currently represented by Democrat Jennifer Wexton, who was first elected in 2018. The district includes all of Clarke County, Fr ...

receiving 0.9% of the vote.

2007 state elections

;Senate of Virginia Don Tabor ran in the 14th district and got 28.8% of the vote.

2008 elections

In the 2008 presidential election, the Libertarian nominee was

Bob Barr Robert Laurence Barr Jr. (born November 5, 1948) is an American attorney and politician. He served as a federal prosecutor and as a United States House of Representatives, Congressman. He represented Georgia's 7th congressional district as a Re ...

, who gathered the requisite signatures to appear on the ballot in the general election. Barr received 0.3% of the vote in Virginia.

was the party nominee for U.S. Senate, and he appeared on the ballot receiving 0.6% of the vote. In the 1st congressional district, Libertarian nominee

Nathan Larson Nathan Larson may refer to: *Nathan Larson (musician), American musician * Nathan Larson (criminal), American white supremacist and convicted felon See also *Nate Larson Nate Larson (born March 16, 1978) is a Baltimore-based artist and photograph ...

appeared on the ballot and received 1.5% of the vote. He was expelled from the party in 2017.

2009 state elections

Matt Cholko ran in the 39th district and got 3.2% of the vote.

2010 midterm elections

Libertarian candidates appeared on the ballot in four U.S. House of Representatives elections in Virginia: James Quigley ( 3rd District), Stuart Bain ( 6th District),

( 10th District), and David Dotson ( 11th District). Party candidates received a combined total of 23,681 votes (1.1%) statewide. (15,309 of those votes were from Bain, who received 9.2% in his district because there was no Democratic candidate running against Republican incumbent

Bob Goodlatte Robert William Goodlatte (; born September 22, 1952) is an American politician, attorney, and lobbyist who served in the United States House of Representatives representing for 13 terms. A Republican, he was also the Chair of the House Judiciar ...

2011 state elections

;Senate of Virginia Don Tabor ran in the 14th district and got 28.8% of the vote. ;House of Delegates Michael Kane ran in the 41st district and got 31.3% of the vote. Glenn McGuire ran in the 95th district and got 22.7% of the vote.

2012 presidential election

Libertarian presidential nominee

Gary Johnson Gary Earl Johnson (born January 1, 1953) is an American businessman, author, and politician. He served as the 29th governor of New Mexico from 1995 to 2003 as a member of the Republican Party. He was the Libertarian Party nominee for Presid ...

received over 30,000 votes or approximately 0.8% of the vote in Virginia.

2013 state elections

;House of Delegates Six candidates ran for various seats in the

Virginia House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two parts of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-numbe ...

. Jonathan Parrish earned 22.3% in the 23rd district. Patrick Hagerty obtained 3.4% in the 33rd district. Laura Delhomme garnered 22.9% of the vote in the 47th district. Anthony Tellez had 4.2% for the 53rd district. Christopher Sullivan received 5.6% in the 55th district, and Dan Foster obtained 3.7% in the 78th district. In total, there were over 15,000 votes cast for Libertarian candidates running for the

in 2013. ;Gubernatorial

, the Libertarian gubernatorial nominee, became the fourth minor party nominee in forty years to get on the Virginia ballot. On election day, Sarvis obtained 146,084 votes, or approximately 6.5% of the total vote cast, a number nearly three times the size of McAuliffe's victory margin over Cuccinelli and nearly five times better than Libertarian presidential candidate

from the year before. Sarvis' performance was the best performance among any Libertarian running for

Governor of Virginia The governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia serves as the head of government of Virginia for a four-year term. The incumbent, Glenn Youngkin, was sworn in on January 15, 2022. Oath of office On inauguration day, the Governor-elect takes th ...

, among the top three strongest among any Libertarian candidate running in a state gubernatorial election, and the best performance for a third party gubernatorial candidate in the U.S. South in nearly 40 years.

2014 midterm elections

;U.S. Senate ;U.S. House of Representatives Candidates for the U.S. House: 1st District: Xavian Draper 2nd District: Allen Knapp 3rd District: Justin Upshaw 4th District: Bo Brown

5th District District 5, 5 District or 5th District may refer to: Europe * District 5 (Zürich) * District 5, Düsseldorf * V District, Turku * Districts of Malta#District 5, District 5, an electoral district of Malta * Districts of Malta#District 5 2, Distric ...

: Paul Jones 6th District: Will Hammer 7th District: James Carr 8th District: Jeffrey Carson 9th District: Matthew Edwards 10th District:

11th District: Marc Harrold For the first time in its history, the Libertarian Party of Virginia had a full slate of candidates for the U.S. Congress in Virginia. Collectively, the candidates submitted well over 30,000 signatures by the June 10th deadline. This would have been the first time any party other than the Democratic and Republican Parties ran a full slate for U.S. House in Virginia since 1916; however, Xavian Draper, Allen Knapp, Justin Upshaw, and Matthew Edwards did not submit enough valid signatures to qualify for a position on the ballot. Therefore, seven candidates ran for various seats in Congress. Bo Brown earned 2.2% in the 4th district. Paul Jones had 2.1% in the 5th district. Will Hammer garnered 12.3% in the 6th district. James Carr obtained 2.1% in the 7th district. Jeffrey Carson received 2.2% in the 8th district.

had 1.5% in the 10th district, and Marc Harrold earned 1.7% in the 11th district. In total, there were over 47,000 votes cast for Libertarian candidates running for Congress in 2014.

2015 state elections

;House of Delegates Four candidates ran for various seats in the

. Will Hammer earned 23.9% in the 20th district. Mark Anderson had 3.6% in the 33rd district. Andy Bakker garnered 4.5% in the 46th district, and Brian Suojanen obtained 2.1% in the 87th district. In total, there were nearly 5,000 votes cast for Libertarian candidates running for the Virginia House of Delegates. ;Senate of Virginia Carl Loser ran for the

Senate of Virginia The Senate of Virginia is the upper house of the Virginia General Assembly. The Senate is composed of 40 senators representing an equal number of single-member constituent districts. The Senate is presided over by the lieutenant governor of Virg ...

in the 10th district. Loser had 1.0% of the vote, or 527 votes.

2016 presidential election

got 3.0% of the vote.

2017 state elections

Candidates running in 2017 include Will Hammer, in the 20th district; Michael Millner in the 22nd district; and Terry Hurst in the 89th district.

2018 midterm election

Matt Waters was the Libertarian nominee for the U.S. Senate."Meet Libertarian Virginia senate candidate Matt Waters: ‘Politicians in both parties are not being honest’ "
WTVR.com. October 30, 2018 He received 1.84% of the vote.

2020 presidential election

Libertarian presidential nominee

Jo Jorgensen Jo Jorgensen (born May 1, 1957) is an American libertarian political activist and academic. Jorgensen was the Libertarian Party's nominee for president of the United States in the 2020 election, in which she finished third in the popular vot ...

received 1.45% of the vote in Virginia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Libertarian Party of Virginia

Political parties in Virginia 1971 establishments in Virginia 2022 disestablishments in Virginia