The Libertarian Party of Iowa is its own worst enemy

A few years ago, Iowa Libertarians were making small but encouraging gains. They earned official party status in 2016 and used it in 2018 to hold official third-party primaries for the first time in Iowa.

After a disappointing 2020 election, the party is in a rebuilding phase. Their prospects have been undermined by GOP laws limiting their ability to get on the ballot. But the bigger problem might be internal strife and dysfunction. In the latest controversy, a party leader is accused of misspending thousands in party funds and letting bills go unpaid.

I’m not a member of the Libertarian Party but I’m pulling for them. Iowans would be well served by seeing more formidable choices on our ballots.

Members started raising concern this past summer when the party missed a filing deadline with the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board, leading to the treasurer’s resignation in August. In October, a former party chairman discovered messages showing the party hadn’t paid a Cedar Rapids hotel where the annual convention was held in April.

Shortly after the outstanding expenses were reported, party chairman Mike Conner resigned from his post. An internal review reportedly turned up $10,000 in unauthorized transactions, apparently for personal use.

Party members turned the findings over to law enforcement authorities and they are working with the state ethics office to clean up their violations. It’s a good start but it won’t solve the issues that got them where they are.

The Libertarian Party of Iowa’s problems are much bigger than one case of maladministration. A functioning organization would have had checks in place to ensure this didn’t happen in the first place, let alone go undetected for so long.

Party leaders held a public Zoom meeting last week to discuss the situation. For more than two hours, activists went back and forth about past missteps and a path forward.

At one point, the meeting devolved into a raucous airing of grievances. Members fought over unreturned phone calls, disparaging Facebook comments and who “liked” them. It probably was a necessary pressure valve for their pent up frustration but it was a bad look to do it in public.

Even by their own telling, Iowa Libertarians have struggled to perform basic organizational tasks — keeping records, sharing website access, following up with prospective volunteers, getting members to attend committee meetings. Factions have formed, not based on any obvious ideological divides but instead on personal grudges and organizational differences.

As with any volunteer organization, the party is composed of whoever shows up to do the work. Leadership ranks are often filled with people who had their arms twisted into serving. The seat goes to whoever can be peer pressured, even if they have no interest or aptitude.

I was at the annual convention in 2020 where the former treasurer, who resigned this year over unfiled reports, was elected to the position. Attendees cheered her on to take a volunteer job she said she didn’t feel qualified to do. If the Libertarian Party wants to be a serious organization, members can’t keep settling for the only person in the room too polite to say no.

I’m not a member of the Libertarian Party but I’m pulling for them. Iowans would be well served by seeing more formidable choices on our ballots.

But the third-largest political party often feels more like a social club or a philosophical exercise than an earnest political project. Activists sometimes debate what their goal should be — to elect candidates, grow registrations or spread the message.

For now, that is a purely hypothetical question. When you can’t pay your bills, you can’t do any of it.

(319) 339-3156; adam.sullivan@thegazette.com