Libertarianism and Elections
Not winning nationally doesn't mean the party and ideals aren't making progress.
As a libertarian, there was a lot to be excited about during the 2020 elections. We had a challenger to Senator Tom Cotton (R-AK) in Ricky Dale Harrington Jr. (who ended up with 33.3% of the vote), a challenger going against both a Democrat and Republican in Indiana’s Governor Race, and a lot of ballot measures in various States related to libertarian issues like drug legalization, freedom to work as you choose, etc.
While most of these bids fell short, we had huge success on ballot questions. Recreational marijuana was legalized in four new States. California rejected a rent control ballot measure. And Oregon decriminalized all drugs. This is all great news for liberty-minded people. There’s a lot to talk about in regards to Jo Jorgensen and Spike Cohen’s Presidential campaign, but they did great with the 2nd best voter turn out for the LP in the party’s history.
The big news for a lot of Libertarians is Marshall Burt (L) - Wyoming’s newest State Legislator. He ran on a platform of gun rights, smaller government, and a new approach to education. In doing so, he beat out an incumbent Democrat. This is the Libertarian Party’s first State legislator in many years. And to me, it shows that the party’s influence is growing and our ideals are spreading at least in some parts of the country.
We also saw quite a few new libertarian-leaning Republicans get elected in Congress. This is good as Rep. Justin Amash (L-MI) decided not to seek reelection and will leave the House at the end of this session. We need more voices like his, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), and others. But we hadn’t seen any Congressmen like them elected in quite some time. Hopefully we see the libertarian wing of the Republican party start to grow again now that Trump is likely gone.
I know the prospect of a Joe Biden Presidency is not one many Libertarians find appealing (and for good reason), but there was a lot that happened in these elections beyond the Presidential election and they deserve more attention. And on the bright side, Republicans will likely keep their Senate majority which should prevent Biden and Democrats from enacting their most extreme policies they were threatening to push (e.g. court packing, removing the filibuster, extreme gun control, etc.)