Erie County Libertarian Party

Erie County Libertarian Party
General Information
Jurisdiction:	Erie County, New York
Chartered:	July 18, 2015
Status:	Active
Officers
Chair:	Duane Whitmer
Vice-Chair:	Erin Becker
Secretary:	Maura Botsford
Treasurer:	Mitch Trzaska
Media
Website:	Website
Facebook:	Facebook

The Erie County Libertarian Committee (previously known as the Erie County Libertarian Party) is an affiliate of the Libertarian Party of New York. It was established on July 18, 2015.

History

According to Murray Rothbard in The Libertarian Forum (January 1977), there was an active group of Libertarians in Buffalo in the 1970s. In the mid-1970s, Ralph Raico served as Chair of a Buffalo Libertarian Party and the affiliate still existed as of 1993. The Erie-Niagara Libertarian Party chapter existed in the 1990s and early 2000s. As early as 2003, John Wadsworth served as Temporary Chair, until June 5, 2011, when Kyle Hulse took over.

In 2014, Edward Garrett was appointed Temporary County Chair by the LPNY State Committee and he worked to form an affiliate in the county. At first, he worked to form a Western New York Libertarian Party and after the 2015 state convention, worked with Andrew Kolstee in Chautauqua County and Kim Ruff in Niagara County to get western New York organized.

The ECLP held its founding on July 18, 2015, with Garrett elected Chair. The affiliate was chartered by the State Committee and Garrett also served as State Representative. Garrett was chair until April 25, 2017, when Kevin Cruver was chair for a term. Garrett was again chair during the 2018-2019 term, including when the LPNY was transtitioning from a corporation to a political party. In April 2019, the chapter held a convention to form an Interim County Organization, and they were confirmed by the Interim State Committee on June 9, 2019.

Duane Whitmer was first elected Treasurer in 2018, and then he ran for Congress in New York's 27th congressional district. He was elected Chair of the affiliate in 2019. Under Whitmer, the affiliate has focused on activism in Erie County.

Leadership

Current

• Duane Whitmer, Chair (August 14, 2019—present)
• Elyssa Harper, Vice-Chair (October 2, 2022—present)
• Maura Botsford, Secretary (September 20, 2020—present)
• Vacant, Treasurer (June 26, 2025—present)
• Duane Whitmer, State Representative (August 14, 2019—present)
• Jim Ostrowski, Chief Legal Advisor (July 18, 2015—present)

Former

Chair

• Edward Garrett (July 18, 2015—April 24, 2017)
• Kevin Cruver (April 24, 2017—August 25, 2018)
• Edward Garrett (August 25, 2018—August 14, 2019)

Vice-Chair

• Andrew Rogers (July 18, 2015—2016)
• Erik Bell (2016—April 24, 2017)
• Jeremy J. Herr (April 24, 2017—August 25, 2018)
• Alyce Auman (August 25, 2018—April 27, 2019)
• Nathaniel Cole (April 27, 2019—September 20, 2020)
• Erin Becker (September 20, 2020—October 2, 2022)

Secretary

• Daniel Hogg (July 18, 2015—2016)
• Kevin Cruver (2016—April 24, 2017)
• Edward Garrett (April 24, 2017—August 25, 2018)
• Kevin Cruver (August 25, 2018—April 27, 2019)
• Alyce Auman (April 27, 2019—August 14, 2019)
• Erin Becker (August 14, 2019—September 20, 2020)

Treasurer

• Justin Hatka (July 18, 2015—2016)
• Andrew Rogers (2016—April 24, 2017)
• John Thomas Mergenhagen (April 24, 2017—before July 11, 2018)
• Jeremy J. Herr (acting from before July 11, 2018—August 25, 2018)
• Duane Whitmer (August 25, 2018—August 14, 2019)
• Mitch Trzaska (August 14, 2019—October 2, 2022)
• Michael Rebmann (October 2, 2022—June 26, 2023)

State Representative

• Edward Garrett (July 18, 2015—April 24, 2017)
• Kevin Cruver (April 24, 2017—August 25, 2018)
• Edward Garrett (August 25, 2018—August 14, 2019)

Temporary County Chair

• John Wadsworth (2003—June 5, 2011)
• Kyle Hulse (June 5, 2011—?)
• Edward Garrett (March 2, 2014—July 18, 2015)

Other

• Christopher Archer, Webmaster (July 18, 2015—?)

Conventions

Date	Location	Notes
July 18, 2015
2016
April 24, 2017
August 25, 2018
April 27, 2019		ICO formation
August 14, 2019
September 20, 2020
October 2, 2022