Gary Johnson will be the Libertarian Party candidate for president, delegates decided on Sunday at a convention in Orlando. Second was Austin Petersen with 21.8%, followed by John McAfee with 14.1%, Darryl Perry with 5.6% and Dr. Marc Feldman with 1.9%. “I just think there are tens of millions of Americans out there that have no idea what it is to be Libertarian and I think I do a better job of communicating that going forward”, Johnson explained this morning on MSNBC. During the second round of voting, Johnson got the nomination with a little more than 55 percent of the vote.
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However, polls referenced by the Blue Nation Review indicate a surprisingly large number of Republicans plan to vote during the 2016 election for Libertarian candidate Johnson. Many Libertarian activists are skeptical of Weld, arguing his 1991-97 tenure saw too much growth in government and new gun control measures. It was not immediately apparent what attacks the announcer was referring to, but in a statement to the New York Times about Weld, Trump said, “I don’t talk about his alcoholism”.
Johnson’s campaign is based in Salt Lake City, home to his most trusted political adviser and a state where Republican front-runner Donald Trump finished a distant third place in March’s Republican primary election.
The Libertarian Party has drawn more attention this year as many voters seek alternatives to Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, the likely nominees for the Democratic and Republican parties.
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By just a four-vote margin, this means both slots on the Libertarian ticket will be filled by formerly GOP two-term governors, an important step to becoming viable third party contenders, according to Johnson. The move could give the little-known party more visibility in a year when many voters say they’re open to new options. In 1999, the company was sold and Johnson is said to have become a millionaire. And while Trump hasn’t yet selected a running mate, any Republican who would choose to run alongside him can safely be assumed to have very poor judgment. Former Massachusetts governor, William Weld, got the third party’s vice president nomination. “If it is Bill Weld, there’s a real possibility that we can achieve major party status in this country”, Johnson told delegates, pleading with them before votes were cast.
