

Zakk Maher

Zakk Maher, a county commissioner for Androscoggin County, Maine, switched to the Libertarian Party on Sept. 7. Maher was elected to the seat last November as a Republican, defeating the challenger with 63 percent of the vote. The term of the seat lasts until the end of 2020.

Maher is the second county commissioner to switch to the Libertarian Party in the past year. Jim Byrne of the Kankakee County Board in Illinois came over to the LP last Dec. 7.

“In an effort to reaffirm my own principles, as well as my passion for community service, I am enrolling in the Libertarian Party of Maine,” Maher wrote on his website. “I believe that each of us as a ‘living creature, the creating individual,’ as Bruce Lee once mused, ‘is always more important than any established style or system.’ As a Libertarian, I feel confident that when I say we believe in you, there are no ifs, ands or buts. And by freeing ourselves from the current political dichotomy I am positive the path forward for the County, the State and the Nation will be less turbulent, allowing our interpersonal relationships within our own community to bear much more fruit.”

The Libertarian Party now has 159 elected officials.

Read the full announcement on Maher’s website and the press release from the Libertarian Party of Maine.