Libertarian Party of Maryland

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Libertarian Party of Maryland
Basic facts
Location:	Abingdon, Md.
Type:	Political party
Affiliation:	Libertarian
Top official:	Bob Johnston, Chair
Website:	Official website

The Libertarian Party of Maryland is the Maryland political party affiliate of the national Libertarian Party. The group is headquartered in Abingdon, Maryland.

Background

The Libertarian Party of Maryland is the third-largest political party in the state. According to the organization's website, Maryland has over 15,000 registered Libertarian voters. The Libertarian Party of Maryland first gained ballot access in 1999, but lost its status in 2002. The party regained official recognition by the state in 2004 and maintained ballot access through 2010. After another gap in recognition, the party was re-certified and obtained ballot access in 2012.

As of July 2017, Mayor Leo Martin of Mountain Lake Park, Maryland, was the state's only elected Libertarian.

Platform

The party's 2016 platform is composed of seven main issues:

• Jobs and wealth creation
  "Reduce government spending and lower the tax burden on Maryland taxpayers."
• Education
  "Increase parental choice in education. Support and encourage smaller, more autonomous neighborhood schools."
• Health care
  "Promote a free market system that respects the freedom of individuals to control their own health care, health insurance, medicines and treatments. End government mandates and interference."
• Crime and public safety
  "Redirect law enforcement towards crimes against persons and property, rather than victimless crimes. End pre-conviction asset forfeiture. End the drug war."
• State government
  "Prohibit Maryland officials from funding or participating in domestic espionage and bulk data collection. Prohibit Maryland from using or maintaining such data except in accordance with a constitutionally proper warrant."
• Property rights
  "Forbid government entities from abusing the power of eminent domain in order to transfer private property to privileged individuals."
• Land use, transportation and the environment
  "Promote free market environmentalism to promote conservation and environmental protection. Prevent pollution and increase environmental awareness by making polluters pay for environmental damage through civil liability."

Rules and bylaws

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Note: This article is not intended to serve as a guide to running for public office. Individuals should contact their state election agencies for further information.

See also: Rules of the Maryland Libertarian Party

The state party is governed by a set of rules and bylaws. Typically, these give structure to the different levels of organization—local, county, and state committees—and establish protocol for electing committee members. The bylaws also typically give details on the party's process for nominating and sending delegates to the national party convention during presidential elections. The following is a summary of the Maryland Libertarian Party's rules. This summary focuses on the structure and governance of the party:

• The state central committee is the governing body of the Libertarian Party of Maryland.
• The members of the executive board are elected at the state central committee's spring meeting and serve one-year terms.
• The state central committee meets once during the spring and once during the fall. The spring meeting is also known as the state convention.

Convention

The date of the 2016 state convention for the Maryland Libertarian Party, when the party selected its delegates to the Libertarian National Convention, was March 12, 2016.

Leadership

The website for the Maryland Libertarian Party listed the following individuals as the party's state leadership as of October 2023:

• Bob Johnston, Chair
• Eric Blitz, Vice chair
• Robert E. Glaser, Secretary
• Travis Lerol, Treasurer
• Chelsey Snyder, At-large member
• Stuart Simms, At-large member
• Shawn Quinn, At-large member

Elections

2016 elections

See also: Gary Johnson presidential campaign, 2016

The Libertarian Party of Maryland supported the following 2016 candidates:

• Gary Johnson, United States President
• Arvin Vohra, United States Senate
• Matthew Beers, Maryland's 1st Congressional District
• Kristin Kasprzak, Maryland's 2nd Congressional District
• Jack Jones, Maryland's 5th Congressional District
• Scott Soffen, Maryland's 7th Congressional District
• Jasen Wunder, Maryland's 8th Congressional District
• Susan Gaztanaga, Baltimore City Council President
• Jon Bombach, Baltimore City Comptroller

Recent news

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See also

• Libertarian Party
• Maryland

External links

• Maryland Libertarian Party Website
• Maryland Libertarian Party on Facebook
• Maryland Libertarian Party on Twitter