Nick Sarwark Reports: The 2026 National Chair Election

Evan McMahon is the 24th Chair of the Libertarian National Committee and presided over the first meeting of the newly elected LNC yesterday afternoon in Grand Rapids.

Mr. McMahon also served as my campaign manager in the 2018 special election for Phoenix Mayor after Greg Stanton quit.

I was 19th Chair of the Libertarian National Committee, serving from 2014-2020. The 20th Chair was Jow Bishop-Henchman, who resigned his position over an incident with the Libertarian Party of New Hampshire during its Mises Caucus takeover.

Whitney Bilyeu was chosen by the Libertarian National Committee to fill the vacancy, becoming the 21st Chair of the Libertarian Party. Bilyeu presided over the 2022 Libertarian National Convention in Nevada, where the Mises Caucus elected a slate and made Angela McArdle the 22nd (and worst) Chair.

During her term as 22nd Chair of the Libertarian National Committee, Angela McArdle vacated the headquarters building, allowing extensive roof damage, ended publication of the party newspaper, and replaced professional staff with family members and cronies to drain the party of resources to aid Trump.

Angela McArdle was narrowly re-elected at the 2024 Libertarian National Convention in Washington, D.C.

That convention was notable for being the first time that the Libertarian Party had ever invited a competing presidential candidate to speak, with stage time given to RFK Jr. and Donald Trump.

In early 2025, facing potential embezzlement charges, Angela McArdle resigned as Libertarian National Committee Chair.

A special election held between LNC Representative Steven Nekhaila and Mises Caucus founder Michael Heise.

Nekhaila won by a vote of 9-6 to become the 23rd Chair of the LNC.

At the 2026 Libertarian National Convention that concluded yesterday in Grand Rapids, the Mises Caucus lined up behind Mises Institute fellow and lawyer, James Ostrowski.

The opposition to the Mises Caucus was split between Rob Yates, Evan McMahon, and Wes Benedict.

Wes Benedict is former Executive Director of the Libertarian Party, hired in 2013 by 18th Chair of the Libertarian National Committee Geoffrey Neale and serving under my tenure until 2018 when Dan Fishman took over the role.

Wes earned my support at convention.

During the convention, Jeremy Kauffman, Angela McArdle, and other Mises Caucus members went out of their way to tell delegates that Wes Benedict was their second choice candidate behind Jim Ostrowski, in a transparent attempt to undercut his chances.

If no candidate gets a majority, the delegates at convention have more rounds of voting until a candidate wins a majority over NOTA.

When the first ballot came in Ostrowski, McMahon, and Benedict, the eventual outcome of the next two rounds was predictable to me.

Jeremy Kauffman and Rob Yates were both eliminated in the first round. The delegates who voted for Mises Caucus troll Kauffman shifted votes to Jim Ostrowski, revealing preference. The delegates who voted for Yates moved their votes to McMahon in the second round. Wes Benedict was eliminated and suggested to the delegates that they support Evan McMahon in the final round.

McMahon got 79 of those votes in the third round, while Ostrowski got only 29, which is the opposite of what you would expect if Benedict was the true second choice of Mises delegates.

Whether Evan McMahon was the true second choice or first choice of the Mises Caucus/MAGA delegates depends on who you ask, but Wes Benedict, who put out the statement ‘Bigotry is irrational and repugnant’ as Libertarian Party Executive Director on August 15, 2017 was most assuredly their last choice.