The most Libertarian place in America

Is Austin’s Travis County the nation’s Libertarian Party stronghold?

The co-founders of a Libertarian political action committee based there make that case, arguing that the Texas locale is the “most Libertarian large county in America.”

Wes Benedict and Arthur DiBianca of Libertarian Booster PAC note that 31 Libertarian candidates were on the Travis County ballot this year, more than any other county in America. Among the other stats they cite:

Libertarian presidential nominee Gary Johnson won 2.7% there, his highest percentage nationwide for large counties outside his home state of New Mexico.

Four Libertarians got over 40% of the vote for the portion of their district within Travis County

The current chairman of the national party, Geoffrey Neale, lives in Travis County, and 2004 Libertarian presidential nominee Michael Badnarik had previously run for office as a Libertarian in Travis County, and his presidential campaign headquarters were located in Travis County.

Their argument makes some sense – certainly there’s a strong libertarian bent in tech-heavy communities like Travis County.

Austin, as with other high-tech areas, has been a top zip code for Ron Paul’s fundraising efforts.

Peter Thiel, the billionaire co-founder of PayPal and a top contributor to the super PAC supporting Paul’s presidential bid, is among those who have discussed the libertarian pulse in the tech industry, at least when it comes to Silicon Valley. In Thiel’s view, the technical or engineering side is “pretty libertarian,” while the non-engineering side (the lawyers and executives) tends to be Democratic.

Yet even if Travis County qualifies as the beachhead of the Libertarian Party, that’s not saying much: None of the county’s Libertarian candidates actually won partisan office in 2012.

And while Johnson’s performance there was notable among the nation's most populous counties – he ran about 3 times better in Travis County than his national average – a 2.7% presidential performance isn’t much to crow about.

On the bright side, every national party has to take root somewhere, and the place that’s home to the capital of the nation’s second-largest state is a good place to start.