The 2021 Libertarian National Committee chair special election was held on July 11, 2021, by 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 co ...

(LNC), the governing body of the

United States Libertarian Party The Libertarian Party (LP) is a Political parties in the United States, political party in the United States. It promotes civil liberties, non-interventionism, Laissez-faire capitalism, ''laissez-faire'' capitalism, and Limited government, limiti ...

, to elect their next

chairperson The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a Board of directors, board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by ...

, after their previous chair,

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 deter ...

, resigned due to an internal party controversy. After five rounds of rank-choice (instant-runoff) voting by the committee, Whitney Bilyeu was elected to serve the rest of Bishop-Henchman's term, defeating 5 other candidates.

Background

New Hampshire controversy and Bishop-Henchman resignation

In June 2021, the Libertarian Party's New Hampshire affiliate wrote Tweets calling for " legalizing child labor", repealing the

Civil Rights Act of 1964 The Civil Rights Act of 1964 () is a landmark civil rights and United States labor law, labor law in the United States that outlaws discrimination based on Race (human categorization), race, Person of color, color, religion, sex, and nationa ...

, and reopening

Gitmo Guantanamo Bay Naval Base (), officially known as Naval Station Guantanamo Bay or NSGB, (also called GTMO, pronounced Gitmo as jargon by the U.S. military) is a United States military base located on of land and water on the shore of Guant� ...

"so that

Anthony Fauci Anthony Stephen Fauci ( ; born December 24, 1940) is an American physician-scientist and immunologist who served as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) from 1984 to 2022, and the chief medical ...

and every governor that locked their state down can be sent there". In response, the Chair of the NH affiliate, Jilletta Jarvis, formed a new state affiliate and took control of the old affiliate's digital assets and Twitter account on June 12. The move was widely condemned by the party, including former

US congressman The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of the ...

Justin Amash Justin A. Amash ( ; born April 18, 1980) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2011 to 2021. He was the second Palestinian American and Syrian American member of Congress. Originally a Republican, ...

and the party's 2020 VP nominee

Spike Cohen Jeremy "Spike" Cohen (born June 28, 1982) is an American libertarian political activist, entrepreneur, and podcaster. He is the founder of Muddied Waters Media, a platform for libertarian commentary and discourse, which he has used to advocate f ...

, and Jarvis was expelled as Chair by the old affiliate A letter surfaced allegedly from LNC chair

, which recognized Jarvis's affiliate. This caused many LNC members to call for the chair to be expelled. Bishop-Henchman however denied ever writing the letter or supporting Jarvis's actions. On June 16, Bishop-Henchman introduced a motion to the LNC to disaffiliate the NH affiliate, which would have paved the way for Jarvis's affiliate to be recognized. Bishop-Henchman officially resigned after the LNC rejected the motion 12-2.

Post-resignation

LNC Vice Chair Ken Moellman from

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

assumed the role of Acting Chair after the resignation, until a new Chair could be elected.

Candidates

* Whitney Bilyeu, chair of the

Libertarian Party of Texas The Libertarian Party of Texas is the state affiliate of the Libertarian Party in Texas. History In 1971, Texas was one of the 13 original founding state parties at the first Libertarian Party (LP) convention in Denver, Colorado. Over the next ...

and member of the LNC from the 7th region * Steve Dasbach, former LNC chair (1993-1998), and manager for

Jo Jorgensen Jo Jorgensen (born May 1, 1957) is an American Libertarianism in the United States, libertarian political activist and academic. Jorgensen was the Libertarian Party (United States), Libertarian Party's nominee for president of the United States ...

's 2020 presidential campaign * Tony D'Orazio, LNC chair candidate in

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

* Chuck Moulton * Joshua Smith, LNC At-large member, and LNC chair candidate in

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

and 2020 * Christopher Thrasher, Chair of the Libertarian Party Ballot Access Committee and Director for

Lincoln Chafee Lincoln Davenport Chafee ( ; born March 26, 1953) is an American politician. He was mayor of Warwick, Rhode Island, from 1993 to 1999, a United States Senator from 1999 to 2007, and the 74th Governor of Rhode Island from 2011 to 2015. He was a ...

's 2020 presidential campaign

Results

No one won a majority of votes in the first round. Steve Dasbach, Tony D'Orazio, and Chuck Moulton were eliminated in the subsequent rounds, and Whitney Bilyeu received all the transfer votes, winning a majority on the fifth round.

References