Oklahoma Libertarian Party
From Oklahoma
The Oklahoma Libertarian Party is the branch of the Libertarian Party in Oklahoma. It has been active in state politics since the 1970s, but due to what critics characterize as Oklahoma's restrictive ballot access requirements the party has been an "official" party during only portions of the last 25 years.
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[edit] State party organization and electoral performance
[edit] State party chapters and chairs
The party currently has three local chapters: the Oklahoma City Libertarians, the Edmond Libertarians, and the Tulsa Area Libertarian Party. The state party's chairman is Jimmy Cook, and Tulsa's chair is Joe Cristiano. Former state chairs include Steve Galpin, Chris Powell, Richard Prawdzienski, Robert Murphy, D. Frank Robinson, Tom Laurent, and Porter Davis.
[edit] National and state electoral performance
The party has had the national party's presidential candidate on the ballot in 1980 (1.2% of the state-wide vote was received), 1984 (0.72% of the state-wide vote was received), 1988 (0.53% of the state-wide vote was received), 1992 (0.32% of the state-wide vote was received), 1996 (0.46% of the state-wide vote was received), and 2000 (0.53% of the state-wide vote was received).
The party's most successful state and national candidates (in some cases running on the Libertarian ticket, in other cases running as an independent) have included:
- Porter Davis (Oklahoma House District 85 - received 36.35% of the 1976 general election results)
- Robert Chambers (Oklahoma House District 89 - received 13.74% of the 1984 general election results)
- Steve Galpin (Oklahoma House District 82 - received 12.03% of the 2000 general election results)
- Chris Powell (Oklahoma House District 100 - received 14.72% of the 2000 general election results, and 25.71% of the 2002 general election results)
- Robert Murphy (US House, 3rd district - received 24.42% of the 2002 general election votes)
- Richard Prawdzienski (Oklahoma House District 39 - received 18.32% of the 2002 general election votes)
[edit] Municipal electoral performance
The party has also experienced a fair degree of high vote counts in municipal races in the cities of Bethany, Bartlesville, Norman, Tulsa, and Oklahoma City, as well as other races at the local, state, and national levels.[1]
[edit] See also
- Oklahomans for Ballot Access Reform
- Oklahoma Democratic Party
- Oklahoma Republican Party
- Politics of Oklahoma
- Two-party system
- Third parties
