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Todd Hagopian to Challenge Sarwark for Chair?

Is Todd Hagopian running for chair of the Libertarian Party?

Todd Hagopian to Challenge Sarwark for Chair?
the chair of the Libertarian National Committee speaking at a party convention. (Jeremy Moorhead, CNN)
By John Keller

Is Todd Hagopian running for chair of the Libertarian Party? The question is one that has begun to buzz among libertarian circles as he sends strong signals on Twitter.

Hagopian Stirs Interest

On October 8th, Hagopian tweeted: “If I decided to run for LP Chair, how would you be willing to help?” Underneath the quoted tweet was a poll. Of 817 responses, 16% stated they would not support Hagopian, while 53% said they would retweet his content and an additional 22% join a ‘social media army.’

However, the indications did not end there. Todd has been working to build a national infrastructure through the state affiliates to the Libertarian Party. Three days after floating the idea of running for chair, Hagopian tweeted: “If you have good contacts within your State LP, and you are interested in working on an LP Chair campaign, message me for a discussion.”

Todd Hagopian also hopes to use Young Americans for Liberty as an arm of support. He tweeted: “If any well-networked @YALiberty members are interested in playing a role in a LP Chair race, message me so we can discuss.” YAL’s vision, as found on their website, is supporting the election of 250 liberty-minded state legislature candidates. This vision falls in line with Hagopian’s criticisms of the current Libertarian Party chair, Nicholas Sarwark.

Critical of the Chair

Todd Hagopian strongly voices his opposition to the party’s current chair, Nicholas Sarwark; he has rebuked Sarwark for his inability to lead the party to local election victories. Todd tweeted on October 5th that if ‘Liberty candidates’ cannot win local elections, the Libertarian Party did not ‘deserve’ to win nationally. Of well over 89,004 state and local positions throughout the nation, Libertarians are serving in only 202 of these positions, a mere fifth of a percent. Libertarian presidential candidates have joined this chorus of criticism, often supporting the goal of electing 1,000 local candidates.

Furthermore, Hagopian has been critical of Sarwark’s lack of attention to Libertarian candidates. Where he sees Sarwark is missing the mark, he is not holding back. On October 18th, Hagopian drew attention to five presidential campaigns (Max Abramson, John McAfee, Dan Behrman, Kim Ruff, Adam Kokesh), as well as tweeting about an additional candidate, Ken Armstrong, the following day. The candidates have attended debates throughout the nation, including one in Massachusetts in July, which is available to watch here.

Building a Platform

Beyond criticizing the current chair, Hagopian put forth his own ideal goals for the Libertarian Party on October 12th; he announced his three-part vision on Twitter.

His first goal is to professionalize the party. The Libertarian Party has come under fire from a group of activists within the party on the posting of memes on official social media accounts. Often times, the party’s gaffes or informal vibe have caused it to lose credibility; a notable example is James Weeks’ infamous scene at the party’s 2016 national convention, where he took off nearly all of his clothes onstage.

While Hagopian believes the image of the party could be sharpened, he also believes the core message of the party should be honed. Although Hagopian has not clarified this comment, he has been highly vocal about federal tax policy. Specifically, he strongly voices concerns with social security and the income tax and is staunchly anti-war.

However, the most vocal of Todd’s criticisms of the chair and his own positions is his third plank in his platform, a focus on winning local elections. Hagopian talks in-depth on this position in a video here. For example, he references the 2016 election, in which the two parties spent $1 billion, a sum third parties cannot contend with. However, these large war chests are not present in local elections, which levels the playing field more. As a result, Hagopian believes that the party should emphasize winning ‘small, local’ elections.

With a unique vision, combined with his Twitter buzz and criticism of the unpopular Sarwark, Todd Hagopian appears to be on the verge of a public campaign for chair of the Libertarian Party. While he has not made an official announcement, he has laid out infrastructure. The close two-way race between Sarwark and existing challenger Joshua Smith will likely soon have a new contender.

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