Unified Libertarians of Massachusetts

The original Libertarian Party of Massachusetts was formed in 1972.

Former Libertarian presidential candidate Ed Clark and Rebecca Shipman, the affiliate's gubernatorial candidate, spoke at the 1982 state convention at the Holiday Inn in Somerville for the need of a permanent ballot spot in Massachusetts; the convention was attended by the majority of the two hundred registered Libertarians in the state.[2] Later the party attempted to challenge the 40,000 signature requirement to appear on the ballot and force the Secretary of State to accept the 10,000 signatures they had gathered, but the district court rejected the injunction due to "vagueness" in their affidavits.[3]

During the 2002 Senate election, no Republican candidate appeared on the ballot for the first time in Massachusetts history (the previous Republican candidate in 1996 was future Libertarian Bill Weld), resulting in John Kerry's only opponent being Libertarian Michael Cloud. While most conservatives in Massachusetts voted for Kerry, a significant amount voted for Cloud giving him 18.4% of the vote, which at the time was the best percentage showing for a Libertarian in a Senate race. This record was later broken by Alaska's Joe Miller, who received 30% in 2016, but Cloud still holds the total vote record.[4]

At the party's 2018 convention, it formally endorsed ranked-choice voting and nominated candidates for the 2018 midterm elections.[5] Dan Fishman, the political director for the party, ran to be State Auditor of Massachusetts. His campaign was noted for securing an endorsement by the Boston Globe.[6][7][8] Fishman ultimately received 4% of vote in his run, which secured continued ballot access for the party.[9][10]

On April 16, 2019, the party's former political director, Dan Fishman, was appointed to be the executive director for the Libertarian Party of the United States.[11]

In 2022, election disputes led to two separate groups claiming to be the leadership of the Libertarian Party of Massachusetts. Each elected Massachusetts state committee claimed the same structure and membership. The Libertarian National Committee reviewed the competing claims based on the structure of the parties in their founding documents, and declared the group known as the Unified Libertarians of Massachusetts (ULM) as the state affiliate of the national party.[12][13] The ULM claims the lineage and history of the original Libertarian Party of Massachusetts. The original Libertarian Party of Massachusetts reemerged as the Libertarian Association of Massachusetts.

The best Libertarian showing in Massachusetts in a vote for President of the United States was in 2016 when the Libertarian Party's ticket won 4.2% of the vote. Former Massachusetts Republican Governor Bill Weld was on that ticket as the vice president candidate, with Gary Johnson, the candidate for president.

The Libertarian Party of Massachusetts had the best percentage showing of any Libertarian candidate in a race for U.S. Senate until Joe Miller's candidacy in the 2016 United States Senate election in Alaska. Carla Howell in the 2000 United States Senate election in Massachusetts had won 11.9% and Michael Cloud in the 2002 United States Senate election in Massachusetts won 18.4% in a two-person race with Democrat John Kerry (no Republican was on the ballot).[4]

House

Year	House candidates	Votes	Change
2010	None	None
2012	1	16,668 (0.7%)	0.7%
2014	None	None	0.7%
2016	1	27,511 (0.9%)	0.9%
2018	None	None	0.9%

Senate Class I

Year	Senate nominee	Votes	Change
2002	Michael Cloud	369,807 (18.4%)
2008	Robert J. Underwood	93,713 (3.1%)	15.3%
2014	None	None	0.9%

Senate Class II

Year	Senate nominee	Votes	Change
1982	Howard S. Katz	18,878 (0.9%)
1988	Freda Lee Nason	13,199 (0.5%)	0.4%
1994	Lauraleigh Dozier	14,484 (0.7%)	0.2%
2000	Carla Howell	308,860 (11.9%)	11.2%
2006	None	None	11.9%
2012	None	None
2018	None	None

Gubernatorial

Year	Gubernatorial nominee	Votes	Change
1982	Rebecca Shipman	17,918 (0.9%)	1.7%
1986	None	None	0.9%
1994	None	None
1998	Dean Cook	32,184 (1.7%)	1.7%
2002	Carla Howell	23,044 (1.1%)	0.6%

• Official website