Carla Howell

Carla Howell is a recording artist, former Political Director and Executive Director for the Libertarian National Committee, three-time Libertarian candidate, president of the Center for Small Government, and champion of three statewide tax-cut ballot measures in Massachusetts.

She is the creator of the popular activist training game Who’s Driving? and the podcast Libertarians Working for You. She was the 2018 winner of the LP’s Thomas Paine award for outstanding communication of Libertarian ideas, principles, and values through written, published, or spoken communication.

Carla Howell is a rare libertarian recording artist. In November of 2019, she started to release a series of new original songs, covering topics such as the War on Drugs, gun ownership rights, health care, the deceit of politicians, and small government. In 2001 she released her song How Could I Live Without Filing Taxes? which lampoons the income tax and which was played on over 100 radio stations nationwide.

Carla Howell championed three statewide ballot initiatives to cut taxes in Massachusetts between 2002 and 2010: two to completely abolish the state’s income tax, and one to cut the sales tax in half.

The 2002 initiative shocked the political establishment of Massachusetts when it won 45% of the vote. Each initiative won almost one million votes, while forcing the Teachers Union and other allies of Big Government to spend $12,000,000 just to keep taxes from going down.

Her initiatives won endorsements by the Wall Street Journal, Steve Forbes, the Citizens for Limited Taxation, and the National Taxpayers Union.

Carla Howell won 308,860 votes, or 12 percent, in her 2000 Libertarian U.S. Senate race against Ted Kennedy and a Republican. She opposed and debated Mitt Romney and high-profile Democrats including Robert Reich in her 2002 run for Governor of Massachusetts.

Carla Howell won the endorsement of the Boston Herald in her 1998 race for Massachusetts State Auditor.

Her campaigns were covered by USA Today, the Neil Cavuto Show, O’Reilly Factor, Glenn Beck, Fox News, New York Times, LA Times, The Economist, Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, Financial Times, and virtually every media outlet in Massachusetts.