Last updated on May 4, 2025
Third Party Watch is not in possession of the full report on the situation of the Libertarian Party. We have, however, been sent sections that we believe are authentic, which we will reprint and update here. Fresh updates will appear at the top of the Report section.
Addendum We are advised by an extremely reliable source that the claim that the report cost $20,000 is false. It cost the amount that the LNC voted.
The Report As Leaked to Date
4. Staffing and Morale
The LNC is under-resourced for its national scope. Only two full-time staff members are employed, and the executive director is part-time (32 hours/week). The remaining team comprises of contractors, many of whom hold other full-time positions. That means, understandably, LNC is rarely the first priority for many of its staff/contractors. The organization cannot be the first priority for those who have full time positions, no matter how committed they are. The staffing model is not ideal. The Executive director has created a functional organizational chart which works in theory but is under-resourced currently. The recent cuts to staff have not helped. She has to duplicate her efforts for every type of meeting, because of lack of overlapping staffing schedules, which is incredibly inefficient. Piece meal approaches to staffing are not
ideal for long-term sustainability.
The staff/contractor group is highly engaged in executing the mission of the organization. They are passionate about the organization’s purpose for being. They are embarrassed by board behaviors that are less than exemplary and find them very demoralizing and discouraging.
The collective staff members long for a mature, governing board that will create a collective vision, raise the resources it needs, drive the organization forward, and provide a stable environment for its employees/contractors in which to produce results together.
The executive director gets great kudos from the staff and is well respected. She gives good direction, has fair and transparent tracking and accountability for their work. She is a coach to them and appears to be a very effective manager. The staff members applaud her ability to help them level set, cut out the distracting behavior of board members, and maintain focus to achieve goals. She is an active partner in understanding their work product, and problem solving with them within the resources available. Yet, when the board calls a halt to an initiative on which staff has been working for months, at the last minute, the staff morale plummets.
During the seven week period of this assignment, the limited level of staffing was cut even more. In the last two weeks, the staff lost the organization’s the only remaining strategist for fundraising. He was known as the primary person with contacts to major donors (the prior chair held some as well.) Staff members believe he was the person with the ability to articulate a selling proposition that seemed worthy to donors.
Board Impact on Accountability
Also, impacting staff morale, is the board’s accountability to achieving its own goals. When the board sets a goal and does not demonstrate a strong commitment to executing the tasks it collectively agrees to do, credibility suffers. An example is the board’s recent commitment to emergency fundraising.
At present, the spreadsheet for board fundraising shows only four board members actively have been making calls to help raise funds to pull the organization out of its financial decline. Only one person has produced any results and those alone are not substantive enough to help the financial situation greatly.
In my 45 years in the LP I have been on an SEC in 3 states an held every position except for treasurer and secretary. I’ve been a chair, news letter editor, been a candidate, been on both radio and televised shows, and spent a few hundred hours working booths and I would like to know what the members of the LNC do specifically. Do they have specific work they are responsible for getting out each week, or are they just on the committee for their opinions? How many of them have any experience in retail sales of any kind?
You could email entire.lnc@lp.org and ask them.
Would be happy to hear what responses you get.
I second that motion, but the only LP I am keen to pay dues at is New Mexico, and their website goes into a loop when I try to renew dues or simply donate online. I will not donate a penny to anything dominated by the Klan, Birchers, Islamic madmen or Christian National Socialists masked as von Mises fellow-travelers… so I have no standing to second Nick’s great idea.
Nick, you have a very good idea of my workload. Anyone can call me if they wish to know.
I have a pretty good idea what your workload is I have no complaint on that with you. But what do the regional people do is what interest me.
A lot of state affiliates are not in good enough shape to get ballot access without the LNC.
You’d have to prove it to me. The Jesus Caucus is the Republican stake driven through the heart of the national party organization. New Mexico LP had the good sense to disperse!
I heard an argument — 20 years ago — that the LNC’s only job was to organize the national conventions. All other tasks were properly handled by state affiliates.
That the LNC had grown too big for its britches. It had mistakenly come to see itself as the official voice of Libertarianism, with the state affiliates subordinate to it. And that the LNC should be cut down to size, and be restricted to organizing national conventions, and nothing else.
That was an argument made by someone in the Radical (Ruwart) faction, when the Reform (Root, Barr) faction controlled the LNC.
It still seems like a good idea to me.
Bring back LP NEWS. I no longer have sense of what successes state affiliates and local candidates are achieving. How is one to get excited about the Party?
YES! do it!
What a terrible shame. Reminds me of the dark days after the 1980 campaign when things got divisive with the Koch-Crane departure and the party seemed to be in shambles. The party recovered in time so hopefully it will do so again.
The staffing challenges this organization faces are not insurmountable. There is a clear opportunity to involve volunteers in more meaningful ways. Unfortunately, while there are opportunities to join committees that often have limited impact, there appears to be little outreach or calls to action for the areas where help is truly needed. Engaging the goodwill and skills of willing volunteers could make a real difference, but this will require a shift in how volunteer involvement is approached.