RALEIGH (October 14, 2026)—The Wake County Libertarian Party (WakeLP) released a list of eight non-Libertarian candidates running in 2026 that the party particularly look forward to working with in 2027 and beyond:

• Dan Blue (D)—NC Senate 14
• Jay Chaudhuri (D)—NC Senate 15
• Erin Paré (R)—NC House 35
• Mike Schietzelt (R)—NC House 37
• Willie Rowe (D)—Wake County Sheriff
• Gary Hartong (R)—Wake County Board of Commissioners At Large
• Jacob Arther (R)—Wake County Board of Education District 7
• Clark Rinehart (D)—Raleigh City Council At Large

“We will work across all aisles to deliver the very best results for Wake County,” stated WakeLP Chair Brad Hessel. “Whenever we identify a candidate or officeholder who appreciates that you know how to live your own life or spend your own money better than he or she does, we strive to work cooperatively to make life here better.” 

“There were an all-time record 325 thousand votes for Libertarian candidates in Wake County in 2024,” added WakeLP Vicechair David Blackwelder. “Only a small fraction of those were cast by the six thousand registered Libertarians who reside here. There are many voters in Wake County who would agree that government should not try to stop folks from doing what they want to do so long as they are not hurting anyone else. We have a particular obligation to those voters to promote policies congruent with that philosophy and to seek out and work with candidates and officeholders who will help with that effort, regardless of party.”

WakeLP are prohibited from formally endorsing non-Libertarians in partisan races. But party leadership have produced lists of non-Libertarian candidates—running in races with no Libertarian candidate—that they recommend voters consider since 2018. The WakeLP voter guide distributed at polling sites is generally the only county party guide to include Libertarians, Democrats, Republicans, and the occasional Green and independent.  

“Libertarians reject the initiation of force in pursuit of economic, political, or social change,” stated David Ulmer, former WakeLP chair and current at-large member of the executive committee, “And while our candidates are collectively getting a lot of votes, we are not going to be in control of the NCGA anytime soon. So practically speaking, the only way to advance our policy agenda is to work cooperatively with the folks who are elected.” 

“While we cannot endorse non-Libertarian candidates, we do want to talk to as many of them as we can,” concluded Hessel. “Reaching consensus on the top eight we think we can work with was not easy; there were several close calls.

“Whoever wins in November, we look forward to working with all these folks.”

For more detail on the selected candidates, visit: https://www.wakelp.org/candidates#non-Ls

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For more information contact:
Rob Yates, Acting Press Secretary
(919) 948-2708
[email protected]

https://www.wakelp.org/