More than 40 members of the Libertarian Party are leaving to join the Republican Liberty Caucus, an organization dedicated to promoting limited government and free markets, the Washington Examiner said.
“That’s the fight that is really going to matter to public policy at the federal level, to politics at the national level,” Mike ter Maat, who ran for vice president on the Libertarian Party ticket in 2024 and is joining the caucus, told the Examiner. “And that’s because the president will eventually leave, and that will leave a big vacuum, and the Republican Party needs to decide what it’s going to look like after that.”
Ter Maat told the Examiner he decided to leave the Libertarian Party after seeing it plagued by infighting and issues with getting ballot access. The party received less than 1% of the vote in the 2024 election.
Ter Maat said he has seen firsthand how difficult it is for a third-party candidate to get any traction.
Republican Liberty Caucus members hope they can help influence who the GOP chooses as a successor for President Donald Trump.
“I’d like to see somebody who’s going to care about issues that I’m worried about: Staying uninvolved in foreign conflicts that don’t concern the American people, minimizing our tax burdens out here, protecting individual rights,” Joshua Hlavka, former chairman of the Libertarian Party in Florida told the Examiner.
“I want to make sure that whoever does follow up behind Trump represents those values and also the fiscal conservatism that we’re looking for here in America,” he added.
The caucus said it wants to cast a wide net, bringing in libertarians, Republicans, independents and Democrats, building a bench of volunteers, donors and candidates. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky. and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., have received support from the group.
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