Libertarians meet in Abilene to nominate candidates for November ballot

April 16, 2026 | KACU 89.5 FM

April 15, 2026 | West Texas Tribune

This weekend, Libertarian delegates, party members and candidates from across Texas gathered at the DoubleTree Hotel in downtown Abilene to select nominees for major statewide races, along with down-ballot races and party leadership positions.

The Libertarian Party nominates its political candidates through a convention process every two years rather than through a primary election.

Elizabeth Miller, a delegate at previous conventions and current member of the Republican Liberty Caucus, said Abilene was a good place to hold the convention.

“I like coming to markets this size because we’re in a bigger city, but yet, not so big that we get lost, and it’s a new place to explore. Media and people get exposed to us at other parts of the state that might not be familiar with us, so I like that,” Miller said.

The U.S. government’s two-party system structure makes it difficult for Libertarians to compete in elections. Miller said some people don’t even know the Libertarian Party exists, while others with Libertarian values don’t associate with the party because of its limited influence.

“The Republicans and Democrats write the rules, and they do it together to minimize their competition,” Miller said.

Even though the Libertarian Party doesn’t participate in the primary election process, the Texas Legislature still requires its candidates to either pay filing fees or submit petitions to qualify for the party’s convention ballot.

Pat Dixon, the Libertarian nominee for governor, said dealing with the fees has been the most challenging part of the nomination process so far.

Even with the challenges, Dixon said he and other Libertarians will continue to run for office with the motivation of showing voters that they don’t have to settle for voting for red or blue candidates they don’t agree with.

“I do not think three choices on the ballot is a crowded ballot. I think voters want choice. So I want to offer that choice,” Dixon said.

A Texas Libertarian will also run for a U.S. Senate seat. Ted Brown ran for Senate in 2024 against Ted Cruz, where he got the record number of votes for a Libertarian Senate candidate in Texas.

“I wanted to provide an alternative to show voters that they didn’t have to vote for candidates who believe in big government, that there’d be an alternative candidate who would say, no, we need limited government, personal freedom, economic freedom and a non-interventionalist foreign policy,” Brown said.

He said he is running for office again because things have gotten worse since he last ran and because he believes Americans’ liberties are being violated daily by Donald Trump and his administration.

Bernard Johnson, chair of the Taylor County Libertarian Party, tussled with both Republican and Democratic values before realizing neither party represented what was most important to him.

“What’s really close to me is no initiation of force. I do not believe in initiation of force or violence to do whatever it is that I’m trying to accomplish,” Johnson said.

Whether it be in the name of avoiding violence or of limiting government involvement in foreign policy, most Libertarian Party members want America to end the war in Iran.

Scott Horton is an author who applies Libertarian economic analysis to foreign policy. He said that the majority of the conflicts the U.S. government tries to solve through combat were caused by previous American military actions. 

“If you ask the American people about the Iranian revolution, they’ll say, well, they burned our flag and called us the Great Satan and said, ‘Death to America,’” Horton said. “They don’t know that America supported a right-wing fascist dictatorship over that country for 25 years leading up to that revolution, which is the reason for it and the reason for all that enmity.”

Horton said our government is destroying our nation in the name of dominating the world.

Libertarians support the “Defend the Guard” bill that would prohibit a state’s National Guard units from being deployed into active combat without a formal declaration of war by Congress. Elizabeth Miller said the bill is probably the most important thing she has worked on in her life.

“I think it will force us to think a little more carefully about how prepared we are to defend ourselves and when we should really use violence on innocents,” Miller said.

She has confidence in Texas’ influence and ability to make big changes happen.

The Libertarian Party first appeared on a Texas general election ballot in 1980, but has never won a statewide office. Libertarians usually make up around 1% to 3% of the statewide vote.

However, even without being in office, Libertarians can have an influence on policy. Miller is part of a group called the Republican Liberty Caucus. “We try to influence the Republican Party of Texas to pay attention and be true to the principles of limited government, individual rights and free enterprise,” Miller said.

The Libertarian nominees selected at the convention will be up for election this November.