The Libertarian Party of Colorado (LPCO) is the Colorado affiliate of the national Libertarian Party (LP). As of April 2023, elected Libertarians in Colorado include Keenesburg mayor Aron Lam and Craig city councilman Paul James.

History

The Libertarian Party was founded on December 11, 1971, in Colorado Springs. In 1994, the party's name was changed from the Colorado Libertarian Party to the Libertarian Party of Colorado. This was done so that candidates could appear on the ballot as Libertarian rather than Colorado Libertarian. The party became a recognized minor party in 1998 after legislation was passed changing the requirements to being at least 1,000 registered voters or 5% of the vote in a statewide election. The party had statewide primaries during the 2010 election, the first third-party to do so in Colorado since the Progressive Party in 1916. It was the only third party in the United States to run candidates in a majority of state legislative districts during the 2012 election. In 2016, the party became the second Libertarian affiliate, after the Alaska Libertarian Party, to have at least 1% of the voters registered in it. This qualified their candidate, Lily Tang Williams for the U.S. Senate election to appear in debates. The party initially declined to give its ballot access for the 2024 presidential election to the national presidential ticket of Chase Oliver and Mike ter Maat and attempted to give their ballot line to independent candidates, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Nicole Shanahan, the following month. The press secretary of the national party submitted required paperwork recognizing the Oliver/ter Maat slate, which the Colorado Secretary of State accepted. Despite this, attached to the naming of Chase Oliver as the party's official candidacy, was a "partnership agreement" with RFK Jr's campaign. On August 2, 2024, the LPC announced that they would begin publishing a new bi-monthly newsletter, The Clipboard, to report on news within both the state party and the broader libertarian party.

Elected officials

Doug Carlsten served on the Brighton, Colorado city council in the 1990s. Doug Anderson, a member of the party, was elected to the Denver election commission in 1987, and Lakewood city council in 2005, in nonpartisan elections. Bob Dempsey was elected the San Miguel County Coroner as a Libertarian.

Voter registration