Scott Avery Boman (born April 14, 1962) Edited by WDIV Staff. "Information On Lieutenant Governor Candidates". http://clickondetroit.com (website). is an American Libertarian politician from Michigan. He has consistently earned among the top votes of any third-party candidate in every Michigan election from 2000 through 2018. He was chair of the Libertarian Party of Michigan in 2006.
Described by MIRS as a Libertarian Party standard-bearer, Michigan Information and Research Service (MIRS) is an established subscriber-only news service. Non-subscribers may search to verify headlines and summaries. Those seeking to verify complete content may apply for a trial subscription at the MIRS website" he has been a candidate in every state-wide partisan election since 1994, until successfully running for the Detroit office of Community Advisory Council (district 4) in 2020.
He became the second Libertarian to be endorsed by The Detroit News when he competed in the 1997 Detroit City Council general election on the non-partisan ballot.
He was also the only Lieutenant Governor candidate to support the successful Michigan Civil Rights Initiative as the running mate of Gregory Creswell in the 2006 Michigan gubernatorial election.
Boman moved the Libertarian Party of Michigan from fifth to third place on the 2012 and 2014 general election ballots, by placing third in the 2010 general election when he ran for Secretary of State. In 2019 he created a Community Advisory Council for Detroit
He was the Michigan Director of Our America Initiative from 2015 through 2019, First archived appearance in 2015 Last archived appearance in 2019 and served as Michigan Director of Gary Johnson's 2016 presidential campaign.
He served on the Community Advisory Council of Detroit's District 4 after being re-elected to it in 2022, until choosing not to seek an additional term in 2025. He has also been on the Detroit Board of Zoning appeals, since February 2024, as its first at-large appointee. He ran successfully for Board of Police Commissioners in 2025, where he continues to serve.
Early life Boman's parents grew up in Harper Woods Michigan. His father was United Methodist minister Ray Howard Boman. Before joining the ministry Ray Boman was a Wayne County Port Commissioner, as well as being a Democratic politician, and precinct delegate. Family life (8:40) ACLU involvement (6:00-7:01) Real ID (0:40-6:00) Scott's mother was artist and educator Sylvia Anna Boman. Scott went to grade school at the Detroit Waldorf School, and graduated from Grosse Pointe South High School in 1980.
He earned a Bachelor of Science in Physics and Philosophy (with a minor in Mathematics) from Western Michigan University in 1985. While a student there, he became a contributing columnist for the Western Herald college newspaper. According to Boman, his columns took on a libertarian viewpoint after he read Capitalism: the Unknown Ideal, by Ayn Rand. He returned to Western Michigan University where he earned his Master of Arts in Physics, and participated in scholarly atomic physics research. His work was published in Physical Review A. In 1999 he earned an MAT in Secondary Education at Wayne State University.
Political activities prior to 2006 Scott Boman has run for several public offices, and has been elected to leadership positions in a few organizations:
Before running for public office Boman was involved in organizing at the university level. He was the founding President of a student social organization at Western Michigan University called "Fellowship of the Purple Cube" in 1984. The organization also organized a protest in support of students who wished to hold an outlawed street party. Boman also wrote for the Western Herald on this issue and other topics.
Boman began running for public office in 1994 when he ran for 7th District State Representative to the Michigan Legislature. In the same year Boman (along with Emily Salvette and Barb Vozenilek) headed a successful effort to collect 40,700 signatures to restore the Libertarian Party of Michigan's ballot access.
Two years later, in 1996, he pursued a Federal office and ran for the United States House of Representatives 14th District. He received 1,705 votes for 0.9% of the vote. Houghton Mifflin. "Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 5, 1996". http://college.hmco.com (website). Parker, Randy (collaborative). "MI District 14". http://www.ourcampaigns.com (website). In 1997 Boman became the second Libertarian to be endorsed by The Detroit News, when he ran for member of the Detroit City Council.
He made two unsuccessful attempts to be elected to the Wayne State University Board of Governors. His first attempt was in 1998Terri Lynn Land, Secretary of State. "Committee Statement of Organization (1998)". Michigan.gov (website). Boman received 2.6% of the vote.Land, Terri Lyn (Michigan Secretary of State). "Election Results: General Election. November 03, 1998". Michigan Department of State Then he ran again for the Wayne State University Board of Governors in 2000, earning more votes than any other minor party candidate, in that election, for any office. Terri Lynn Land, Secretary of State. "Election Results General Election November 07, 2000. Member of the Wayne State University Board of Governors 8 Year Terms (2) Positions". Michigan.gov (website). His vote total was 130,176 (1.9%). This was 46,000 votes more than those cast for the well-known Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader, whose vote total was 84,165 votes (but since fewer votes were cast for president Nader had a higher percentage of the vote). Terri Lynn Land, Secretary of State. "Election Results General Election November 07, 2000. President of the United States 4 Year Term (1) Position".
In 1999 Boman was elected to the Wayne State University Student Council.
Boman made two unsuccessful attempts to be elected to the State Board of Education. The first being in 2002 receiving 1.6% of the vote.Land, Terri Lyn (Michigan Secretary of State). "Election Results: General Election. November 05, 2002". http://nicusa.com (website). The second attempt was in 2004
Boman was elected to leadership positions in his party. In 2005 he was Vice Chair of the Libertarian Party of Michigan. The following year, in 2006, he was elected to be Chair of the Libertarian Party of Michigan.
2006 Lieutenant Governor campaign positions
Gubernatorial ticket Boman's presence on the gubernatorial ticket was the topic of an article in the Detroit Free Press. Both gubernatorial candidate Gregory Creswell and Boman participated jointly on radio interviews and in radio commercials.Committee to Elect Greg Creswell "Radio Commercial In Use". http://scottyboman.lpwm.org (website). Previous Elections: 2006 Radio Commercials "Gregory Creswell and Scotty Boman". http://Michiganlp.org (website). Previous Elections: 2006 Radio Commercials "Creswell for Governor, fear not!". http://Michiganlp.org (website).. Boman comments on MCRI at 34:00
Racial preferences
Like Creswell, Boman said his support of the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative (MCRI) was consistent with his opposition to all forms of state-sponsored racial or sexual discrimination. Both candidates also spoke in radio commercials that contrasted Libertarians from Democrats and Republicans, by supporting an end to what they called, "racial preferences".
Civil liberties, prisons and non-violent crime Boman was endorsed by the "Stonewall Libertarians"Stonewall Libertarians "Stonewall Libertarians Endorsements". http://www.stonewalllibertarians.com/ (website). for openly supporting equal rights for gays.Boman, Scotty. "Marriage, Family, and Custody". http://scottyboman.lpwm.org (website). Boman also argued that a respect for civil liberties would eliminate the need for replacing Michigan's single-business tax. Boman's alternative was to save money by pardoning people in prison for what he called "victimless crimes", and an end to state enforcement of drug prohibitions. He focused on medical marijuana as one example of civil liberties worthy of being respected.Vote-USA Project. "Connecting Voters and Candidates". vote-usa.org (website). He was also a member of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), but choose not to renew his membership in 2006 because of the ACLU opposition to MCRI.Kestenbaum, Lawrence. "American Civil Liberties Union Politician members". http://politicalgraveyard.com (website).
Economy Boman also supported a market economy. Both he and Creswell referred to the Mackinac CenterBraun, Kenneth M. "From Worst to First: The Best Business Tax is None". http://www.mackinac.org (website). when asked for specific ideas on practical economic reforms. In general Boman objected to all taxes, but conceded the need to phase them out carefully.Boman, Scotty. "Scotty Boman for Lt. Governor". http://scottyboman.lpwm.org (website). League of Women Voters. "League of Women Voters of Michigan Nonpartisan Voter Guide – November 2006""League of Women Voters of Michigan Nonpartisan Voter Guide – November 2006". http://www.lwvmi.org (website).
Republican Party involvement
In January, 2008, Boman became a member of the Republican Party. He was interviewed by Detroit's major daily newspaper, The Detroit News about his support of Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul, and cites the Paul candidacy as a reason for becoming a Republican.
Boman also encouraged voters to choose Ron Paul in his opinion column, and has served as an assistant meetup organizer for the Wayne County Ron Paul Meetup Group.Organizer Albert "The Wayne County Ron Paul Meetup Group". "ronpaul.meetup.com/1085"(Website) In 2012 he was among the four United States Senate candidates (nationwide) identified by Bloomberg Businessweek as having been inspired by Ron Paul, and he was one of two such candidates quoted in Politico:
"I don't think people expected Paul to accomplish so much," said Scotty Boman, a Senate candidate in Michigan who met Paul in 1988 when the Texan was running for president on the Libertarian ticket. "He's been able to break a barrier and be heard by the mainstream."
He was elected precinct delegate in 2010Wayne County Clerk "2010_Republican_Precinct_Delegates" "http://waynecounty.com" (website) and 2012.Wayne County Clerk "Office of the Wayne County Clerk – August 7, 2012 Primary Election: Precinct Delegate Results" "http://waynecounty.com" (website) He entered the 2012 United States Senate race as a Republican. While still a declared Republican candidate, he appeared on C-SPAN as a Delegate to the 2012 Libertarian National Convention where he nominated R. Lee Wrights for vice president. Later in May 2012 he returned to the Libertarian Party of Michigan and was nominated as their candidate for United States Senate.
2008 US Senate candidacy
Boman finished third in an unsuccessful attempt to be elected to Carl Levin's seat in the US Senate, in which he received 1.6% of the vote. His attempt was made under the Libertarian Party of Michigan ticket after winning a contested nomination at their convention over, their 2006 United States Senate nominee, Leonard Schwartz.
Boman also participated in multipartisan efforts including the formation of the Michigan Third Parties Coalition, and reminded reporters of this at an appearance in Jackson Michigan.
Bailout statement Boman joined every Michigan Libertarian candidate for the United States House of Representatives, in publicly expressing disapproval of any federal bailout plan. A Libertarian Party of Michigan press release quoted Boman as saying "We must not tax, regulate and penalize them to bail out those on Wall Street and Main Street who have demonstrated they are not responsible, and will likely do the same thing again, and expect yet another bail out"
2010 Secretary of State candidacy