Libertarian Party鈥檚 Far-Right Leadership Worries Takeover Turning Into 鈥楧isaster鈥�
A year after the far-right Mises Caucus took over the Libertarian Party, its membership and financial numbers are down. Some state parties, including New Mexico, Virginia and Massachusetts, have splintered or disaffiliated from the national party. Leaked documents Hatewatch obtained show the Libertarian National Committee is squabbling and worried that their takeover is 鈥渢urning into a disaster.鈥�
Members of the national Libertarian Party (LP) leadership board for months have squabbled and aired concerns about the LP鈥檚 challenges under the leadership of the far-right Mises Caucus聽(MC), according to a cache of leaked documents Hatewatch obtained.
The leak contains hundreds of pages of text messages, group chats and confidential memos between members of the Libertarian National Committee (LNC). Hatewatch received the leak from John Hudak, a libertarian critic of the MC.
Members of the LNC, which steers the national party, 聽the leak in publicly available communications.
The 鈥榯akeover鈥�
The leak appears to come from Miguel Duque, an MC-affiliated LNC representative from Washington state. In a document titled, 鈥淪TART HERE The Takeover has failed by Miguel and Anna Johnson Duque,鈥� Duque鈥檚 wife appears to detail their reasons for leaking the documents. Metadata suggests the Duques created the document on Aug. 13. The departure of Lainie Huston, the former interim executive director of the LP, who 聽she was leaving her position on July 31 after internal conflicts, appears to have motivated the couple in part. The documents include memos, Discord group chats and text messages between the Duques and LNC members.
The Duques blamed the LNC鈥檚 failures on a 鈥渓ack of vision, which leads back to鈥� LNC chair Angela McArdle. Miguel Duque is still on the LNC, and the documents suggest he and his wife are concerned with staffing issues and a slow response to challenges the LP has faced over fundraising and membership. The Duques claimed these challenges are made worse by the LNC鈥檚 inability to obtain 鈥渇unctional data鈥� through software 鈥渢ools.鈥� The documents detail concerns about CiviCRM, a nonprofit donor fundraising software and internal conflicts between LNC members.
The MC won control of the LP鈥檚 national governing body at its national convention held in Reno, Nevada, in 2022. McArdle won the position of chair of the LNC with over 69% of the vote that year. MC candidates won two-thirds of LNC positions at the convention. MC members considered the victory a 鈥渢akeover鈥� and called it the 鈥淩eno Reset.鈥�
鈥淲e believe the massive opportunity of the Takeover / Reno Reset has thus far been utterly squandered, that this Party is being severely injured by the avoidable mistakes by leadership outlined here,鈥� the Duque鈥檚 document states.
McArdle and others lauded their victory as a turn from what they viewed as left-wing management by the LP鈥檚 former LNC. The new leaders stripped the LP鈥檚 platform of its pro-abortion rights plank and began 聽pro-secession rhetoric. They also stripped the platform of its plank that condemned bigotry as 鈥渋rrational and repugnant.鈥�
After Hatewatch published an article about the MC鈥檚 far-right rhetoric and ties, members of the newly formed LNC attempted to pass a resolution condemning the Southern Poverty Law Center (人兽性交) as 鈥渋rrational and repugnant.鈥� The resolution failed.
When asked for comment, Miguel Duque responded that he condemns the 人兽性交 鈥渁s irrational and repugnant,鈥� referencing the failed resolution. However, in a text message to McArdle contained in the leak, Anna Johnson Duque said she was 鈥渟ecretly thrilled鈥� the resolution failed due to internal LNC politics.
Confidential memo
McArdle and others thought the turn to far-right rhetoric and the MC鈥檚 management would appeal to Libertarians, who McArdle 聽were 鈥渇ar more right leaning鈥� than the MC. McArdle said during a debate for the position of LNC chair that the MC would 鈥渕ake this [party] functional and not embarrassing for you.鈥�
The leaked documents show McArdle has waning confidence in the Reno Reset. 鈥淭he takeover is turning into a disaster,鈥� McArdle said in a confidential memo from May that the leak contains. 鈥淢embers have asked me what we are doing. We spend lots of time in executive session, dealing with lawsuits and personnel issues,鈥� she wrote in the memo, titled 鈥淟NC Dysfunction - Is There A Realistic Path Forward?鈥�
The memo does not explicitly state the nature of the lawsuits. The LNC has filed one 聽the eight 聽Libertarian candidates over their use of the LP trademark after a leadership dispute in that state.聽
The LP has further lost state affiliates. 听补苍诲 Virginia both disaffiliated, though the LP organized new parties in both states. Massachusetts : One controlled by the MC and another that splintered over concerns about the MC鈥檚 far-right rhetoric. Pennsylvania has the Keystone Party, which libertarians 聽after they saw the LP as 鈥渧eering too hard to the right.鈥�
McArdle also aired concerns over the LP鈥檚 finances. Publicly available monthly reports that LNC officials prepare have showed that 听补苍诲 聽have taken a sustained a steady fall since the MC took over. According to , the LP鈥檚 鈥渟ustaining members鈥� 鈥� those who have donated at least $25 in the 12 preceding months, according to the LP鈥檚 鈥� have dropped to slightly over 14,000. This was a 6.5% drop from the preceding month, and a drop of nearly 3,000 since Dec. 2022.
鈥淚n the face of financial challenges, we have lost the purpose and vision of what we set out to do and are thrashing around like a drowning person. It is very hard to save someone who is thrashing about,鈥� McArdle wrote in the document.
McArdle echoed the Duques and said the LP鈥檚 staff say their 鈥渕ain fundraising tool and data are a disaster.鈥�
When asked for comment about the leak and her remarks in the memo, McArdle said: 鈥淲e鈥檙e in an excellent place right now, we鈥檙e going to kick ass in 2024, and prove wrong the depraved vultures who pay attention to this sort of gossip.鈥�
The Duques wrote, 鈥淔undraising and membership are down for various reasons, and the data is so wrecked that it鈥檚 very difficult to objectively pinpoint the real reasons or the severity.鈥�
Hatewatch asked Holly Ward, the former chair of the Virginia Libertarian Party that disaffiliated, what she believed to be the reason for the drop in funds and members.
After seeing portions of the leaked material, Ward told Hatewatch it 鈥渋s clear that even the Mises Caucus knows that what they set out to accomplish has failed, as any movement built on hatred and division is destined to fail.鈥�
She concluded: 鈥淭hey have, for a time, been able to lie to their supporters about this fact, but their internal conversations make clear they are no longer able to lie to themselves.鈥�
Photo illustration by 人兽性交
