The Libertarian Party of Illinois is the Illinois affiliate of the Libertarian Party. The state chair was Bill Redpath. There are four Libertarian officeholders in Illinois.
Mission statement
Libertarian Party of Illinois mission is: To elect Libertarians to office and move public policy in a libertarian direction.[1]
Key tenets of the Libertarian Party platform include the following:[2]
Adoption of laissez-faire principles to reduce the state's role in economic government. This would include, among other things, markedly reduced taxation, privatization of Social Security and welfare (for individuals, as well as elimination of "corporate welfare"), markedly reduced regulation of business, rollbacks of labor regulations, and reduction of government interference in foreign trade.
Minimal government bureaucracy. The Libertarian Party states that the government's responsibilities should be limited to the protection of individual rights from the initiation of force and fraud.
A pro-choice belief that abortion is a personal issue, and should not be part of government.[3]
Established party status
As of January 17, 2024, the party has established party status in Cook, McLean, and Tazewell counties.[4][a]
After the 1994 general election, the Libertarian Party achieved established party status for statewide offices in Illinois. This occurred after its candidates for the then-elected University of Illinois Board of Trustees cumulatively received 5.5% of all votes cast.[7] After the party's success in the 1998 election for Ford County Sheriff and other countywide offices, it achieved established party status. Due to its second place showing over the then-dormant Democratic Party in that election, the Libertarians received the minority party's seat on the Board of Review and one of the five seats on the Sheriff's Merit Commission.[8] This status was lost by 2002 after the Libertarian Party failed to field any candidates in the 2002 general election.[9]
Other chapters
Other than its established party chapters, the Libertarian Party of Illinois also includes:[10]
Bond County Libertarians
Champaign County Libertarian Party
Clinton County Libertarian Party
DeWitt County Libertarian Party
DuPage Libertarians
Fox Valley Libertarian Party, now defunct
Illinois Valley Libertarians
Kankakee County Libertarian Party
Macoupin County Libertarian Party
McHenry County Libertarians
McLean County Libertarian Party
Metro-East Libertarian Party
Libertarian Party of Chicago
Libertarian Party of DeKalb County
Libertarian Party of Greater Peoria
Libertarian Party of Lake County
Libertarian Party of Macon County
Libertarian Party of Northwestern Illinois
Libertarian Party of Will County
Libertarian Party of Whiteside County
Southern Illinois Libertarian Party
Warren County Libertarian Party
Western Illinois Libertarian Party
Elected officeholders
As of January 10, 2024, the United States Libertarian Party lists four incumbent officeholders in Illinois on its website.[11][b]
Brody Anderson, trustee of the River Valley Library District Board of Trustees (Port Byron)
Patrick Liapes, Trustee of the Poplar Creek Library Board (Streamwood).
^While the Libertarian Party of Illinois lists DeWitt, Kankakee, McHenry, and Peoria counties as being established political parties, the case Joseph J. Tirio v. Libertarian Party of Illinois et. al. indicates that the lack of a 2022 candidate means DeWitt, Kankakee, McHenry, and Peoria counties which did not run candidates in 2022 that won 5%+ of the vote lost their established party.[5] Additionally, the Montgomery County primary ballot does not include the Libertarian Party as an option for established party status.[6]
^While Sasha Cohen is listed as the City Clerk of Dekalb, Illinois, he was removed from office on March 28, 2024 for repeated failures to file statements of economic interest.[12]
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