Editing Carla Howell

{{Short description|American politician and activist}}
'''Carla Howell''' (born 1955) is an American politician, [[small government]] advocate and activist. She was the [[Libertarian Party of Massachusetts]] candidate for [[Massachusetts State Auditor]] in 1998, [[United States Senate|U.S. Senate]] in 2000, and [[Massachusetts Governor|Governor]] in 2002. She then served in multiple leadership positions in the [[Libertarian Party (United States)|U.S. Libertarian Party]]. She has also organized tax-cut initiative [[ballot measures]] in Massachusetts and worked for the [[Libertarian National Committee]].

== Early life and education ==
Howell is the daughter of Carla (Winsor) Howell and Charles Howell, the third of their five children.<ref name="Schweitzer 2002">{{cite news |last1=Schweitzer |first1=Sarah |title=For Howell, Libertarian View Hits Home |work=[[Boston Globe]] |date=18 Oct 2002 |page=A1}}</ref> She is a great-granddaughter of [[William Eustis Russell]], a former [[Governor of Massachusetts|Governor of the Commonwealth]] of [[Massachusetts]].<ref name="Schweitzer 2002"/> Her father worked as a business executive and her mother engaged in volunteer work in the community.<ref name="Schweitzer 2002"/> As a result of her father's work, the family moved from Massachusetts, and Howell attended high school in Detroit and Pittsburgh, graduating from Fox Chapel High School in Pittsburgh at age 16.<ref name="Schweitzer 2002"/> 

Howell attended Bethany College in West Virginia for [[mathematics]] and [[computer science]], and after graduating, became a systems engineer at [[Westinghouse Electric]].<ref name="Schweitzer 2002"/> In 1981, she began work at [[Computervision]] and became the head of an engineering division in 1984.<ref name="Schweitzer 2002"/> After a decade of engineering work, she then became a consultant in the Boston area for the high-tech and health care industry.<ref name="Schweitzer 2002"/>

Howell earned her [[MBA]] from [[Babson College]] in [[Wellesley, Massachusetts]] in 1986.<ref>[http://www.carlahowell.org/about.html ''Carla Howell'' "about page"]</ref>

==Political career==
In 1994, Howell joined the [[Libertarian Party of Massachusetts]]<ref>{{cite news |title=Libertarian to Run Against Kennedy for Seat in Senate |work=[[Boston Globe]] |date=6 November 1999}}</ref> and she was elected chair of the state party in 1997.<ref name="Schweitzer 2002"/> In 1998, she ran for [[Massachusetts State Auditor]] on the Libertarian Party ticket,<ref name="Schweitzer 2002"/> and was endorsed by the ''[[Boston Herald]]''.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Editorial |title=Endorsement; Carla Howell for auditor |work=[[Boston Herald]] |date=29 Oct 1998}}</ref> She received 102,198 votes, 5.3 percent of the total,<ref name="MacQuarrie 2000">{{cite news |last1=MacQuarrie |first1=Brian |title=Quiet Libertarian Foe to Kennedy Wins Backers |work=[[Boston Globe]] |date=1 Oct 2000 |page=A1}}</ref> which according to the ''[[Associated Press]]'', "guarantee[d] the party's official status."<ref name="AP 2000"/>

In 2000, Howell was the Libertarian candidate for [[United States Senate|U.S. Senate]] in Massachusetts against [[Edward M. Kennedy]].<ref name="MacQuarrie 2000"/><ref name="AP 2000">{{cite news |title=Libertarian likely to be Kennedy's major foe |work=[[Telegram & Gazette]] |agency=[[Associated Press]] |date=17 May 2000}}</ref><ref name="Hill 2004"/> She ran with a "Small government is beautiful" campaign slogan,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Young |first1=Cathy |title=Are Libertarian Ideas Catching On? |work=[[Boston Globe]] |date=29 October 2000}}</ref><ref name="Luttrell 2002">{{cite news |last1=Luttrell |first1=Martin |title=Howell's message is 'small is beautiful' |work=[[Telegram & Gazette]] |date=11 October 2002}}</ref> and by October, had raised almost $700,000, while the Republican candidate had raised about $20,000.<ref name="MacQuarrie 2000" /> She placed third, with more than 308,000 votes, which was 12 percent of the total and one percent behind the Republican candidate.<ref name="Hill 2004">{{cite book |last1=Hill |first1=Steven |title=Fixing Elections: The Failure of America's Winner Take All Politics |date=2004 |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]] |isbn=9781135954741 |page=170 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ukt9JA6pLmQC&q=Carla%20Howell |access-date=2 August 2022}}</ref><ref name="Schweitzer 2002"/><ref name="Klein 2001">{{cite news |last1=Klein |first1=Rick |title=Libertarians Talk Boldly - Of Winning; Senate Race Showing Buoys Convention |work=[[Boston Globe]] |date=25 February 2001}}</ref><ref name="TG 2002"/> In 2001, while reporting on the Massachusetts Libertarian Party convention, Rick Klein of the ''[[Boston Globe]]'' wrote the 2000 election "made Howell the state party's standard-bearer - and something of a hero to Bay State Libertarians" and reported she received standing ovations before and after her speech to the attendees.<ref name="Klein 2001"/>

In 2002, Howell was the Libertarian candidate for [[Massachusetts Governor]].<ref name="Schweitzer 2002" /><ref name="TG 2002">{{cite news |title=Libertarians pick Howell for governor |work=[[Telegram & Gazette]] |date=7 April 2002}}</ref> At the time of her campaign, she was the chair of the Committee For Small Government.<ref name="TG 2002"/> Her campaign platform included a plan to reduce the state budget by half, support for gun rights, and a repeal of the state income tax.<ref name="Mehren 2002">{{cite news |last1=Mehren |first1=Elizabeth |title=The Nation; Voters Get Chance to Take 'Tax' Out of 'Taxachusetts'; Ballot: Initiative would repeal the state's levy on income. It isn't expected to pass, but foes warn if it does it will devastate government and schools |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=29 September 2002}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Libertarian Seeks Governor's Post |work=[[Boston Globe]] |date=30 Jan 2002}}</ref><ref name="TG 2002"/><ref name="Echegaray 2002">{{cite news |last1=Echegaray |first1=Chris |title=Howell would cut government and OK guns |work=[[Telegram & Gazette]] |date=4 October 2002}}</ref> She was excluded along with other minor candidates from a gubernatorial candidate debate, and their requests for an injunction were denied.<ref name="Echegaray 2002"/> She received 23,044 votes, more than 1 percent of the total.<ref name="Sutner 2007">{{cite news |last1=Sutner |first1=Shaun |title=Professor eyes presidency; WPI's George Phillies a Libertarian candidate |work=[[Telegram & Gazette]] |date=22 October 2007}}</ref><ref name="DeMarco 2003">{{cite news |last1=DeMarco |first1=Peter |title=Praise, Concern Expressed for Party; Libertarian Ranks Down at Convention |work=[[Boston Globe]] |date=13 April 2003}}</ref>

By 2012, Howell was the executive director of the [[Libertarian Party (United States)|U.S. Libertarian Party]].<ref name="DeBonis 2012">{{cite news |last1=DeBonis |first1=Mike |title=Libertarians' election victory: Ballot access |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=11 November 2012}}</ref><ref name="Mistler 2012">{{cite news |last1=Mistler |first1=Steve |title=Taking the liberty vote?: Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson appeals to some fiscal conservatives and supporters of limited government, and may draw some voters from Mitt Romney |work=[[Portland Press Herald]] |date=19 August 2012}}</ref> In 2016, she worked as the political director for the national party.<ref>{{cite news |title=Libertarian Convention |work=[[NPR]] |date=May 29, 2016}}</ref><ref name="Watkins 2016">{{cite news |last1=Watkins |first1=Eli |title=What is Libertarianism? |url=https://www.cnn.com/2016/05/27/politics/libertarianism-libertarian-party/index.html |access-date=2 August 2022 |work=[[CNN]] |date=June 22, 2016}}</ref>

She was a staff member in the [[Libertarian National Committee]] from December 2011 until June 2017.<ref>[http://www.lp.org/staff Libertarian National Committee staff listing on national Libertarian Party website]</ref>

== Ballot initiatives ==
Howell spearheaded initiatives to repeal the Massachusetts state [[personal income tax]] in 2002<ref name="Gedan 2002">{{cite news |last1=Gedan |first1=Benjamin |title=On Nov. 5, A $9 Billion Question If Passed, Would Bar State Taxes |work=[[Boston Globe]] |date=12 August 2002}}</ref> and 2008.<ref name="Murphy 2009">{{cite news |last1=Murphy |first1=Matt |title=Taxes, tolls among key issues for ballot petitioners |work=[[Sentinel & Enterprise]] |date=6 August 2009}}</ref> In 2002, she sponsored 2002 Statewide Ballot Question 1, an [[Initiatives and referendums in the United States|initiative petition]] to end the [[income tax]] in Massachusetts.<ref name="Luttrell 2002"/><ref>[http://www.sec.state.ma.us/ele/ele02/elebq02/bq021.htm ''Massachusetts Secretary of state'' "2002 Ballot Question 1"]</ref> The measure received 45% of the vote, which Peter DeMarco, writing for the ''[[Boston Globe]]'', described as "eye-popping".<ref name="DeMarco 2003"/>

In 2007, Howell and co-chair [[Michael Cloud (Massachusetts politician)|Michael Cloud]], re-established the Committee For Small Government. The Committee obtained enough petition signatures to put the issue on the ballot<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/28/us/28ballot.html?bl&ex=1222747200&en=486a776f9f184e9c&ei=5087%0A ''New York Times'' "Massachusetts Proposal Would Repeal Income Tax"]</ref> as Statewide Ballot Question 1.<ref>[http://www.sec.state.ma.us/ele/elepip08/pip081.htm ''Mass Secretary of State'' "2008 Ballot Question 1"]</ref> The 2008 initiative differed from the 2002 initiative in that it provided a one-year transition period with a tax rate of 2.65% before the tax rate would drop to zero. This measure received a higher vote total than in 2002, but lost with 30% of the vote.

In 2010, Howell filed four petitions to create ballot measures to reduce sales taxes, and Republican [[Christy Mihos]], who was running for Massachusetts governor at the time, also sponsored the initiatives.<ref name="Murphy 2009"/> Howell headed the Alliance to Roll Back Taxes, sponsor of a ballot initiative to cut the Massachusetts sales tax from 6.25% to 3.0%, which was on November 2, 2010, ballot as Question 3.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.masslpa.org/content/ballot-initiative-filed-roll-back-sales-tax |title=Ballot Initiative Filed to Roll Back the Sales Tax &#124; MassLPA |accessdate=2009-09-02 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100613012514/http://masslpa.org/content/ballot-initiative-filed-roll-back-sales-tax |archivedate=2010-06-13 }}</ref>  Her group collected and submitted 74,131 approved voter signatures in the fall of 2009, and another 14,023 signatures in the spring-summer of 2010 to qualify the measure. The measure reached as high as 56% in the polls but was unsuccessful.

==See also==
* [[2008 Massachusetts Question 1]]
* [[Tax revolt]], political struggle to repeal, limit, or roll back a government-imposed tax
* [[Tax resistance]]

==References==
<references />

==External links==
* [http://www.carlahowell.org/ Carla Howell official web site]
* Affiliations:
** [https://www.voiceamerica.com/episode/117746/sneak-preview-of-libertarian-songs  audio interview on All Rise]
** [http://www.rollbacktaxes.org/ Alliance to Roll Back Taxes ballot initiative website]
** [http://www.smallgovernmentact.org/ Committee For Small Government ballot initiative website]
** [http://www.centerforsmallgovernment.com/ The Center for Small Government]
** [http://www.lp.org/ US Libertarian Party web site]
* [http://www.freetalklive.com/files/howell.mp3 Downloadable audio interview] with Free Talk Live
* {{C-SPAN|84687}}

{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Howell, Carla}}
[[Category:1955 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American people of Welsh descent]]
[[Category:American women in business]]
[[Category:Babson College alumni]]
[[Category:Massachusetts Libertarians]]
[[Category:Women in Massachusetts politics]]
[[Category:21st-century American women]]