Three of the declared candidates for LNC Chair will debate during lunch on Saturday, March 28. The debate will be hosted, in-person, by LPNC Chair Ryan Brown.

Meet the candidates:

James Ostrowski is a trial and appellate lawyer and author from Buffalo, New York. He is the CEO of LibertyMovement.org, which promotes direct action strategies to achieve liberty. He is the author of 13 books and monographs, several peer-reviewed scholarly articles and several bar association reports. He is an Associated Scholar at the Ludwig von Mises Institute and was a student of the founder of the modern liberty movement, Murray Rothbard.

His books include: Government Schools Are Bad for Your Kids (2009), Direct Citizen Action (2010), Progressivism: A Primer (2014) and The Second Amendment Works (2020). His latest book is Exposing the Two Big Lies of the Gun Control Movement: Replacing Gun Control With Violence Control, published in 2024.

Wes Benedict served as Executive Director of the national Libertarian Party from 2009–2018 and of the Libertarian Party of Texas from 2004–2008. He is the founder and president of the Libertarian Booster PAC. Wes has helped recruit more Libertarian candidates than anyone else in party history and has worked closely with state affiliates to guide candidates through filing, petitioning, ballot access, and compliance requirements. Professionally, he has worked as an engineer and management consultant and is currently a registered lobbyist in Texas serving as Vice President of a free-market advocacy organization focused on housing and electricity.

Rob Yates is the Communications Director for the Libertarian Party of North Carolina, a position he has held since 2022. He is also on the Executive Committee for the Libertarian Party of Mecklenburg County. He has previously run for Mayor of Charlotte twice and NC General Assembly once, and has served as campaign manager and communications director on several NC campaigns, including work on the Mike Ross governor campaign. In his spare time he likes to play chess and argue about politics. He believes pizza is best with pineapple and jalapenos.