Libertarian Party of Kentucky
Libertarian Party of Kentucky | |
|---|---|
| Senate leader | None |
| House leader | None |
| Founded | 1974 |
| Ideology | Libertarianism |
| National affiliation | Libertarian Party (United States) |
| Colors | a shade of Blue; Yellow |
| Kentucky Senate | 0 / 38 |
| Kentucky House of Representatives | 0 / 100 |
| U.S. Senate (Kentucky) | 0 / 2 |
| U.S. House of Representatives (Kentucky) | 0 / 6 |
| Other elected officials | 7 (June 2024)[1] |
| Website | |
| www.lpky.org | |
The Libertarian Party of Kentucky is the Kentucky affiliate of the Libertarian Party. The current state chair is Ken Moellman.
Background
The Libertarian Party of Kentucky, referred to as "LPKY", is the official state affiliate of the Libertarian Party (United States). The purpose of the Party is to promote libertarianism and elect candidates to office. The Kentucky affiliate has existed since 1974, and is the third-largest political party in Kentucky. Since the Kentucky Secretary of State's office officially began asking county clerks to track the number of Libertarian voter registrations in 2006, via 31 KAR 4:150 Archived September 11, 2016, at the Wayback Machine. As of November 11, 2020, 13,619 Kentucky citizens have registered Libertarian according to the Kentucky Secretary of State voter registration statistics.
After the election of 2020, and prior to 2016, the Libertarian Party of Kentucky was considered a "political group". An unpublished 2008 Kentucky Court of Appeals case stated that political groups are treated as Independents, as no other mechanism would exist for those groups to have their candidates placed on the ballot. Both Independents and political groups do not have automatic ballot access, meaning they must collect signatures on a petition for candidates that wish to run for office. Kentucky's ballot access rules require a different minimum number of signatures based on the office being sought, ranging between 25 and 5,000.
As a result of the 2016 general election results for president in Kentucky, the Libertarian Party was considered, under Kentucky Revised Statutes 118.015, to be a political organization for the years 2017 through 2020. Political organizations are those whose candidate for president received at least 2%, but less than 20%, of the popular vote in the state of Kentucky in the last general election. A "political organization", the second tier in a three-tier system, grants that party ballot access, but denies them a state-operated primary. The presidential race is the only metric used for ballot access in Kentucky, and there is no mechanism for a party to petition for access in Kentucky.
State Executive Committee
- Chairman – Ken Moellman
- Vice Chairman – Andrew Roberts
- Secretary – Charles Altendorf
- Treasurer – Robert Lodder
Partisan elections – Candidates
Candidates for partisan offices that wish to run as a Libertarian are nominated at a nomination convention, which can be, and historically has been, held in conjunction with the state party annual convention. A vote of registered Libertarians at convention determines who the candidate will be. All candidates must also defeat NOTA (None of the Above) in order to obtain the ability to run as a Libertarian. The LPKY State Party Executive Committee can vote to add additional candidates after the convention.
Electoral history
Statewide elections
| Year | Election | Candidate(s) | Votes | % | P. | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | President | Ed Clark / David H. Koch | 5,531 | 0.43% | 4th | Lost | [2] |
| 1988 | President | Ron Paul / Andre Marrou | 2,118 | 0.16% | 4th | Lost | [3] |
| 1992 | President | Andre' Marrou / Nancy Lord | 4,513 | 0.30% | 4th | Lost | [4] |
| US Senate | James A. Ridenour | 17,366 | 1.30% | 3rd | Lost | [5] | |
| 1996 | President | Harry Browne / Jo Jorgensen | 4,009 | 0.29% | 4th | Lost | [6] |
| US Senate | Dennis L. Lacy | 8,595 | 0.66% | 3rd | Lost | [7] | |
| 2000 | President | Harry Browne / Art Olivier | 2,896 | 0.19% | 5th | Lost | [8] |
| 2004 | President | Michael Badnarik / Richard V. Campagna | 2,619 | 0.14% | 4th | Lost | [9] |
| 2008 | President | Bob Barr / Wayne A. Root | 5,989 | 0.33% | 4th | Lost | [10] |
| 2011 | State Treasurer | Kenneth C. Moellman Jr. | 37,261 | 4.62% | 3rd | Lost | [11] |
| 2012 | President | Gary Johnson / James P. Gray | 17,063 | 0.95% | 3rd | Lost | [12] |
| 2014 | US Senate | David M. Patterson | 44,240 | 3.08% | 3rd | Lost | [13] |
| 2016 | President | Gary Johnson / Bill Weld | 53,752 | 2.79% | 3rd | Lost | [14] |
| 2019 | Governor | John Hicks / Ann Cormican | 28,433 | 1.97% | 3rd | Lost | [15] |
| Auditor of Public Accounts | Kyle Hugenberg | 46,563 | 3.32% | 3rd | Lost | ||
| Commissioner of Agriculture | Josh Gilpin | 44,596 | 3.16% | 3rd | Lost | ||
| 2020 | President | Jo Jorgensen / Jeremy "Spike" Cohen | 26,234 | 1.23% | 3rd | Lost | [16] |
| US Senate | Brad Barron | 85,386 | 4.00% | 3rd | Lost | ||
| 2024 | President | Chase Oliver / Mike ter Maat | 6,422 | 0.31% | 5th | Lost | [17] |
Congressional elections
| Year | District | Candidate | Votes | % | P. | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | KY-03 | Dan Murray | 608 | 0.43% | 4th | Lost | [18] |
| KY-04 | Paul Thiel | 706 | 0.52% | 3rd | Lost | ||
| KY-06 | Ken Ashby | 1,185 | 0.99% | 3rd | Lost | ||
| 1984 | KY-06 | Tony Suruda | 924 | 0.53% | 3rd | Lost | [19] |
| 2000 | KY-02 | Michael A. Kirkman | 2,125 | 0.89% | 3rd | Lost | [8] |
| KY-03 | Donna Walker Mancini | 7,804 | 2.90% | 3rd | Lost | ||
| KY-04 | Alan Handleman | 1,486 | 0.64% | 4th | Lost | ||
| KY-06 | Joseph Novak | 1,229 | 0.45% | 4th | Lost | ||
| 2002 | KY-02 | Robert Guy Dyer | 2,084 | 1.18% | 3rd | Lost | [20] |
| KY-04 | John Grote | 2,308 | 1.34% | 3rd | Lost | ||
| KY-06 | Mark Gailey | 3,313 | 2.06% | 3rd | Lost | ||
| 2004 | KY-03 | George C. Dick | 6,363 | 1.94% | 3rd | Lost | [9] |
| KY-06 | Mark Gailey | 1,758 | 0.59% | 4th | Lost | ||
| 2006 | KY-03 | Donna Walker Mancini | 2,134 | 0.88% | 3rd | Lost | [21] |
| KY-04 | Brian Houillion | 10,100 | 4.93% | 3rd | Lost | ||
| KY-06 | Paul Ard | 27,015 | 14.54% | 2nd | Lost | ||
| 2010 | KY-03 | Edward A. Martin | 2,029 | 0.79% | 3rd | Lost | [22] |
| 2012 | KY-02 | Craig R. Astor | 4,914 | 1.74% | 4th | Lost | [12] |
| 2018 | KY-03 | Gregory Boles | 3,788 | 1.36% | 3rd | Lost | [23] |
| KY-06 | Frank Harris | 2,150 | 0.71% | 3rd | Lost | ||
| 2020 | KY-02 | Robert Lee Perry | 7,588 | 2.11% | 3rd | Lost | [16] |
| KY-06 | Frank Harris | 6,491 | 1.72% | 3rd | Lost |
References
- ^ "Elected Officials". Retrieved June 1, 2024.
- ^ "1980 General Election Results: President". elect.ky.gov. Frankfort, Kentucky: Kentucky State Board of Elections. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
- ^ "1988 General Election Results: President". elect.ky.gov. Frankfort, Kentucky: Kentucky State Board of Elections. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
- ^ "1992 General Election Results: President". elect.ky.gov. Frankfort, Kentucky: Kentucky State Board of Elections. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
- ^ "1992 General Election Results: US Senate". elect.ky.gov. Frankfort, Kentucky: Kentucky State Board of Elections. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
- ^ "1996 General Election Results: President". elect.ky.gov. Frankfort, Kentucky: Kentucky State Board of Elections. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
- ^ "1996 General Election Results: US Senate". elect.ky.gov. Frankfort, Kentucky: Kentucky State Board of Elections. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
- ^ a b "2000 General Election: Statewide Results by Office". elect.ky.gov. Frankfort, Kentucky: Kentucky State Board of Elections. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
- ^ a b "2004 General Election: Statewide Results by Office". elect.ky.gov. Frankfort, Kentucky: Kentucky State Board of Elections. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
- ^ "2008 General Election: Statewide Results by Office". elect.ky.gov. Frankfort, Kentucky: Kentucky State Board of Elections. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
- ^ "Official 2011 General Election Results" (PDF). elect.ky.gov. Frankfort, Kentucky: Kentucky State Board of Elections. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
- ^ a b "Official 2012 General Election Results" (PDF). elect.ky.gov. Frankfort, Kentucky: Kentucky State Board of Elections. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
- ^ "Official 2014 General Election Results" (PDF). elect.ky.gov. Frankfort, Kentucky: Kentucky State Board of Elections. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
- ^ "Official 2016 General Election Results" (PDF). elect.ky.gov. Frankfort, Kentucky: Kentucky State Board of Elections. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
- ^ "Official 2019 General Election Results" (PDF). elect.ky.gov. Frankfort, Kentucky: Kentucky State Board of Elections. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
- ^ a b "Official 2020 General Election Results" (PDF). elect.ky.gov. Frankfort, Kentucky: Kentucky State Board of Elections. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
- ^ "Official 2024 General Election Results" (PDF). elect.ky.gov. Frankfort, Kentucky: Kentucky State Board of Elections. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
- ^ "1982 General Election Results: U.S. Representative". elect.ky.gov. Frankfort, Kentucky: Kentucky State Board of Elections. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
- ^ "1984 General Election Results: U.S. Representative". elect.ky.gov. Frankfort, Kentucky: Kentucky State Board of Elections. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
- ^ "2002 General Election: Statewide Results by Office". elect.ky.gov. Frankfort, Kentucky: Kentucky State Board of Elections. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
- ^ "2006 General Election: Statewide Results by Office". elect.ky.gov. Frankfort, Kentucky: Kentucky State Board of Elections. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
- ^ "Official 2010 General Election Results" (PDF). elect.ky.gov. Frankfort, Kentucky: Kentucky State Board of Elections. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
- ^ "Official 2018 General Election Results" (PDF). elect.ky.gov. Frankfort, Kentucky: Kentucky State Board of Elections. Retrieved August 21, 2025.