The Libertarian Party of New Hampshire (LPNH) is the New Hampshire affiliate of the national Libertarian Party (LP). Active since its foundation in 1972, it is the third-largest political party in the state having had multiple members elected to the New Hampshire House of Representatives as well as being ballot-qualified multiple times.
The party became ballot-qualified after receiving over three percent of the popular vote in the 1990 gubernatorial election and maintained that status in the 1992 and 1994 elections. The party elected multiple members to the state house with the use of electoral fusion with the two major parties. The party's caucus in the state house was officially recognized from 1992 to 1995, and Representative Don Gorman served as the party's first state house leader. The party lost its ballot status after the 1996 gubernatorial election.
The party regained its ballot-qualified status after Max Abramson received enough support in the 2016 gubernatorial election. The party caucus in the state house was re-recognized in 2017, after Caleb Q. Dyer, Joseph Stallcop, and Brandon Phinney changed their political affiliations to Libertarian. However, the party lost its ballot-qualified status after the 2018 gubernatorial election and all of its members in the state house lost reelection in the 2018 state house elections.
Jiletta Jarvis, a former gubernatorial candidate, attempted to form a new affiliate in 2021, and claimed to have support from Joe Bishop-Henchman, the chair of the national Libertarian Party, but Bishop-Henchman denied supporting her. Bishop-Henchman resigned after an unsuccessful vote to disaffiliate the existing New Hampshire Libertarian Party and Jarvis handed control of party materials back to the existing affiliate. Since 2020 the party has been subjected to controversy due to its Twitter account.
History
1970s
Libertarians in New Hampshire started working with Nelson Pryor, a member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives, on legislation in 1973. The LPNH held its organizational caucus on August 4, 1974, in Nashua. The party was founded by Arthur W. Ketchen, but Ketchen would later become critical of the party and endorsed Meldrim Thomson Jr. for governor in 1978 instead of the Libertarian candidate. The party passed a resolution at its 1977 convention condemning Anita Bryant for her anti-gay rights activities.
In the 1974 elections Ketchen ran for a seat in the state house with the Democratic nomination while other members of the party ran as independent candidates. The party endorsed John H. O'Brien for the Republican nomination in the 1st congressional district during the 1974 election. The party endorsed Edward Hewson for the Republican nomination in the 1st congressional district during the 1976 election, but later ran O'Brien in the general election as a Libertarian and had the endorsement of the American Party.
1990s
The Libertarian Party gained qualified status after gaining more than three percent of the popular vote in the 1990 gubernatorial election. The party was ballot-qualified in New Hampshire from 1990 to 1996. During the 1992 presidential election the party held a presidential primary where Andre Marrou was the only option on the ballot and received 3,554 votes on the Libertarian ballot, 99 write-in votes in the Republican primary, and 67 write-in votes in the Democratic primary. During the 1992 presidential election the party held a presidential primary where Harry Browne won with 653 votes against Irwin Schiff's 336 votes, and 638 other write-in votes.
Calvin Warburton, who had served in the state house since 1978, changed his political affiliation from Republican to Libertarian and became a dues paying member on July 16, 1991. He stated that the Libertarians were the only one who stood for economic, personal, and social freedom and was critical of the Republicans for planning to create new taxes. On December 12, Representative Finlay Rothhaus changed his political affiliation from Republican to Libertarian. Rothhaus was critical of the Republicans for increasing government power, raising taxes, and increasing gun control. Representative Donald Roulston, who the party had attempted to recruit in 1989, but declined stating that he was "too much of an anarchist for you", changed his political affiliation from Republican to Libertarian in 1992. These three state representatives gave the Libertarian Party the largest amount of state legislators for a third party since the Socialist Party of America had four state legislators elected in Connecticut in 1938.