Free State Project

The Free State Project (FSP) is an internet-based political movement, founded in 2001, to get at least 20,000 libertarian-leaning people to move to New Hampshire in order to make the state a stronghold for Libertarian ideals. Although as of 2006, only 200 people had actually made the move, the movement achieved a victory in 2006 when one of its members, Joel Winters, was elected to the New Hampshire state legislature. Winters, however, ran as a Democrat and may have won primarily due to a sweeping win of Democrats in that election. As of February, 2009, the organization reports having 9098 participants, 668 in New Hampshire, and has been averaging a gain of 20.2 new members per week for the past six months.The Free State Project was founded in 2001 by Jason Sorens, then a Ph.D. student at Yale University. Sorens published an article in The Libertarian Enterprise highlighting the failure of libertarians to elect a any candidate to federal office, and outlining his ideas for a secessionist movement, and calling people to respond to him with interest. The organization since then come to emphasize secessionism much less strongly, with Sorens publishing a note in the journal to this effect in 2004. Sorens has stated that the movement is following the examples of Mormon settlers in Utah, French separatists in Quebec, and Amish religious communities.

The group originally was founded without a specific state in mind. A ballot in september of 2003 was held to choose a state to focus the movement's efforts on. The ballot used the innovative Condorcet method to choose the target state. New Hampshire was the winner, with Montana coming in second (in a 55 to 45 margin). Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Vermont, and the Dakotas were also on the list.

The state of New Hampshire was chosen by the movement because the existing individualist culture of New Hampshire was thought to resonate well with Libertarian ideals. The movement, however, has drawn criticism from New Hampshire residents, mostly Democrats and those in towns with budget problems, concerned about population pressure and funding for education. Republicans, on the other hand, have responded more favorably to the project, due to their agreement on small government.