Political party in Massachusetts
The Unified Libertarians of Massachusetts (ULM), also known as the Libertarian Party of Massachusetts, is a libertarian political party in Massachusetts. It is affiliated with the national Libertarian Party. The party, which officially became the state affiliate of the national party in June 2022, claims the lineage and history of the previous Libertarian Party of Massachusetts, which was founded in 1972.
History
The original Libertarian Party of Massachusetts was formed in 1972.
Former Libertarian presidential candidate Ed Clark and Rebecca Shipman, the affiliate's gubernatorial candidate, spoke at the 1982 state convention at the Holiday Inn in Somerville for the need of a permanent ballot spot in Massachusetts; the convention was attended by the majority of the two hundred registered Libertarians in the state.[2] Later the party attempted to challenge the 40,000 signature requirement to appear on the ballot and force the Secretary of State to accept the 10,000 signatures they had gathered, but the district court rejected the injunction due to "vagueness" in their affidavits.[3]
During the 2002 Senate election, no Republican candidate appeared on the ballot for the first time in Massachusetts history (the previous Republican candidate in 1996 was future Libertarian Bill Weld), resulting in John Kerry's only opponent being Libertarian Michael Cloud. While most conservatives in Massachusetts voted for Kerry, a significant amount voted for Cloud giving him 18.4% of the vote, which at the time was the best percentage showing for a Libertarian in a Senate race. This record was later broken by Alaska's Joe Miller, who received 30% in 2016, but Cloud still holds the total vote record.[4]
At the party's 2018 convention, it formally endorsed ranked-choice voting and nominated candidates for the 2018 midterm elections.[5] Dan Fishman, the political director for the party, ran to be State Auditor of Massachusetts. His campaign was noted for securing an endorsement by the Boston Globe.[6][7][8] Fishman ultimately received 4% of vote in his run, which secured continued ballot access for the party.[9][10]
On April 16, 2019, the party's former political director, Dan Fishman, was appointed to be the executive director for the Libertarian Party of the United States.[11]
In 2022, election disputes led to two separate groups claiming to be the leadership of the Libertarian Party of Massachusetts. Each elected Massachusetts state committee claimed the same structure and membership. The Libertarian National Committee reviewed the competing claims based on the structure of the parties in their founding documents, and declared the group known as the Unified Libertarians of Massachusetts (ULM) as the state affiliate of the national party.[12][13] The ULM claims the lineage and history of the original Libertarian Party of Massachusetts. The original Libertarian Party of Massachusetts reemerged as the Libertarian Association of Massachusetts.
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