RALEIGH (April 10, 2025)—Delegates at the Wake County Libertarian Party’s annual convention unanimously elected former party treasurer Brad Hessel as chair last night.

Hessel, who served as treasurer from 2013 to 2021, highlighted the growth of the county party in the last 12 years:

“In 2012, virtually no one here even knew there was a county Libertarian party…now, Wake voters expect to see our candidates on their ballots and our distinctive ‘People. not Politics.’ yard signs adorning the streets…and elected and non-elected officials alike know who we are and take our calls,” Hessel stated. 

“And,” he continued, “during that same time, life in Wake County—at least in Raleigh, where I live—has improved in several respects:

• Fewer restrictions on what you can build on your own property (e.g., duplexes, granny flats)
• Short-term rentals are now officially legal
• It’s now legal to work out of your home
• Electric scooters—briefly run out of the city—are back
• We got a new county sheriff who listens to and considers libertarian concerns
• Fewer restrictions on alcohol
• We avoided overcommitting to boondoggles such as light rail or a government-funded soccer stadium

“I’m not saying WakeLP gets credit for all of that…but we actively contributed to the relevant discussions leading up to these favorable outcomes.” 

Hessel suggested a two-pronged strategy for further advancing the cause of liberty in Wake County. “First we need to keep doing what we’ve been doing in terms of running for office so that voters can reliably expect to see at least one non-establishment party candidate on their ballots in as many races as possible. In 2024, for the first time there were more Libertarian NCGA candidates on the ballot in Wake County than Republican candidates. We need to maintain and extend that level of performance.

“Secondly, we need to push on the municipal and county level to get more liberty-friendly policies implemented. Based on our success here in Raleigh, we know what we need to do to make that happen: recruit and deploy folks who are willing and able to engage with their local city council and citizen advisory boards. Now that is easier said than done, but that’s all the more reason we need to focus energy on those efforts, given the huge potential upside.”

Delegates to the convention also elected David Blackwelder as vicechair, Maria Derivan-George as secretary, and Courtney Laszacs and David Ulmer as at-large members of the executive committee.

Blackwelder, a lawyer and recovering Republican who ran for Wake County Sheriff in 2018 and lives in Wake Forest, shared similar sentiments: “I think local politics is very important: it actually affects you the most. I encourage everyone to be involved every election cycle. Get out there and shake hands, pass out literature…I think it’s very important to get our message out that way because you have the most impact.”

Derivan-George is an education consultant who lives in Raleigh. Her husband, Ed George—who credits her for stoking his interest in libertarianism back when they first met—set a new all-time record for the highest percentage of votes for a Libertarian NC House candidate in Wake County last year with 24%. “So I haven’t been involved in a while, but last year I was very inspired by watching Ed campaign and the connections that he made with other people and I saw that more people are libertarian than they even realize. So this year, when Brad called up and asked me if I would consider volunteering to run for party secretary, I said yes.”

Laszacs, a registered nurse, working in the Cardiac ICU at Duke University Hospital, is also married to a 2024 WakeLP candidate, Matt Laszacs, who also had a two-way NC House race and garnered 23% (which would have set a new record if not for Mr. George’s performance). “The Libertarian Party matters deeply to me because government has grown far beyond what serves its people,” she said. “Too often, government focuses on sustaining itself, when its role should be to sustain all of us. Emerging technologies like Bitcoin have shown us that decentralized systems can work, and that people thrive when they have more freedom and control over their own livelihood. Recently, I’ve been focused on engaging members of our 119th Congress in discussions on Senate Bill 575, which would remove legal limitations to scope of practice for advanced practice nurses throughout the US. This bill would allow them to practice independently, as their training and education prepared them for, and as they already do in 30 other states. Moving forward, I’m excited to explore how we can apply philosophies of decentralization and movement toward deregulation that would empower people not just in Washington, but right here at the state and local level."

Ulmer, an I/T professional who lives in Raleigh and who served as WakeLP chair from 2017 to 2021, also emphasized the benefits of working to influence local government policy. “Looking at Raleigh, zoning reform—basic property rights, which goes to economic freedom—has moved forward significantly. When you’re talking about people now who can build an ADU on their property, and rent it out, and bring in $1500 a month, and not have to leave their home and stay in the neighborhood they’ve been in for years, that is a dramatic change. And the fact that we’ve had in this city mainly Democrats—because Raleigh is what it is—embracing free market reforms because this is a Dillon Rule state and they couldn’t do rent control, and they couldn’t do all the other reflexive things that the left normally does in places like California…it’s significant! If I take pride in anything, it’s being part of that conversation and moving that forward. And I hope to work with the WakeLP EC to keep us on that track.”

The convention body also approved a slate of delegates to the state party convention which will take place in Clemmons next month, and heard from LPNC chair Ryan Brown, who is running for re-election to that post, and the LPNC communications director, who discussed how to promote libertarianism. 

“I have mixed feelings about running my last WakeLP convention,” stated outgoing chair Travis Groo, who has relocated to Guilford County and so was not eligible to stand for a third term. “But the new EC we elected is a dream team including an awesome combination of proven-success experience and fresh perspective, and I am confident that I am leaving the party in good hands.”