Nicholas Joel Sarwark (born August 27, 1979) is an American attorney and businessman who served as the 19th chair of the

Libertarian National Committee The Libertarian National Committee (LNC) controls and manages the affairs, properties, and funds of the United States Libertarian Party. It is composed of the party officers, five at-large representatives elected every two years at the national c ...

(LNC), the governing body 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 * Outline of libertarianism ...

. Prior to his election in 2014, he served on several LP national committees and as chair of the

Libertarian Party of Maryland The Libertarian Party of Maryland is the Maryland affiliate of the Libertarian Party. The state chair is Eric Blitz. The party, also known as "LPMaryland," or "LPMD" is Maryland's third-largest political party, with 17,364 registered voters ac ...

State Committee and vice chair of the

Libertarian Party of Colorado The Libertarian Party of Colorado is the state affiliate of the Libertarian Party in Colorado. The state chair is Wayne Harlos. Elected libertarians in Colorado include city councilmen Doug Anderson in Lakewood, Colorado, Joe Johnson in Frederick ...

State Committee. Doherty, Brian (May 27, 2016
"The Libertarian Party's National Committee Chair Race: Meet the Contenders"
''

Reason Reason is the capacity of consciously applying logic by drawing conclusions from new or existing information, with the aim of seeking the truth. It is closely associated with such characteristically human activities as philosophy, science, ...

''.com. Retrieved June 2, 2022. , he is the only LP chair to have served three consecutive terms. Sarwark declined to run for another term as LNC chair in 2020, and was succeeded by

Joe Bishop-Henchman The 2020 Libertarian National Convention delegates selected the Libertarian Party nominees for president and vice president in the 2020 United States presidential election. Primaries were held, but were preferential in nature and did not determi ...

Early life and education

Sarwark was born on August 27, 1979, in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...

. He graduated from

Washington Adventist University Washington Adventist University is a private Seventh-day Adventist university in Takoma Park, Maryland. History Washington Adventist University was established in 1904 by the Seventh-day Adventist Church as Washington Training College. In ...

in 1998 with a BS in computer science and a minor in philosophy, later receiving his

juris doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

from

American University The American University (AU or American) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Its main campus spans 90 acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, mostly in the Spring Valley neighborhood of Northwest D.C. AU was charte ...

Washington College of Law The American University Washington College of Law (AUWCL or WCL) is the law school of American University, a Private university, private research university in Washington, D.C. It is located on the western side of Tenley Circle in the Tenleyto ...

in 2008. While attending law school, Sarwark clerked for the libertarian law firm

Institute for Justice The Institute for Justice (IJ) is a libertarian non-profit public interest law firm in the United States. It has litigated ten cases before the United States Supreme Court dealing with eminent domain, interstate commerce, public financing for e ...

. In the early 1990s, Sarwark's father brought him to

Maricopa County Maricopa County is in the south-central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 census, the population was 4,420,568, making it the state's most populous county, and the fourth-most populous in the United States. It contains about 6 ...

Libertarian gatherings, and Sarwark subsequently joined the party in 1999.

Political career and campaigns

Sarwark was chairman of the

from 2001 to 2003, holding numerous LP officer and local-level roles there. Prior to being elected chairman of the

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, Sarwark served as a deputy

public defender A public defender is a lawyer appointed to represent people who otherwise cannot reasonably afford to hire a lawyer to defend themselves in a trial. Several countries provide people with public defenders, including the UK, Hungary and Singapore, ...

in Colorado and as vice-chairman of the

. He was re-elected in

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

, and again in

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

. While serving as LNC chair, Sarwark made appearances on multiple national media outlets, including

MSNBC MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and political ...

and

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

, to discuss

libertarian Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...

perspectives on various topics. Sarwark ran in the 2018 Phoenix mayoral special election. His campaign platform included opposition to light rail, addressing the city's pension debt, and working with

Republicans Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

and Democrats on the city council. He garnered 10.5 percent of the vote, placing fourth among four candidates, and did not advance to the 2019 run-off. After moving to New Hampshire, Sarwark ran for Hillsborough County

Attorney Attorney may refer to: * Lawyer ** Attorney at law, in some jurisdictions * Attorney, one who has power of attorney * ''The Attorney'', a 2013 South Korean film See also * Attorney general, the principal legal officer of (or advisor to) a gove ...

in 2020 under the Libertarian Party. His major issues included clearing the criminal case backlog. He received 5.6 percent of the vote, placing third among three candidates. Sarwark ran for the same office in 2022 under both the Libertarian and Democratic parties. He placed second in a two-candidate race with 45.25 percent of the vote.

Personal life

Sarwark married his wife, Valerie in 2009. After building a family in

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, 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 Manchester is a city in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. It is the most populous city in New Hampshire. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 115,644. Manchester is, along with Nashua, one of two seats of New Hamp ...

, to become a part of the

grassroots A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or economic movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from the local level to effect change at t ...

libertarian movement the

Free State Project The Free State Project (FSP) is an American political migration movement founded in 2001 to recruit at least 20,000 libertarians to move to a single low-population state (New Hampshire was selected in 2003) in order to make the state a stronghold ...

Electoral history

References

External links

* * at the Libertarian Policy Institute, of which Sarwark is Executive Director * at Wedge Squared Strategies, of which Sarwark is Principal * * (archived) * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sarwark, Nicholas 1979 births Living people American automobile salespeople Arizona Libertarians Candidates in the 2018 United States elections Candidates in the 2020 United States elections Colorado Libertarians Lawyers from Phoenix, Arizona Libertarian National Committee chairs Maryland Libertarians New Hampshire Libertarians People from Denver Politicians from Phoenix, Arizona Public defenders Washington College of Law alumni