Pat Wright is a San Diego native and a lifelong advocate for liberty and individual rights. My journey with the Libertarian Party began in 1980, working on the Ed Clark presidential campaign. Since then, I’ve taken on both political and activist roles to fight government overreach and champion personal freedom. Libertarian Party Leadership & Campaigns 1984: Ran for Congress against the corrupt and disgraced Duncan Hunter. 1980s-1990s: Challenged corrupt establishment politicians, including Mike Gotch, who claimed he wouldn’t take developer money—until he did. 1986-1996 (approx.): Served as Chair of the San Diego Libertarian Party, where I also ran the San Diego Libertarian Supper Club, bringing libertarians together for strategy and community. 1991-1993: Elected Chairman of the Libertarian Party of California, where we doubled membership and built a solid, action-oriented organization. 2002: Ran for Lieutenant Governor with the ballot title “Ferret Legalization Coordinator”—a fun fight that confused state officials, especially when it came to translating it into Mandarin. Ferret Advocacy & Activism After my second term as LPC Chair, I founded Ferrets Anonymous, leading the charge to legalize ferrets in California, one of only two states that still bans them. Decades later, I’m still at it, working through legal, legislative, and grassroots channels to get the job done. You can see my work at legalizeferrets.org. Running a nonprofit membership organization for over 30 years has given me invaluable experience—something I’ll carry into revitalizing the Libertarian Party of California. What I’m Doing Now Currently, I’m semi-retired, though California’s broken policies have made that challenging. After inheriting a duplex, I saw my property tax increase by 1,000% due to Proposition 19—and after three years of red tape, I still couldn’t get a building permit. A successful retirement? That would’ve been nice. Now, I joke that I’m training to be a Walmart greeter instead.
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Jul 22 202526 mins