

LNC Chair Nicholas Sarwark

Libertarian National Committee Chair Nicholas Sarwark recently appeared as a guest on the Wizardly Wisdom podcast, discussing many of the top issues in the Libertarian Party today, messaging strategy, and more. He started by outlining his personal background in the libertarian movement.

“I’ve never identified politically as anything other than a Libertarian,” Sarwark said. “I probably came to libertarianism when I was maybe about 12 years old. My dad has lived in Phoenix, Ariz., all his life, and he would take me to Maricopa County LP meetings, and I ended up reading a book on his bookshelf called Libertarianism in One Lesson, by David Bergland, who was also the party’s 1984 presidential candidate. And it made sense to me, and I said, ‘You know, this is who I am.’”

In the interview, Sarwark explained that he became involved with the Libertarian Party of Maryland after he finished college in 1998, including a stint as chair, and served as vice chair of the Libertarian Party of Colorado after he finished law school and moved to that state to work as a public defender. He first made a splash in the national Libertarian Party at the 2012 convention in Las Vegas, when he made a speech advocating “none of the above” on the ballot for chair, and that position won a majority of votes for the first time in the party’s history. At the following national LP convention in 2014, Sarwark was elected to the first term of his current position as chair of the Libertarian National Committee.

The interview touches on Sarwark’s views about a wide range of issues, including civil liberties, free speech, free trade, the war on drugs, military intervention, school choice, gay marriage, and much more. Sarwark points out that it’s important to ensure that the Libertarian Party continues “standing for individual liberty on every issue, all the time.”

Ultimately, the Libertarian Party holds a unique and indispensable place in the U.S. political landscape, Sarwark explained. That’s why it’s important for the Libertarian Party to weigh in on issues that aren’t necessarily central to libertarian principles.

“It’s the only political party in this country dedicated to the idea that people should be able to pursue happiness any way they choose, as long as they don’t hurt other people and they don’t take their stuff,” Sarwark said. “And the old parties, the Democrats and the Republicans, have gotten away from that. They’ve gotten away from that vision of what America could be, and we’re the only option in the political arena for people who truly do care about human freedom.”

Listen to the full Wizardly Wisdom podcast featuring LNC Chair Nicholas Sarwark.