Unlike the primary and caucus system used by the Republican and Democratic parties, Libertarian presidential candidates have spent much of the past week debating and wooing delegates, who were free to vote for whomever they choose at the party’s national convention.
Advertisement
Former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson has won the Libertarian nomination for President at the party’s national convention in Orlando, Florida.
He defeated Austin Petersen, the founder of The Libertarian Republic magazine and anti-computer virus company founder John McAfee. (Sounds like excellent presidential material to me!) On the second vote, Johnson managed to garner a decisive 55.8 percent, winning the nomination despite concerns from party radicals that he is not quite libertarian enough. Another national poll showed 44 percent of registered voters would want a third party to run against Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, and Hillary Clinton, the likely Democratic nominee.
Johnson, and his running mate, former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld, had been considered front-runners for the party’s nomination.
Former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson hopes unfavourability of Clinton and Trump will boost his third party bid.
During his acceptance speech, Johnson slammed Trump for his stance on immigration, deeming the business mogul’s proposal to deport 11 million undocumented immigrants “just racist”.
Johnson and Weld each served two terms as governor, though did so as Republicans. “Your work has gotten us to this point”.
The Libertarian Party has been running in presidential elections since 1972, but has never been a major factor.
In 2012, Johnson only received 1% of the vote, but he might fare better this year with two “unpopular offerings”. The party ideology considers itself to be “more culturally liberal” than the Democrats and “more fiscally conservative” than the Republicans. This means that for voters, Johnson is the only option apart from Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.
If that performance repeats itself in the 2016 general election, it will mark the 12th cycle in a row where no third party has earned a single vote in the Electoral College.
Advertisement
“We should be portraying an optimistic message”, Johnson said. 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.
