Executive Committee


Adrian F Malagon is also currently an At-Large Representative on the Libertarian National Committee, Chair of the Libertarian Party of Contra Costa County, and Chair of the California Libertarian Party Mises Caucus. Malagon became a member of the Libertarian Party of California on January 1, 2021, and a Lifetime Member on February 19, 2023, after being elected as the first Hispanic Chair of the Libertarian Party of California at the 2023 Annual Convention. A lifelong “small-l” libertarian turned Anarchist, he held no political affiliation before then. He became a member of the national Libertarian Party on August 1, 2021, and a Lifetime Member on June 1, 2022. He wishes to aid the advancement of liberty in California through human action, minority outreach, professionalism, single-issue coalition building, and strong, unapologetic messaging. 

Malagon is a native Spanish speaker, and lifelong Californian. He holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Philosophy from St. Mary’s College of California where he graduated Magna Cum Laude. Malagon is from the Bay Area of California, where he works remotely as a field recruiter for an international sales and marketing firm. His professional acumen includes recruitment, sales, and business development.

Chris Edgar

Secretary

Chris Edgar is an entertainment and commercial litigation attorney, and musician, based in Los Angeles, California. Chris’s law practice has an extensive constitutional law component, including many cases in which he has protected the right of users of business and employer review sites to speak anonymously under the First Amendment. Chris’s articles on constitutional limits on state power have been published in the Stanford Law Review and the NYU Journal of Law & Liberty.

Gary Alvstad

Vice Chair

Alvstad became a member of the Libertarian Party of California on January 10, 1997 (although he was not active in the Party after the 2000 Election). Alvstad returned to active membership in 2019, and became a Lifetime Member of the National Libertarian Party at the 2022 Libertarian National Convention. Alvstad holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from The University of California, Berkeley where he graduated with highest honors. Alvstad lives in Orange County, and works as an ASIC Designer for SpaceX.”

Trendalyn “Tren” Hallesy is a former Republican who became disillusioned after Donald Trump lost the 2020 election for President. She has been influenced by the libertarian ideas expressed by Dr. Ron Paul, Caryn Ann Harlos, and Karlyn Borysanko. She is passionate about freedom, small government, and personal responsibility.

Born in Palo Alto, California, Hallesy is a Bay Area native. She currently resides in Menlo Park where she is a commercial property manager, active in several Masonic organizations.

Elizabeth Stump

Northern Area Coordinator

Elizabeth “Betz” Stump is currently Chair of the Libertarian Party of Alameda County, having previously served one term as Vice Chair, and two terms as At Large for the county. Betz is also on the LPCA Communications and Marketing Committee, where she helps craft press releases, and contributes to the Party newsletter, The Beacon. Additionaly, she is on the Social Media Committee, and served on the 2021 Platform Committee. Betz was the “Authorized Person” in Alameda County for the successful 2020-2021 Recall Newsom effort, headed by Orrin Heatlie.

Betz grew up in the family business, doing catering (mostly studio catering) feeding TV show cast & crews anywhere from 35 to 2,000 people for events such as: The GrammysThe American Music AwardsThe Easter Seals Telethon, as well as wholesale food manufacturing for Trader Joe’s. Betz earned a Bachelors in Communications from Cal State Northridge, and worked for five years doing high tech Public Relations on both the agency, and corporate side. Betz has been volunteering with Libertarian Party of Alameda County since 2012, and with the Libertarian Party of California since 2019.

Matthew Butts

Central Area Coordinator

Matthew Ryan Butts serves as the Central Area Coordinator for the Libertarian Party of California and works as paid Membership staff for the Libertarian Party Committee. Matthew is passionate about ending the drug war, promoting Austrian Economics, growing membership and supporting local county organizations.

Loren Dean

Southern Area Coordinator

Loren B. Dean grew up in Riverside and has always called it his hometown. Being naturally suspicious of established authority, he cast his very first presidential vote for Ross Perot in 1992. From 2005-2019, he lived outside California, discovering libertarianism around 2013 in Oklahoma. He returned to what he calls “the land of my people,” California’s Inland Empire, in late 2019 to remarry and resettle, only to watch in astonished disappointment as California crashed into lockdown hysteria. Primed to get active for freedom, he has done so, and plans, in his own words, “to keep going until they throw me in a camp.” 

Mr. Dean works in the online education space, and holds a M.A. in History from Grand Canyon University. Arguably a compulsive communicator, he contemplates the intersection of life, liberty, and faith at https://lorendean.substack.com/

Alberto Alvarez

At Large Member

Alberto Alvarez turned to Libertarianism during his enlistment in the Marine Corps after witnessing the Department of Defense overspending on military contractors. He moved back to Orange County to attend law school at Chapman University and now works at an accounting firm advising individuals and business entities on tax issues. He is a member of the Young Tax Lawyers Division and advocates for taxpayer rights and simplification of both the federal and CA tax codes. 

In addition to the Executive Committee, Mr. Alvarez serves on the Communications and Marketing Committee, the Candidate Support Committee, and chairs the Legislative Committee. 

Graham Brown

At Large Member

Prompted by the cultural and political response to COVID, Graham began getting involved with the Libertarian Party in the Bay Area in 2021. Currently the Treasurer for the Libertarian Party of Alameda County, he previously worked as Treasurer for Michael Lema’s Hayward City Council Campaign, and served on the LPCA Bylaws and Historical Preservation committees.

A lifelong Californian Graham has grown-up, lived, and worked across the varied geographic and cultural landscape California offers. He graduated from Sacramento State in 2014 with a B.A. in Philosophy and a B.S. in Geology. He has worked in both the private and public sectors. Growing and learning in this diverse set of circumstances Graham has come to understand that the best solutions for California are not something the existing establishment is capable of providing. Graham knows that the Libertarian Party is the best political vehicle to affect positive change for California and advance liberty.

Charles Byrd

At Large Member

Charles Byrd is a lifelong resident of Modesto California, a graduate of Fred C Beyer High School who attended Modesto Junior College for three years.  In addition to serving as an at large member of the LP of California Executive Committee, he also serves as Chair Pro Tem of the Stanislaus County LP affiliate.  He has three decades of activism experience under his belt.  Stuffing envelopes, signature gathering, sign waving and canvassing precincts on foot.  In his professional life, Mr. Byrd is a security guard who has previously worked in the construction, warehouse and retail industries.

Matthew Hartwig

At Large Member

Max Jimenez

At Large Member

Maximiliano Jimenez Cuevas is a first generation immigrant. After graduating high school, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy where he spent a decade as a Hospital Corpsman. Maximiliano is enthusiastic about ending the drug war, all proxy wars, promoting Austrian Economics, growing membership within the Latino community, and supporting local county organizations.

Tom Nichols

At Large Member
Originally influenced by Dr. Ron Paul’s message of personal liberty, limited government, and sound economics/currency, Tom became involved with the Libertarian Party of California due to the government’s response to COVID in 2020. He has been involved with resisting Fresno County’s ban on cannabis cultivation since 2009, has an advocate for the homeless since 2014, and is currently the Vice Chair of the Libertarian Party of Fresno County. Tom ran as a Libertarian for California State Assembly in 2022, and became a Lifetime Member of the LPCA on February 19, 2023.
 
A Southern California native, Tom has had a varied career path that includes carpenter, general building contractor, engineer, and project managerial work in Washington, California, Arizona, and Texas. He graduated in 1990 from Cal Poly Pomona with a B.S. in Engineering Technology, and currently works in telecommunications rolling out Internet Protocol Aggregation Gateway switching. In his spare time he works to leave a freer state for his children and grandchildren.

Craig Strachan

At Large Member

Craig Strachan is currently Chair of the Libertarian Party of Ventura County. Born and raised in Scotland, he first registered to vote as a Libertarian when he naturalized as a US citizen in 2001. He is now a lifetime member of both the state and national parties. He is a businessman in the field of real estate investment and development. He holds degrees from the University of Glasgow and Boston University.

Kirk Sullivan II

At Large Member

Kelly Carden

At Large, First Alternate

Nick Apostolopoulos

At Large, Second Alternate

Adrian F Malagon

At-Large Representative, Libertarian National Committee

Adrian F Malagon is also currently Chair of the Libertarian Party of California. Additionally, he serves on the Libertarian National Committee’s Executive Committee and as Chair of the Convention Oversight Committee.

Meredith Hays

Region Four Representative, Libertarian National Committee

Meredith Hays became a libertarian while studying political science at the University of California, Irvine.  While focusing her studies on the Middle East and South Asia, with a particular focus in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, she became particularly passionate about the anti-war message.  After earning her B.A. in Political Science in 2010, Hays attended the Santa Clara University School of Law, where she graduated and passed the California Bar Exam in 2013.  She is currently a practicing attorney in the Bay Area.

Gary Alvstad

Region Four Alternate, Libertarian National Committee

Gary Alvstad is also currently Vice Chair of the Libertarian Party of California. Additionally, he serves as the Libertarian National Committee Platform Committee Representative for California.