Co-founder of Libertarian Party dies in Arizona

David F. Nolan, who co-founded the national Libertarian Party and helped guide it for four decades while remaining active in politics as a candidate, including a recent run for the U.S. Senate, has died. He was 66.

Nolan died Sunday in Tucson, where he lived, according to a statement released Friday by party.

His vehicle was found off the side of a roadway on Saturday evening, and emergency crews had to break in to help him, the party said. He died in a hospital the next day of unknown causes.

Nolan helped found the Libertarian Party with a group of colleagues in Colorado on Dec. 11, 1971. He remained a member of the Libertarian National Committee until his death.

"He not only helped found the Libertarian Party but remained active and helped to guide our party for the last 40 years," Mark Hinkle, chairman of the Libertarian Party, said in the statement. "We are now the third-largest political party in America, and one of the most persistent and successful third parties in American history, thanks in large part to David Nolan."

The party boasts 250,000 registered voters and, in describing itself as third-largest, includes the number of Libertarian candidates, the party's access to the ballot and its number of elected office holders.

Libertarians espouse limited government intervention in the economy, civil liberties and personal freedom, arguing that government's only role should be to help individuals protect themselves from force or fraud. The party pushes a non-interventional foreign policy, peace and free trade.

Nolan was active in Arizona politics and received nearly 5 percent of the vote this year as a Libertarian candidate for U.S. Senate against incumbent Republican John McCain.

On his campaign website, Nolan called for an end to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, at least a 50 percent cut in federal government spending and the repeal of the personal income tax. He also wanted to legalize drugs.

"While drug abuse is bad, the drug war is far worse," Nolan wrote. "Drug prohibition has been an outright policy failure."

During the campaign, Nolan said the most effective way to end border violence and cripple drug cartels was to decriminalize drugs.

In 2006, Nolan ran for the House in Arizona's 8th District against Gabrielle Giffords.

Wes Benedict, executive director of the Libertarian Party, told The Associated Press he felt a great loss with Nolan's death.

"We'll certainly miss him," Benedict said. "He had just become very active again in driving the party."

Before settling in Tucson, Nolan received a degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and worked for four decades in advertising, marketing and publishing.

He is survived by his wife, Elizabeth. Funeral services are pending.