MANCHESTER, NH – Putting his money where the heart of the Libertarian Party has staked its claim, Nicholas Sarwark, Libertarian National Committee Chair, moved to the Queen City from Arizona this week with his wife and four young children. He says coming to New Hampshire has been the goal for a while.
“When I first signed up for the Free State Project in 2002, I knew I wanted to live in the most libertarian state in the country. It’s a great place to raise a family and it’s closer to Washington DC and the Libertarian Party National Headquarters.” NH is also home to the Free State Project.
Brian Shields, Chair of the Libertarian Party of New Hampshire (LPNH), says he is excited for the momentum that the National Chair will bring to the state.
“New Hampshire really is the Live Free or Die state. The love of liberty and of neighbor-helping-neighbor goes back to our foundations. We’re proud to welcome the Chairman of the National Libertarian Party, the party of principle and liberty, to the Granite State. We’re looking forward to working together with Nick to keep New Hampshire an inspiration of freedom for the rest of the country,” said Sheilds.
Nationally, the Libertarian presidential ticket of New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson and his running mate former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld – now running for the Republican nomination – received more than 4 million votes or 3.28 percent of the total vote.
NH State Rep. Max Abramson is among those seeking the Libertarian presidential nomination in 2020.
“LPNH will have a self-funded Presidential Preference Primary coinciding with the NH primary. We’re using mail-in ballots to voting eligible members, and our choice for a nominee will be announced at our January 11th convention in Concord,” Shields said.
The 2020 Libertarian National Convention will be held in Dallas in May to finalize the party’s nominee.
Sarwark is a second-generation Libertarian, and says the voice of this third party is more important than ever for 2020.
“Going into what promises to be one of the ugliest elections ever, only the Libertarian Party is going to be presenting concrete policies that will make people’s lives better. More and more Americans are turning away from the tribalism of the two old parties and want something better to vote for. We must give them that choice,” Sarwark said.
As chair, Sarwark has played a prominent role spreading the ideas of Libertarianism, with his appearances in Reason magazine, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Slate, Salon, and the Los Angeles Times, as well as on “Kennedy” and “Stossel” on Fox Business, “Stossel on Reason,” the “Glenn Beck Program,” MSNBC, RT TV, NPR, and many more.
Sarwark says that the importance of New Hampshire can’t be understated,
“When a group of motivated libertarians can get laws changed and start showing people how our solutions work in one state, it’s an example to others of what libertarian government looks like. What is being accomplished in NH is a great lesson in what a few people can do if they are motivated and energized,” Sarwark sid.
The Sarwarks are also participants in the Free State Project (FSP), a non-partisan, non-profit organization that encourages liberty leaning people of all stripes to come to NH to grow and strengthen the liberty community in the state. Some equate it to creating a real-life “Galt’s Gulch,” a reference from fiction author Ayn Rand’s novel, “Atlas Shrugged,” including Rachel Goldsmith, Interim Executive Director of the Free State Project.
“The FSP is thrilled to welcome the Sarwark family to the growing community of liberty activists in New Hampshire. We wish Nick and Valerie the best as they settle into their new home and, we look forward to their flavor of ‘Liberty in our Lifetime,'” Goldsmith said.
Professionally, Sarwark has been a criminal defense attorney and has worked for over 15 years in the private sector. He served as a deputy public defender in Colorado, trying more than 30 cases before a jury and arguing in front of the Colorado Supreme Court. He also has more than a decade of experience in computer consulting and sales. In 2014, he moved to Arizona to join in the operations of a family business, the oldest independent auto dealership in Phoenix, founded in 1942. He is excited for the next chapter of his life to be written in NH.
LPNH has affiliate chapters throughout the state. For more information, go to LPNH.org
The Free State Project is a non-profit organization, educating the public about the benefits of limited government, and community in New Hampshire. The hope is that the “liberty movement” finds fertile ground in NH and spreads across the country. For more information see FSP.org
