The Origin of the Republican Liberty Caucus

by Eric J. Rittberg

Publisher Note: This article was originally published in the September - October 1995 edition of the 'Republican Liberty' Newslettter. Every effort has been made to reproduce it accurately. --Steven Burden, Aug 1, 2008

A little over five years ago I founded the Republican Liberty Caucus nationwide. At the time I was a poor struggling college student working my way through college as a skycap at the Tallahassee Airport. Working the nightshift gave me a lot of free time - when not hitting the books - to ponder and strategize about my favorite subject: politics. I used that time to devise a strategy of recruiting Libertarian Party members into the GOP, linking them up with the existing libertarian-leaning elements and influencing the party to adopt a more libertarian line.

For years I had been active in Libertarian Party politics, having first supported Ed Clark for president as a teenager in 1980 and then rising through the ranks of the LP from the local to state level all the way to the Libertarian National Committee. In 1987 I was hired as Ron Paul’s advance man/travel aide for his presidential campaign, which I still regard as the greatest experience of my life. But in ‘89, I, along with many others who were supporting Matt Monroe for LP national chair, were purged from the LP due to our “mainstream middle class” values. I immediately joined a tiny cadre that existed at the time called the Liberarian Republican Organizing Committee.

But the serious lack of organization, direction and assistance from the LROC leadership based in California led me to question their tactics. I contacted other LROC coordinators on the East Coast listed on the back of their sporadically published newsletter.

I discovered others who were just as disenchanted, including Fred Stein of New Jersey and Ron Courtney of Virginia. One individual in particular said that they had written off the group entirely and had started their own group which they called the Republican Liberty Caucus. His name was Stan Ayers of Cary, N.C. Stan, along with Rick Henderson, Vernon Robinson, Stacy Powers and Steve Stiglbauer had formed the group to help elect libertarian-leaning Republicans to local and state offices. Their first success was electing their friend Art Pope to the state house from Raleigh in 1988.

After numerous conversations with Stan and the others over the phone I formally requested their
permission to start a Florida Republican Liberty Caucus and to form other chapters nationwide. They enthusiastically agreed. Stan wrote in The RLC Newsletter, “Eric Rittberg, a former assistant to Ron Paul in his Libertarian presidential bid, has honored us by asking to pattern a Republican Liberty Caucus after ours, in Florida... I’ve encouraged him all the way.”

Unfortunately, the North Carolina group became inactive. Stan became a born again Christian and dropped out of politics; Vernon Robinson made a couple failed tries for statewide office; Stiglbauer moved to another state and Henderson, who had given the organization its name, went on to become an associate editor at Reason magazine. Only Stacy Powers remains active in politics today.

Meanwhile here in Florida a few of us former Libertarian Party members had run into each other at the 1990 state GOP convention. We were in the middle of a hotly contested governor’s race. The incumbent Republican Bob Martinez was disliked across the state for his tax raising policies and for his strident social conservatism. Even within GOP ranks there was dissension. A number of moderate Republicans backed a maverick challenger to Martinez, pro-choice State Sen. Marlene Woodson-Howard.

Rex Curry, former LPF Vice-Chair, Philip Blumel, Tom Walls and I linked up with a few of these “fiscally conservative/socially tolerant” Republicans from the Woodson-Howard campaign and formed a Florida RLC. Soon after I was hired as the Woodson-Howard campaign’s chief fund-raiser. Other FL RLCers played key roles in her effort. But she was soundly defeated by Martinez, placing second in a five-way primary.

In early  l990 published a couple issues of The Florida RLC Newsletter. On July 30, I sent out a letter to about 200 top libertarians around the nation announcing our intention of taking the RLC nationwide. In August I published the first edition of Republican Liberty. It featured the Woodson-Howard campaign and former LP member and Congressman Sam Steiger’s run for governor of Arizona as a Republican. Naturally, the LROC crowd were infuriated when it appeared. What followed was a year-long battle with them, which at times got rather nasty (a story in itself). Finally, they relented and closed up shop. We had simply out-organized them and had established more credibility.

Among those who soon came on board, mostly refugees from the Libertarian Party were Roger MacBride, Mike Holmes, Clifford Thies, Alan Lindsay, Alan Turin, Frank Gilbert and just about all the other LROC coordinators. We worked up by-laws, held a couple meetings and formalized a structure.

With such a cadre of talented and experienced individuals we had little difficulty in putting together an active and well-organized national group which within three to four years became an established and well-respected element of the Grand Old Party.

To find out more about the history and origins of the RLC & RLCFL see the background page, and investigate our Newletter Archives.

• The Libertarian Republican Organizing Committee is founded. The group takes out ads and sends out mailings urging all Libertarians to abandon third party politics and join the GOP.

• The North Carolina LROC affiliate breaks with the national leadership and forms its own local group: The Republican Liberty Caucus.
• Libertarian-leaning Republican Art Pope wins election to the North Carolina House with assistance from the RLC.

• Split occurs at the Libertarian Party National Convention in Philadelphia between mainstream and hardline factions. Mainstreamers walk out and some opt to join the GOP.

• Florida Republican Liberty Caucus is formed.
• Eric Rittberg, with support from libertarian- Republicans in North Carolina, Florida, New Jersey, Virginia and other states declares the formation of the national Republican Liberty Caucus.
• First issue of Republican Liberty is published in August.
• Dick Zimmer wins election to the U.S. Congress with assistance from NJ RLC members.

• Top Libertarian Party members Clifford Thies, Mike Holmes, Frank Gilbert, Harry Thode, John Simmons and Alan Turin join RLC.
• First by-laws are ratified by Founding Committee. National Officers selected. Eric Rittberg elected Chair.
• 1976 Libertarian Presidential candidate Roger MacBride joins RLC National Committee. 1972 Libertarian Presidential candidate John Hospers joins RLC Advisory Board.
• Libertarian-conservative GOPer John Scott and former Libertarian Party member Randy Corman win election to the New Jersey State Senate with help from the NJRLC.
• California Assemblyman Tom McClintock becomes first legislator to join RLC.

• First RLC National Caucus held in Houston in conjunction with Republican National Convention. Young RLCers participate in GOP Convention and introduce delegates to libertarian-Republican movement.
• RLC-backed candidates Duncan Scott, Penn Pfiffner, Greg Kaza and Brad Gorharn win election to their respective state legislatures.

• RLCers assist in off-year elections of Republicans such as Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and Governors George Allen and Christie Whitman.
1994
• Roger MacBride takes over as RLC National Chairman. Clifford Thies becomes RLC President.

• First full National RLC Convention held in Gatlinburg. Tenn. Over 60 attend and elect officers, renew by-laws and participate in panel discussions.
• Republican blow-out at the polls. Libertarian Republicans swept into Congress and state legislatures. RLC-backed candidates J.D. Hayworth, John Shadegg, Mark Foley, Steve Stockman and Jack Metcalf win seats in Congress. Bob Hedlund elected to Mass. State Senate, Clay Aurand elected to Kansas House and Steve Baldwin to California Assembly. All other RLC state legislators win reelection.

• Congressmen Frank Riggs and Brian Blibray of California and Matt Salmon of Arizona join RLC. 
• Roger MacBride dies. Ron Paul takes over as interim RLC chair. 
• RLC hires lobbyist Mike Griffin to push for legislation on Capitol Hill.
• RLC Gains major publicity appearing in CQ, Human Events, Insight, Washington Times and on McLaughhn’s One on One show and briefly on CNN.