About the LP's Candidate Tracker

The Libertarian Party’s Mission Statement reads as follows: “To move public policy in a libertarian direction by building a political party that elects Libertarians to office.”

As part of our program to provide tactical support to our Libertarian candidates and get them into office, the Candidate Tracker project is designed to give us hard data about how they are performing on the campaign trail.  By tracking tangible and measurable activities, we will discover more precisely which ones will result in higher vote totals.

The cultural shift within the party caused by this empirical approach cannot be understated.  In the past, the only way that we could assess our candidates were by reports submitted by the campaign which typically painted a very bright picture (as they should).  With the Candidate Tracker, we now can view our candidates with objectivity and promote them based not on what we hope they might do but by what they have actually done.  All items in the formula are easily quantifiable and verifiable.  Most of the time we find that our candidates who have received positive subjective assessments before score quite well when rated objectively.  Now we know exactly why we like them, and can promote them and all other successful Libertarian candidates without the reality or even appearance of favoritism.

You will be able to see on the website how our candidates compare to each other and who is producing tangible results on the campaign trail. 

Candidates are listed by highest score.  You may also search by state affiliates as well.  We encourage you to contact campaigns in your region to see how you can assist. 

Behind the Mystery of the CT Score!

Here is the formula we used to generate the Candidate Tracker (CT) Score:

([SpendVoterScore] + ([NPRace]*-50) + [CommSvcScore] + [MediaScore] + [PubAppScore])/Candidates (other third party candidates and Independents count as half a point in partisan races)

• SpendVoterScore is the total spending on advertising and GOTV over the number of registered voters multiplied by 200.

• For NPRace, add 50 points if the race is non-partisan.

• Under the CommSvcScore, candidates receive points for how they are known in their communities when they file for office.  This includes prior service in elected or appointed office, participation in local service organizations, military veteran status, and the number of year the candidate has lived in the district.

• For the MediaScore, candidates are credited with appearances on television, on radio, in newspapers and on the Internet.  Polling numbers and endorsements also figure into this score.

• The PubAppScore, measures candidates by their public appearances, door-to-door campaigning and inclusion in debates.

• The raw score is then divided by the number of candidates on the ballot

The final score is determined by taking the sum of the Criteria scores and dividing by the number of candidates in the race. Major party candidates count as “1” and minor party candidates count as “1/2.”

For a more detailed explanation of how CT points are accumulated, please write to sean.haugh@lp.org.

Note to Candidates:

Understanding the formula will help you improve your score and your efforts on the campaign trail WILL result in a higher score.

The Candidate Tracker should be viewed as tactical support for your campaign.  We don’t intend it to be an extra chore, nor will it be used to manage your campaign in any way.  It is a tool so you can manage your own campaign more effectively.  If your campaign is not tracking this data already for your own purposes, you may wish to consider starting now.  Knowing these things about your campaign will help you most of all.

Also remember, we can’t include data from your race if you don’t tell us about it!  Please contact LPHQ at 1-800-Elect-Us or send an e-mail to campaigns@lp.org.