Libertarian Party of Oregon

In 1996 former Chairperson Richard Burke led an attempt to impact the outcome of the race for Oregon's first congressional district seat by not running a Libertarian candidate after the Libertarian candidate had been credited with throwing the previous race to the Democrat. Proponents of this strategy believed that as the proposed Libertarian nominee had not raised sufficient money or built a sufficient campaign organization to run a significant campaign, the Libertarian platform would be more effectively advanced by the Republican candidate who had spent time building a relationship with the Oregon Libertarian Party. Other Libertarians thought the strategy to be tantamount to a "sell out", and an intense controversy ensued. The Libertarian candidate, Richard Johnson, narrowly won the nomination. The incumbent Democrat, Elizabeth Furse, was re-elected that fall.

Wes Wagner, Libertarian Party of Clackamas County vice-chair, sued the party and its officers in December 2006. Wagner's suit alleged that the party did not obey its own bylaws with regards to its fiduciary obligations while running up a five-figure debt to Richard Burke. The case was dismissed in Washington County Court, though it was rumored it was pending appeal, for quite some time.[12]

Since 2011, the party has been internally divided in two factions following two party chairs: Tim Reeves and Wes Wagner. The March 12, 2011 annual convention only had 20 members in attendance; this fell short of a quorum as defined by the 2009 by-laws.[11] After this meeting, the chairperson Jeff Weston resigned and the vice-chairperson, Wagner, assumed the office. He called a meeting of the "State Committee" on March 31, 2011; this meeting adopted a new constitution and bylaws, with new quorum and membership requirements.[11] Only one member of the Reeves faction was present at this meeting and objected.

On April 19, 2011, the Wagner faction met and changed the scheduled May 21, 2011 annual convention into a social event at a different location. Only the Reeves faction attended the May 21, 2011 annual convention and did not achieve a quorum.[11] Immediately after this meeting, the Reeves faction met and elected their officers with Reeves as the state Chairperson.

In May 2011, the Reeves faction attempted to register their electioned officers but were rejected by the Secretary of State because the Secretary has previously recognized Wagner as the official chairperson.[11] The Reeves faction sued the Wagner faction to obtain a court decision that they are the true officers of the state party.[13] The Oregon courts issued an opinion May 21,2013, that it does not have jurisdiction on the matter and that it should be determined by the Party's Judicial Committee. [14] On December 12, 2018, the Court of Appeals in Oregon affirmed the lower court's decision.[11]