The Libertarian convention had still not selected a Vice Presidential candidate at the time of this writing. His nearest competitor Austin Petersen won 203 votes or 21.8 percent of the total.
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Libertarian adherents are holding their national convention in the southern city of Orlando, Florida, where Johnson wants the party to nominate another former Republican governor, William Weld of MA, as his vice-presidential running mate.
Govs. Johnson, who headed the Libertarian ticket in 2012, and Weld “are both very popular governors”.
Johnson was the party’s nominee in 2012 and received nearly 1 percent of the general election vote.
“Gary will be an outlet for millions of Americans who just can’t fathom the idea of voting for Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump”, said Ed Crane, who co-founded the libertarian-leaning Cato Institute.
“I think that they’ve already started coming”, Johnson said.
Weld fells a couple of dozen votes short on the first ballot, but he won on the second – by just a few votes – and the crowd erupted in boos and cheers.
Johnson once states that the party is more culturally liberal than the Democrats, but more fiscally conservative than the Republicans. Trump polled at 42 percent, while Clinton was at 39 percent. He told the crowd of how he was “lost” before he came to the Libertarian Party.
Despite a poor performance over the years, the Libertarian party has drawn more attention this year as American voters are increasingly seeking alternatives to likely Democratic nominees Hillary Clinton and her presumptive Republican rival Donald Trump, both of whom suffer from unprecedentedly low favorability ratings.
If Johnson were to maintain his 10 percent level of support nationally, it is unlikely he would win any of the country’s 50 states.
Many Libertarian activists were skeptical of Weld, arguing his 1991-97 gubernatorial tenure saw too much growth in government and new gun control measures.
The Libertarian Party chose Johnson again as its standard-bearer at its nominating convention Sunday.
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Trump, the apparent Republican presidential nominee, headlined an event honoring veterans, missing in action and prisons of war on Sunday. During their presidential debate on Saturday night, the candidates didn’t really fight with each other.
