Erie County Libertarian Committee
| 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: | |
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. An Erie-Niagara chapter existed in the 1990s. 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.
Leadership
Current
- Duane Whitmer, Chair (August 14, 2019—present)
- Erin Becker, Vice-Chair (September 20, 2020—present)
- Maura Botsford, Secretary (September 20, 2020—present)
- Mitch Trzaska, Treasurer (August 14, 2019—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, Vice-Chair (April 27, 2019—September 20, 2020)
- 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, Secretary (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)
- State Representative
- Edward Garrett (July 18, 2015—August 25, 2018
- Kevin Cruver (April 24, 2017—August 25, 2018)
- Edward Garrett, State Representative (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 |