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The Libertarian Party of Washington is the state affiliate of the national Libertarian Party in Washington, and the third largest political party in Washington State. The Libertarian Party functions as a socially accepting, fiscally responsible party. There is no official party platform, but the party advocates constitutionally restricted government, significant cuts to taxation, protection of natural rights, and operates under a non-aggression pact. Libertarians align across the political spectrum, preferring "Libertarian Left" or "Libertarian Right", but generally advocate against statism or authoritarian government practices. ==History of the Libertarian Party in Washington State== In 2000, the Libertarian Party attained major party status in Washington after the success of Libertarian candidates in statewide races, many of whom received the required 5% of the total statewide vote. The party ran 43 candidates for state legislative seats, 12 of whom received 20% or more of the total votes in their race, 8 candidates for Congress, one candidate for US Senate, and Harry Brown/Art Olivier for President/Vice-President. By the 2004 election all statewide Libertarian candidates failed to reach 5% of the statewide vote. Ruth Bennett, in the race for Governor, finished the third recount with 63,464 (2.2585%) of the statewide total.〔http://www.sos.wa.gov/elections/2004gov_race.aspx〕〔(Major Political Party )〕〔(Libertarian may have helped Rossi, experts agree )〕 The party ran 3 Congressional candidates and one US Senate candidate, none of whom received higher than 2.5% of the total votes in their respective races. Twenty-five state legislative candidates ran under the Libertarian banner, with one receiving above 10% total votes, and with an average result below 4%. In 2006, the Libertarian Party nominated Bruce Guthrie for US Senate, who mortgaged his home to raise $1.2 million in order to qualify for the Seattle debates. The Seattle PI stated the Guthrie won the debate 'just by being there', as he had the opportunity to share his platform with a wide audience, a feat not many third party candidates get to achieve.〔Bruce Guthrie (politician)#cite note-42〕 Guthrie finished the race with 29,331 total votes, representing 1.41% of the statewide total. No state legislative positions were contested by the Libertarian Party as a demoralizing result of the Blanket Primary law passed through the legislature by the two major parties, and supported by the voters as Initiative 872 with 59% approval. This effectively ended the success of a strong third party in Washington State. In the 2008 elections, two Libertarian Party candidates qualified for the August 19 primary - John Beck for U.S. Congress (5th C.D.) and Ruth Bennett for State Representative (37th Legislative District, Position 2).〔(Candidates who have filed )〕 John Beck failed to survive the new Top Two Primary, while Ruth Bennett went on to receive only 10.5% of the votes in a head-to-head run against incumbent Democrat Eric Pettigrew. Bennett made a final statement on the inability for third party success under the new election laws, stating that the only way a Libertarian can survive is in otherwise uncontested entrenched districts. She cited her landslide loss as evidence.〔http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2008090015_thirdparty04m.html〕 After the passage of Initiative 872, instituting a Top Two General Election, and the 2008 US Supreme Court ruling to uphold the Initiative, the party reduced in rank and status across the state. From 2009 through 2013, the party loosely lobbied major party officials for proposed or supported legislation. No Libertarian appeared on the ballot in the 2010 elections. By 2011, there was little interest for remaining party members to hold a state convention, during a year in which officers would have been elected. A small group of individuals banded together for the purpose of electing officers at an abbreviated one day session in Olympia.〔http://lpwablog.blogspot.com/2011/07/lpwa-junejuly-2011-news-views.html〕 Party affiliation waned and records of Party members became dated with little to no significant achievements of note. In 2012 the only Libertarian on the ballot was Gary Johnson for US President, who finished with 42,202 (1.35%) of the statewide total. In 2014, the Party leadership lost all seats during the annual convention during a mounted effort to ratify the party constitution and bylaws. The effort originated from party officer's supportting efforts of candidates from competing political parties. The ratification of the new rules was led by a slate of candidates and their volunteers whose intended purpose was to rebuild a permanent presence in Washington State politics and ready the party for a 2016 return to major party status. The most significant changes to the party rules allowed for annual election of officers and a restructure of the board to include regional directors. The move called for the immediate dismissal of the chairman and moved directly into voting for replacement officers. The new officers immediately decentralized the power structure to a series of pre-defined regions in order to aid ongoing campaigns and recruit for county level political leadership. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Libertarian Party of Washington」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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