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Press Kit: 2019 Libertarian Party State of the Union Address

Republicans and Democrats have engaged in an extended form of political theater these past few weeks, partially shutting down the government and using the lives of immigrants as bargaining chips over funding for a border wall. It’s likely that President Donald Trump, in his State of the Union address, will  insist that his expensive and restrictive policies are necessary, and Democrats will counter with their own proposals that also require high taxes, higher spending, more regulation, and sending our young people into interminable, needless wars.

In our own 2019 State of the Union address, the Libertarian Party explains that the older-parties’ politicians’ pronouncing of disaster after disaster, from which, supposedly, only they and their big-government policies can save us, actually serve only to divide us. Through such scare tactics, they distract us into accepting their burdensome policies that interfere with our lives, liberty, and pursuit of happiness.

Libertarian Jeff Hewitt, elected in 2018 to the Riverside County, Calif. board of supervisors, delivers the Libertarian Party’s State of the Union address.

Watch Supervisor Hewitt’s address, below, or read the transcript.

Libertarian Party representatives available for interviews about the 2019 State of the Union

Jeff Hewitt was elected in Nov. 2018 to the Riverside County board of supervisors in California, following three years as mayor of Calimesa, where he led the charge to replace the city’s expensive contract for state fire protection with its own, more responsible and cost-effective fire department. Armed with this Libertarian solution, Hewitt enabled his city to fend off the spiraling pension costs that affect many California communities.

Hewitt’s commitment to financial responsibility in Calimesa prompted the Press-Enterprise to award him a “strong” endorsement, describing him as “the rare sort of politician who can get straight to the point about the problems of county government and speak honestly about what needs to be done.” With nearly 500,000 residents, Hewitt’s supervisorial district has more than twice the population of any state house district in the country, excluding California. He also earned a rare campaign endorsement from Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, and the R Street Institute’s Steven Greenhut lauded Hewitt’s accomplishment with the fire department as a “model for the state.”

Hewitt served a total of eight years on the Calimesa city council; he was elected in 2010 following six years on the planning commission there. He has also held leadership positions on the Libertarian National Committee and the LP California executive committee.

Professionally, Hewitt is a small business owner, having run his own swimming pool company for more than 40 years. He has a degree in biology from California State University at San Bernardino.

Jeff Hewitt is available for in-studio interviews in the greater Los Angeles area.

Nicholas Sarwark is serving his third term as chair of the Libertarian National Committee, having first been elected in 2014. Prior to that, he has served as chair of the Libertarian Party of Maryland and as vice chair of the Libertarian Party of Colorado, where he played a key role in recruiting the state’s 42 Libertarian candidates in 2014 and supported the passage of Colorado’s historic marijuana legalization initiative in 2012. In 2018, he ran for mayor of Phoenix, Ariz.

Professionally, Sarwark has worked as a criminal defense attorney and served as a deputy public defender in Colorado where he tried more than 30 cases before a jury and argued in front of the Colorado Supreme Court. In 2014, he moved to Arizona to help operate his family’s business, the oldest independent auto dealership in Phoenix, founded in 1942.

Nicholas Sarwark is available for in-studio interviews in the Phoenix area.

The Party of Principle

Background: Founded in 1971, the Libertarian Party is the third-largest and fastest-growing party in the United States, and the only party that respects people as unique and responsible individuals. Libertarians oppose any government interference into people’s personal, family, and business decisions. Our guiding principle is that all Americans should be free to live their lives and pursue their interests as they see fit, as long as they impose no force or fraud on others.

Libertarian candidates and elected officials: We run hundreds of candidates in every election cycle, at every level of public office. In 2018, we ran 833 candidates nationwide, which represents a nearly 40 percent increase over 2016, and 54 were elected. As of January 2019, there are 180 Libertarians holding elected offices: 56 in partisan positions and 124 nonpartisan.

Election 2020: Libertarian Party members will have the opportunity to choose our 2020 presidential nominee at our 2020 convention of delegates, to be held in Austin, Texas, on May 21–25, 2020.

Platform: The Libertarian Party platform outlines our guiding principles as applied to important policy issues.

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Media Contact

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* Please credit all photo usage: Photo courtesy of the Libertarian National Committee