Another year, another new all-time record for the Libertarian Party of North Carolina. In 2019, while the number of registered voters overall in North Carolina declined by four percent, the number of registered Libertarians edged up three percent to a new all-time high of 39,631.

In contrast, the number of Democrats declined seven percent, Republicans lost four percent, and even the number of “Unaffiliated” voters, the state's name for independents, was down one percent.

The percentage of voters registered as either Democrat or Republican fell to an all-time low of 66.58 percent. That continues a quarter-century decline from 91.87 percent back in 1993.

The holidays are upon us. Before you go to your festivities, here’s a quick note on how WakeLP is wrapping up 2019, and moving into the next decade.

Candidates are currently filing to run for office in 2020. It looks like the Libertarian Party of North Carolina will have candidates running for governor and a Wake resident, Shannon Bray, will run for U.S. Senate. Eight Wake Libertarians have already filed to run for the General Assembly and we expect another five or six to have filed by next Wednesday.

There are 11 state House seats and 5 state Senate seats in our county. We’d love to offer voters a Libertarian choice in all of those races. It’s important voters see more than just Democrats and Republicans on their ballot in 2020.

The candidates who’ve filed to date are:

NC Senate 17 – Travis Groo
NC Senate 18 – Jason Loeback
NC House 11 – Adrian Travers
NC House 37 – Liam Leaver
NC House 41 – Guy Meilleur
NC House 49 – Cap Hayes
NC House 38 – Richard Haygood
NC House 35 – Michael Nelson

All but Loebck and Travers ran in 2018.

Voter Info

Here are links to maps fo the state legislative districts for the 2020 election:

State Senate Map

State House Map

You can look up your districts on the State Board of Elections website here.

LPNC Press Release

The Libertarian Party of North Carolina applauds yesterday’s ruling by a state Superior Court panel that orders changes to the state’s legislative district map. But the party also warns that sending the job back to state lawmakers is the wrong solution, and calls for the appointment of an independent commission to do the job instead.

Brian Irving, the LPNC liaison to the Fair Districts NC Coalition, issued the following statement on behalf of the party:

The establishment parties have proven they're not only unable but unwilling to draw district lines fairly. We need to take that power away from them, not give them another chance to abuse it.

The proper solution is to create a fully independent redistricting commission along the lines outlined in Senate Bill 673.

Nearly 15 years ago, the Libertarian Party of North Carolina argued that our state’s restrictive ballot access laws also violated the equal protection, free elections, and freedom of speech and assembly clauses of the state constitution. At the time, the state Supreme Court disagreed. We are grateful that this panel has ruled otherwise.

However, placing the execution of this new ruling in the hands of the legislature is asking the foxes to redesign the henhouse―again. The point of ‘fair districts’ is to give voters fair representation, not to give two entrenched parties a fair chance to divvy up the vote. More than one-third of the state’s voters have chosen not to affiliate with either establishment party.

To learn more about the LPNC’s position on redistricting reform, or to contact an LPNC representative for further comment, please email [email protected]. Or call Brian Irving directly at (919) 538-4548.