Libertarian Party of Arkansas

Libertarian Party of Arkansas
AbbreviationLPAR
ChairmanMichael Pakko
Founded1971 (1971)
Membership (2021)690[1]
IdeologyLibertarianism
Senate
0 / 35
House of Representatives
0 / 100
U.S. Senate
0 / 2
U.S. House of Representatives
0 / 4
Other elected officials3 (April 2025)[2]
Website
lpar.org

The Libertarian Party of Arkansas (LPAR) is the Arkansas affiliate of the national Libertarian Party (LP). In the 2010s the party saw increased support in federal races due to a lack of Democratic candidates contesting those races.

History

In 2002 members of the party petitioned to place Amendment 3, a ballot initiative that would have eliminated taxes on food and medicine, but it was overwhelming rejected by 61% to 39%.[3] However, the sales tax on food was later phased out through the passage of a bill following the amendment's defeat.[4]

Electoral performance

Presidential

Year Presidential nominee Votes Change
1980 Ed Clark 8,970 (1.1%)
1984 David Bergland 2,221 (0.3%) 0.8%
1988 Ron Paul 3,297 (0.4%) 0.2%
1992 Andre Marrou 1,261 (0.1%) 0.3%
1996 Harry Browne 3,076 (0.4%) 0.2%
2000 Harry Browne 2,781 (0.3%) 0.1%
2004 Michael Badnarik 2,345 (0.2%) 0.1%
2008 Bob Barr 4,776 (0.4%) 0.2%
2012 Gary Johnson 16,276 (1.5%) 1.1%
2016 Gary Johnson 29,829 (2.6%) 1.1%
2020 Jo Jorgensen 13,133 (1.1%) 1.6%
2024 Chase Oliver 5,715 (0.5%) 0.6%

Senate Class II

Year Senate nominee Votes Change
2014 Nathan LaFrance 17,210 (2.0%)
2020 Ricky Dale Harrington Jr. 399,390 (33.5%) 31.4%

Senate Class III

Year Senate nominee Votes Change
2010 Trevor Drown 25,234 (3.2%)
2016 Frank Gilbert 43,866 (4.0%) 0.7%
2022 Kenneth Cates 28,682 (3.2%) 0.8%

Gubernatorial

Year Gubernatorial nominee Votes Change
2014 Frank Gilbert 16,319 (1.9%)
2018 Mark West 25,885 (2.9%) 1.0%
2022 Ricky Dale Harrington Jr. 16,690 (1.8%) -1.1%

House

Year Number of candidates Votes Change
2012 4 37,987 (3.7%)
2014 4 66,055 (8.0%) 4.3%
2016 4 196,512 (18.4%) 10.4%
2018 4 19,625 (2.2%) 16.2%
2020 2 20,645 (1.8%) 0.4%
2022 3 25,331 (2.8%) 1.0%
2024 2 21,668 (1.9%) 0.9%

See also

References

  1. ^ Winger, Richard. "March 2021 Ballot Access News Print Edition". Ballot Access News. Retrieved March 15, 2021.
  2. ^ https://lpar.org/libertarian-victories/ "About Us". Retrieved April 3, 2025. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
  3. ^ "Bill proposed to phase out tax". Baxter Bulletin. 28 December 2002. p. 1. Archived from the original on 26 November 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Libertarians get candidate on 2008 ballot". Baxter Bulletin. 3 October 2007. p. 2. Archived from the original on 26 November 2019 – via Newspapers.com.