# Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania

The Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania (LPPA) is the Pennsylvania affiliate of the Libertarian Party. Since March 2023, it has been chaired by Greg Deal.

## Leadership

Executive Committee :
| Chair | Vice Chair | Secretary | Treasurer |
| Gregory Deal | Bryan Goodnight | Alfa Shaw | Greg Perry |

## LPPA Platform

The party believes that each individual must be free to do as she or he pleases as long as she or he does not infringe upon the equal right of others. Another tenet is that force must not be used on an individual, unless that individual has initiated the use of force or fraud. The party also believes that only those laws that are consistent with the purpose of the government to protect and secure individuals' rights should be utilized by the government.

## History
### Takeover by Mises Caucus

The Mises Caucus, a Paleolibertarian group with ties to the Ron Paul 2012 presidential campaign who described the Caucus as "the libertarian wing of the Libertarian Party," staged a takeover of the national Libertarian party at the 2022 Libertarian National Convention on May 28. Concurrently, state branches staged takeovers of state affiliates and took control of 37 of the state parties. As a result, the parties of New Mexico, Virginia, and Massachusetts disaffiliated from the National Libertarian Party, and in late 2022 formed the Association of Liberty State Parties. In Pennsylvania, Rob Cowburn led the local Mises branch in taking over the party, however, older members of the state committee, and various county branch leaders, left the party in protest and formed the Keystone Party of Pennsylvania led by Gus Tatlas, the former leader of the York County branch of the party.
On December 28, 2023, former LPPA Executive Director Kevin Gaughen issued a press release titled "The LP of Pennsylvania Has Collapsed!" Gaughen denounced the Mises Caucus as the cause of the drop in the number of due-paying members from ~1,600 to 597 resulting in a 45.9% decline in total party income and that the party now has only $17,953 in its treasury, though it started with $47,377.92 during the takeover. He also pointed out that all Mises endorsed libertarians in the 2022 election lost, and that the only libertarians that were elected in Pennsylvania in 2022 were non-Mises old-guard. He also noted that before the takeover the party had 39 active county and regional committees covering 48 counties, which dropped to 20 active committees covering 22 counties post-takeover.

## Elected officeholders

The Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania has had many candidates elected to city and county positions throughout Pennsylvania, though the party does not hold any of the state's federal positions or seats in the state legislature. There are currently 108 elected Libertarian officeholders in Pennsylvania as of June 2024.

## Electoral performance
### Federal elections
#### U.S. President

| Election year | Vote percentage | ±% | Votes | Presidential candidate | Vice presidential candidate | Result |
| 1980 | 0.7% | N/A | 33,263 | Ed Clark | David Koch | 4th |
| 1984 | 0.1% | 0.59 | 6,982 | David Bergland | James A. Lewis | 4th |
| 1988 | 0.3% | 0.1 | 12,051 | Ron Paul | Andre Marrou | 4th |
| 1992 | 0.4% | 0.2 | 21,477 | Andre Marrou | Nancy Lord | 4th |
| 1996 | 0.6% | 0.2 | 28,000 | Harry Browne | Jo Jorgensen | 4th |
| 2000 | 0.2% | 0.4 | 11,248 | Harry Browne | Art Olivier | 6th |
| 2004 | 0.4% | 0.1 | 21,185 | Michael Badnarik | Richard Campagna | 3rd |
| 2008 | 0.3% | nil | 19,912 | Bob Barr | Wayne Allyn Root | 4th |
| 2012 | 0.9% | 0.5 | 49,991 | Gary Johnson | Jim Gray | 3rd |
| 2016 | 2.4% | 1.5 | 146,715 | Gary Johnson | Bill Weld | 3rd |
| 2020 | 1.2% | 1.2 | 79,380 | Jo Jorgensen | Spike Cohen | 3rd |

#### U.S. Senate

| Year | Candidate | Votes | Percentage |
| 1980 | David K. Walter | 18,595 | 0.4% |
| 1982 | Barbara I. Karkutt | 19,244 | 0.5% |
| 1988 | Henry E. Haller II | 11,822 | 0.3% |
| 1992 | John Perry | 219,319 | 4.6% |
| 1994 | Donald Ernsberger | 59,115 | 1.7% |
| 1998 | Jack Iannantuono | 46,103 | 1.6% |
| 2000 | John Featherman | 45,775 | 1.0% |
| 2004 | Betsy Summers | 79,263 | 1.4% |
| 2012 | Rayburn Smith | 96,926 | 1.7% |
| 2016 | Edward T. Clifford III | 235,142 | 3.9% |
| 2018 | Dale Kerns | 50,153 | 1.0% |
| 2022 | Erik Gerhardt | 72,887 | 1.4% |