The Libertarian Party is a national American political party that reflects the ideas of libertarianism. The Libertarian Party was formed in Westminster, Colorado, in the home of David Nolan on December 11, 1971.[7] The founding of the party was prompted in part due to concerns about the Vietnam War, conscription, and the end of the Gold Standard.[8] Although there is not an explicitly-labeled “left” or “right” designation of the party, many members, such as Libertarian Party presidential candidate Gary Johnson, say they are more socially liberal than the Democrats, but more fiscally conservative than the Republicans. The party has generally promoted a classical liberal platform, in contrast to the modern liberal and progressive platform of the Democrats and the more conservative platform of the Republicans.[9]
In the 30 states where voters can register by party, there are 330,811 voters registered as Libertarian Party members.[1] By this count the Libertarian Party is the third-largest party by membership in the United States and it is the third-largest political party in the United States in terms of the popular vote in the country’s elections and number of candidates run per election. Due to this, it has been labelled by some as the United States’ third-largest political party.[10] It is also identified by many as the fastest growing political party in the United States.[11]
Hundreds of Libertarian candidates have been elected or appointed to public office, and thousands have run for office under the Libertarian banner.[12] The Libertarian Party has many firsts in its credit, such as being the first party to get an electoral vote for a woman in a United States presidential election, due to a faithless elector.[13] The party has no current representation in the House of Representatives or the Senate and controls no governorships or other state-wide elected positions.[citation needed] At the state legislature level, the party controls no seats in any upper house or lower house.[citation needed]
