This article is about the current Libertarian National Committee-recognized party. For the previous affiliate of the Libertarian National Committee, see Libertarian Association of Massachusetts.
The Unified Libertarians of Massachusetts (ULM), also known as the Libertarian Party of Massachusetts,[citation needed] is a libertarian political party in Massachusetts. It is affiliated with the national Libertarian Party. The party, which was formed in June 2022, claims the lineage and history of the Libertarian Party of Massachusetts, which continues to operate.
At the 2022 Libertarian National Convention members of the Mises Caucus, a paleolibertarian group affiliated to the beliefs ofRon Paul successfully staged a takeover of the Libertarian Party seeing over two thirds of delegates be members of the Caucus, and shift the party in a right-ward direction.[3] The caucus successfully got their members elected to sweep leadership positions, including; Angela McArdle as chairwomen and Joshua Smith as vice-chairman.[3] The 2022 convention, an off-election convention, had an unusually high number of delegates, with the last recorded number for an off-election convention, in 2006, being just 300 delegates, the 2022 convention saw over 1,000 delegates.[3] After the takeover the non-Mises affiliated members walked out, and criticized the group for lacking in libertarian orthodoxy, as well as due to several racist statements that the Caucus had made in the past.[3] The Libertarian Association of Massachusetts disaffiliated and co-founded the Liberal Party USA, but Mises hardliners split and formed their own party, the Unified Libertarians of Massachusetts, which the national party recognized as the official libertarian branch in the state.[4][2][5]
Despite Chase Oliver being the libertarian nominee for the Presidency in the 2024 United States presidential election, the Unified Libertarians of Massachusetts have been ardent opponents of Oliver, criticizing him for failing to win over more voters.[6] The party instead supported RFK Jr. who gave the party $66,000 to support his candidacy in the state.[7] Oliver was officially nominated by both the Unified Libertarians of Massachusetts and the Libertarian Party of Massachusetts, however, due to his poor showing the Libertarians as a whole lost major party status.[6]
