The exodus from the GOP begins

I was afraid of this happening. From Reason on July 25th:

At a press conference at 1:30 this afternoon in Salt Lake City, sitting state Sen. Mark Madsen, a Republican in Utah, will be announcing that he's switching his Party affiliation to Libertarian and endorsing Gary Johnson for president.

In an emailed press release announcing the planned press conference, Madsen is described as "a sitting two term state senator [Madsen actually in his third term, first elected in 2004] and former city council member from Eagle Mountain. His legislative record bears out his dedication to individual liberty. He has observed that the interests of bureaucratic agencies and the people rarely align. He believes in choice in health care and education. He is a champion of free trade and free market solutions."

At the press conference, the release says, Madsen will "discuss his experience at the GOP convention, his goals and priorities now, and his support for Libertarian nominees for president and Vice President, Governors Gary Johnson and Bill Weld."

I have nothing against Mark Madsen, and I don't even know him. That said, I am afraid of what happened after 1994 when Newt Gingrich's Contract with America turned the election in the GOP's favor. There was a mass exodus of legislators from the Democratic Party to the Republicans. While it was nice for the GOP's legislative balance in Washington, it was awful for the ideological purity of the Republican Party.

Opportunistic bandwagon jumpers aren't what the Libertarian Party needs.