Alternate Wiley Joins Republicans — Now with His Public Statement

Last updated on January 1, 2026

Keith Thompson reports: Region 1 Alternate James Wiley has resigned to join the GOP. He wrote:

Liberty S.O.S.

James Wiley, Republican Candidate

Colorado Secretary of State

Resignation from the Libertarian Party and Announcement of Republican Candidacy

To the Libertarian National Committee, Libertarians Generally, and Humanity at-Large,

I am formally resigning my membership in the Libertarian Party of Colorado and Role as Alternate Region One Representative to the Libertarian National Committee, effective immediately, and announce the campaign for Secretary of State to the Republican Party. This decision is not a rejection of libertarian principles—which have shaped my worldview and fueled my anti-machine activism—but a pragmatic response to the existential threats facing human liberty from election machines.

As we stand on the brink of irreversible tyranny from vulnerable electronic voting machines, I lack the time to nurture a third party into a viable vehicle to achieve human liberty. The Libertarian Party, though purpose-built for liberty, operates on the margins and struggles to gain the traction needed for swift, statewide impact_ To truly advance liberty a candidate for Secretary of State must focus on decertifying compromised machines, freeing whistleblower Tina Peters, and securing our state records on the blockchain. I will regenerate the Republican Party to accomplish these purposes. By joining its ranks, I can push it toward embracing transparency, voting rights, and election integrity, while leveraging its resources to ignite human action.

I remain grateful for the Libertarian Party’s role in my journey and encourage unaffiliated voters to join its ranks before January 18th, 2026 for strategic purposes. I urge them to vote NOTA (None of the Above) on nominations for Secretary of State, Attorney General, and Treasurer candidates at the April 2026 Colorado Libertarian Assembly. This tactic avoids spoilers that could fracture the human liberty coalition, ultimately helping promising libertarian Republicans like myself secure victories and advance our shared goals, including justice for Tina Peters.

Thank you for the opportunities and camaraderie. I wish the Libertarian Party continued success in championing liberty, and I look forward to our ongoing collaboration.

I will be back,

James Wiley

The Red Flame of Liberty

Republican Candidate for Colorado Secretary of State

libertysos.co

Andy January 1, 2026

I do not know James Wiley, but I noticed that he said on the LNC comments list that he thinks that the LNC should not spend any money on or be involved with ballot access. He said that he thinks that ballot access should be left to the affiliates. This is a very naive and uniformed point of view, in my opinion.

Navigating and complying with all of the ballot access laws across the country is very difficult and without the LNC the Libertarian Party would not have any ballot access in a lot of states. Some states have easier ballot access requirement than others. There are some states where the Libertarian Party has recognized minor party status where ballot access actually becomes more difficult if the Libertarian Party gains major party status (some of these states allow exemptions for more difficult requirements for major party presidential candidates but some do not). The Libertarian Party has never been in a position to where all ballot access can be handled by the affiliates or by individual candidates. Even in a lot of cases when the Libertarian Party gains ballot access in a state without LNC involvement those affiliates usually get donations from Libertarians in other states. LP presidential ballot access has always been handled via a combination of the LNC, the affiliates and the presidential campaigns. Ballot access has been one of the few core functions of the LNC since the party was founded. If not for the LNC being involved in ballot access the Libertarian Party would have a lot less ballot access than it has, and less ballot access means less relevancy as a political party.

I think that Mr. Wiley is about to find out that running for office as a Republican in Colorado is not as easy as he may have thought it was. Major party candidates must appear on a primary ballot and to get on the primary ballot they have to either get at least 30% of the delegates to vote to put them on the primary ballot at the Republican State Assembly or they have to complete a primary ballot access petition where they must get 1,000 valid petition signatures out of each of Colorado’s 8 US House districts (note that the requirement is 1,500 valid signatures out of each US House district for Governor and US Senate and 1,500 valid signatures for US House;; it is 1,000 valid signatures out of each US House district for the lower level statewide offices), so 8,000 valid signatures total, and only registered Republicans can sign these petitions. The 8,000 valid signature petition requirement is for major party candidates for statewide offices, if it is a district office it is a lower requirement depending upon which district office it is. Registered voters in Colorado can only sign primary ballot access petitions for one candidate for each office and only people registered to vote with the party can sign the petition and the petition signers had to have been registered to vote with a political party for at least 22 days before they sign a petition to place a candidate on the primary ballot (the signatures are dated). If a major party candidate in Colorado successfully completes the petition then they only have to get 10% of the vote from the delegates at the Republican State Assembly (or Democratic Party if they are a Democrat) in order to appear on the primary ballot. This is far from easy. Most major party candidates in Colorado have to hire paid petition signature gatherers to complete these petitions to get on primary ballots (major party presidential candidates do not have to petition their way onto primary ballot in Colorado, or at least I have never heard of one having to do so, so they are likely exempted from it). If a candidate does not participate in their party’s state assembly they can still appear on the primary ballot if they successfully completed the petition requirement. The deadline to complete the petition requirement is before the party assembly. Candidates for the 2026 primary must be registered to vote with the party for which they are running by January 2nd. The petition signature gathering window for the primaries starts on January 2nd and goes until March 18th. The party state assemblies are in April.

Is Mr. Wiley prepared to gather 8,000 valid petition signatures from registered Republicans, with a distribution requirement of 1,000 valid signatures from each of Colorado’s 8 US House districts, by March 18th? Does Mr. Wilely have a legitimate chance of winning the support of 30% of the delegates, or even 10% of the delegates, at the Republican State Assembly in April? Does Mr. Wiley plan to participate in the Republican State Assembly to try to win delegate votes or is he just going to go the petition route only? If he makes it onto the primary ballot what chance does he have or winning the nomination and proceeding to the general election ballot?

Unless Mr. Wiley is successful in gathering the 8,000 valid petition signatures from registered Republican voters in Colorado, with 1,000 valid signatures out of each of Colorado’s 8 US House districts, I am skeptical that he will make it onto the Republican primary ballot. I do not know how many candidates are vying for the Republican nomination for Secretary of State, but if he takes part in the Republican State Assembly in April and manages to get 30% of the delegates to vote to put him on the primary ballot, or even 10% if the completes the petition, he would still have to win the primary in order to the nomination and proceed to the general election ballot, and unless he is runs unopposed in the primary, which I doubt will happen, this is not going to be easy.

I will not be surprised if Mr. Wiley never make it onto the Republican primary ballot.

I do not mean this as an attack against Mr. Wiley. I assume that he is a good candidate with good intentions who would do good things if elected. I do not have a problem with libertarians running for office as Republicans, or as candidates for some other party, even the Democratic Party, or as independents/non-partisans, so long as they adhere to libertarian principles. I am just pointing out that it is not as easy to run for office as a major party candidate as a lot of people assume it is. Some people in the liberty movement act as though all libertarians need to do to be successful is run as Republicans as if this is a magic bullet for success. Reality is that it is not a magic bullet for success. It can be successful sometimes, but most of the time the result is that the libertarian loses in the Republican primary, or they never even make it onto the Republican primary ballot. If libertarians put all of their eggs in this basket and the pro-liberty Republican does not win the nomination there is nobody on the general election ballot for them to vote for who delivers a pro-liberty message during the period of time when the highest percentage of the public pays attention to politics, which is the period after the primary until the general election. Capturing a major party nomination is very difficult, particularly for an outsider, which is why it does not happen very often for people who are not in-line with a party’s establishment. The other problem with this strategy is that it gives some people the impression that Republicans are pro-liberty, when for the most part they are not (to varying degrees). If a pro-liberty Republican gets elected they can expect to be attacked by other Republicans.

3 Comments

Andy January 1, 2026

I do not know James Wiley, but I noticed that he said on the LNC comments list that he thinks that the LNC should not spend any money on or be involved with ballot access. He said that he thinks that ballot access should be left to the affiliates. This is a very naive and uniformed point of view, in my opinion.

Navigating and complying with all of the ballot access laws across the country is very difficult and without the LNC the Libertarian Party would not have any ballot access in a lot of states. Some states have easier ballot access requirement than others. There are some states where the Libertarian Party has recognized minor party status where ballot access actually becomes more difficult if the Libertarian Party gains major party status (some of these states allow exemptions for more difficult requirements for major party presidential candidates but some do not). The Libertarian Party has never been in a position to where all ballot access can be handled by the affiliates or by individual candidates. Even in a lot of cases when the Libertarian Party gains ballot access in a state without LNC involvement those affiliates usually get donations from Libertarians in other states. LP presidential ballot access has always been handled via a combination of the LNC, the affiliates and the presidential campaigns. Ballot access has been one of the few core functions of the LNC since the party was founded. If not for the LNC being involved in ballot access the Libertarian Party would have a lot less ballot access than it has, and less ballot access means less relevancy as a political party.

I think that Mr. Wiley is about to find out that running for office as a Republican in Colorado is not as easy as he may have thought it was. Major party candidates must appear on a primary ballot and to get on the primary ballot they have to either get at least 30% of the delegates to vote to put them on the primary ballot at the Republican State Assembly or they have to complete a primary ballot access petition where they must get 1,000 valid petition signatures out of each of Colorado’s 8 US House districts (note that the requirement is 1,500 valid signatures out of each US House district for Governor and US Senate and 1,500 valid signatures for US House;; it is 1,000 valid signatures out of each US House district for the lower level statewide offices), so 8,000 valid signatures total, and only registered Republicans can sign these petitions. The 8,000 valid signature petition requirement is for major party candidates for statewide offices, if it is a district office it is a lower requirement depending upon which district office it is. Registered voters in Colorado can only sign primary ballot access petitions for one candidate for each office and only people registered to vote with the party can sign the petition and the petition signers had to have been registered to vote with a political party for at least 22 days before they sign a petition to place a candidate on the primary ballot (the signatures are dated). If a major party candidate in Colorado successfully completes the petition then they only have to get 10% of the vote from the delegates at the Republican State Assembly (or Democratic Party if they are a Democrat) in order to appear on the primary ballot. This is far from easy. Most major party candidates in Colorado have to hire paid petition signature gatherers to complete these petitions to get on primary ballots (major party presidential candidates do not have to petition their way onto primary ballot in Colorado, or at least I have never heard of one having to do so, so they are likely exempted from it). If a candidate does not participate in their party’s state assembly they can still appear on the primary ballot if they successfully completed the petition requirement. The deadline to complete the petition requirement is before the party assembly. Candidates for the 2026 primary must be registered to vote with the party for which they are running by January 2nd. The petition signature gathering window for the primaries starts on January 2nd and goes until March 18th. The party state assemblies are in April.

Is Mr. Wiley prepared to gather 8,000 valid petition signatures from registered Republicans, with a distribution requirement of 1,000 valid signatures from each of Colorado’s 8 US House districts, by March 18th? Does Mr. Wilely have a legitimate chance of winning the support of 30% of the delegates, or even 10% of the delegates, at the Republican State Assembly in April? Does Mr. Wiley plan to participate in the Republican State Assembly to try to win delegate votes or is he just going to go the petition route only? If he makes it onto the primary ballot what chance does he have or winning the nomination and proceeding to the general election ballot?

Unless Mr. Wiley is successful in gathering the 8,000 valid petition signatures from registered Republican voters in Colorado, with 1,000 valid signatures out of each of Colorado’s 8 US House districts, I am skeptical that he will make it onto the Republican primary ballot. I do not know how many candidates are vying for the Republican nomination for Secretary of State, but if he takes part in the Republican State Assembly in April and manages to get 30% of the delegates to vote to put him on the primary ballot, or even 10% if the completes the petition, he would still have to win the primary in order to the nomination and proceed to the general election ballot, and unless he is runs unopposed in the primary, which I doubt will happen, this is not going to be easy.

I will not be surprised if Mr. Wiley never make it onto the Republican primary ballot.

I do not mean this as an attack against Mr. Wiley. I assume that he is a good candidate with good intentions who would do good things if elected. I do not have a problem with libertarians running for office as Republicans, or as candidates for some other party, even the Democratic Party, or as independents/non-partisans, so long as they adhere to libertarian principles. I am just pointing out that it is not as easy to run for office as a major party candidate as a lot of people assume it is. Some people in the liberty movement act as though all libertarians need to do to be successful is run as Republicans as if this is a magic bullet for success. Reality is that it is not a magic bullet for success. It can be successful sometimes, but most of the time the result is that the libertarian loses in the Republican primary, or they never even make it onto the Republican primary ballot. If libertarians put all of their eggs in this basket and the pro-liberty Republican does not win the nomination there is nobody on the general election ballot for them to vote for who delivers a pro-liberty message during the period of time when the highest percentage of the public pays attention to politics, which is the period after the primary until the general election. Capturing a major party nomination is very difficult, particularly for an outsider, which is why it does not happen very often for people who are not in-line with a party’s establishment. The other problem with this strategy is that it gives some people the impression that Republicans are pro-liberty, when for the most part they are not (to varying degrees). If a pro-liberty Republican gets elected they can expect to be attacked by other Republicans.

Nicholas Sarwark January 1, 2026

Glad to hear Mr. Wiley found a more appropriate political home and congratulations to Mr. Nanna.

George Phillies Post author | January 1, 2026

We are advised that LNC Regional Representative Dustin Nana is also resigning from the LNC, in his case because birth of his first child is imminent. The Editor Wishes Dustin and family well.

Alternate Wiley Joins Republicans — Now with His Public Statement

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