2024 U.S. presidential election
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The 2024 Libertarian National Convention was a political event to select the Libertarian Party nominees for president and vice president in the 2024 election. It was held from May 24 to the early morning of May 27, 2024, at the Washington Hilton in Washington, D.C.[1]

Background

Elections will be held for the chairmanship of the Libertarian National Committee, currently held by Angela McArdle, as well as the position of vice chair, currently held by Andrew Watkins.[2] McArdle was elected at the 2022 convention in Reno, Nevada, by acquiring the votes of 69% of delegates. She was elected with the support of the controversial Mises Caucus, a faction of the party that supports paleolibertarianism, which was created in opposition to Nicholas Sarwark's tenure as chairman.[3] Independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was viewed as a possible contender for the party's nomination,[4] but subsequently appeared to rule out the possibility.

Presidential nomination

Candidates needed to submit papers with the signatures of at least 30 delegates to be nominated. The following candidates met the threshold: [5]

A delegate also attempted to nominate Donald Trump, but the nomination was considered invalid due to Trump not submitting nomination papers.[6]

Balloting

Ten candidates were nominated for the first round. Delegates could also cast a write-in vote or vote for none of the above (NOTA).[7] If no candidate reaches 50%, the candidate with the lowest vote total and all candidates below 5% are eliminated and the convention votes again.[8]

Ballay, Kennedy Jr., Anderson, and Olivier were eliminated after the first round, Hornberger was eliminated after the second round, Smith was eliminated after the third round, Mapstead was eliminated after the fourth round, ter Maat was eliminated after the fifth round.

Following his elimination in the fifth round, ter Maat announced he would run as Oliver's running mate. Michael Heise, founder of the Mises Caucus, which endorsed Rectenwald, noted that the caucus also offered ter Maat the vice presidential position.[9]

The sixth round was a head-to-head between Oliver and Rectenwald. No candidate received 50% of the vote due to votes for NOTA and write-ins. As the lowest placed nominated candidate, Rectenwald was eliminated. This set up a seventh round between Oliver and NOTA. Chair Angela McArdle noted that should NOTA receive a majority, the party would not nominate a candidate for president.[10]

Oliver won the nomination on the seventh ballot with 60.6% of the vote.

Candidate 1st ballot 2nd ballot 3rd ballot 4th ballot 5th ballot 6th ballot 7th ballot
Votes % Votes % ± Votes % ± Votes % ± Votes % ± Votes % ± Votes % ±
Chase Oliver 181 19.7% 219 24.0% +4.3% 230 25.4% +1.4% 231 25.9% +0.5% 286 32.9% +7.0% 423 49.5% +16.6% 497 60.6% +11.1%
None of the above 11 1.2% 7 0.8% −0.4% 9 1.0% +0.2% 10 1.1% +0.1% 22 2.5% +1.4% 44 5.2% +2.7% 300 36.6% +21.4%
Write-ins 13[a] 1.4% 8 0.9% −0.5% 2 0.2% −0.7% 1[b] 0.1% −0.1% 3[c] 0.3% +0.2% 5[d] 0.6% +0.3% 23 2.8% +1.2%
Michael Rectenwald 259 28.2% 293 32.2% +4.0% 319 35.2% +3.0% 335 37.6% +2.4% 334 38.4% +0.8% 382 44.7% +6.3% Eliminated
Mike ter Maat 141 15.3% 162 17.8% +2.5% 165 18.2% +0.4% 175 19.6% +1.4% 225 25.9% +6.3% Eliminated
Lars Mapstead 122 13.3% 123 13.5% +0.2% 137 15.1% +1.6% 139 15.6% +0.5% Eliminated
Joshua Smith 73 7.9% 62 6.8% −1.1% 45 5.0% −1.8% Eliminated
Jacob Hornberger 59 6.4% 37 4.1% −2.3% Eliminated
Charles Ballay 21 2.3% Eliminated
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. 19 2.1% Eliminated
Joshua "Toad" Anderson 16 1.7% Eliminated
Art Olivier 4 0.4% Eliminated
Votes cast 919 87.4% 911 86.7% −0.7% 907 86.3% −0.4% 891 84.8% −1.5% 870 82.8% −2.0% 854 81.3% −1.5% 820 78.0% −3.3%

Vice Presidential nomination

Candidates needed to submit papers with the signatures of at least 30 delegates to be nominated. The following candidates met the threshold: [11]

  • Clint Russell
  • Kendal Ludden
  • Mark Stewart Greenstein
  • Mike ter Maat
  • Freddie Clegg

Balloting

Five candidates were nominated for the first round. Delegates could also write-in a candidate or vote for NOTA in any round. If no candidate reaches 50%, the candidate with the lowest vote total and all candidates below 5% are eliminated and the convention votes again. Delegates voted to suspend the rules and additionally suspend all candidates with below 15% in the first round.[12]

Clegg, Greenstein, and Ludden were eliminated after the first round.

Mike ter Maat, who was endorsed by presidential nominee Chase Oliver, was nominated on the second ballot with 51.3% of the vote.

Candidate 1st ballot 2nd ballot
Votes % Votes % ±
Mike ter Maat 367 49.7% 371 51.3% +1.6%
Clint Russell 339 45.9% 340 47.0% +1.1%
None of the above 8 1.1% 8 1.1% +0.0%
Write-ins 10[e] 1.4% 4[f] 0.6% −0.8%
Freddie Clegg 9 1.2% Eliminated
Kendal Ludden 3 0.4% Eliminated
Mark Stewart Greenstein 3 0.4% Eliminated
Votes cast 739 70.3% 723 68.8% −1.5%

Convention speakers

According to the convention website, the following people are scheduled to appear as convention speakers:[13]

After the May 1 announcement that Trump would be addressing the convention, Kennedy proposed a formal debate between the two at the convention, as he would also be making an appearance.[14] According to Kennedy, Trump declined.

Inviting Trump to speak has been highly controversial within the party, and a motion has been introduced on the Libertarian National Committee to rescind the invitation issued by party chair McArdle.[19] During his speech, Trump made a play for the Libertarian nomination and vowed to appoint a Libertarian to his cabinet.[20]

Ramaswamy, in addition to speaking, engaged in a debate with the winner of the libertarian vice-presidential debate, which is to be determined by a straw poll at the convention.[15]

Nicole Shanahan, the running mate of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., was anticipated to speak on May 26. However, after Kennedy was eliminated from contention for the Libertarian nomination in the first round of balloting, she backed out.[21]

Delegate allocation

2024 LNC delegate allocation. Unlike major party conventions, territories without electoral votes are not granted delegates.

Delegates to the convention are allocated to state party affiliates based on the number of sustaining members of the national Libertarian Party per state, as well as the percentage of the vote cast by state in the 2020 presidential election for Libertarian nominee Jo Jorgensen. A total of 1,051 delegates are currently selected to vote at the convention.[22]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ 6 votes, 0.7% for Donald Trump
    2 votes, 0.2% for Christian Weston Chandler
    1 vote, 0.1% for Stormy Daniels
    1 vote, 0.1% for Denali the Cat
    1 vote, 0.1% for Sean Ono Lennon
    1 vote, 0.1% for Afroman
    1 vote, 0.1% for Ben Dover
  2. ^ for Mike Shipley
  3. ^ 1 vote, 0.1% for Donald Trump
    1 vote, 0.1% for Joe Montana
    1 vote, 0.1% for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
  4. ^ 1 vote, 0.1% for Donald Trump
    1 vote, 0.1% for Dan Marino
    1 vote, 0.1% for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
    1 vote, 0.1% for Courtney Love
    1 vote, 0.1% for Mike ter Maat
  5. ^ 6 votes, 0.8% for Kristi Alexander
    1 vote, 0.1% for Spike Cohen
    1 vote, 0.1% for Mad Dog
    1 vote, 0.1% for Larry Sharpe
    1 vote, 0.1% for Starchild
  6. ^ 1 vote, 0.1% for O.J. Simpson
    1 vote, 0.1% for "Your Mom"
    1 vote, 0.1% for Nicole Shanahan
    1 unintelligible vote, 0.1%

References

  1. ^ "Become Ungovernable". 2024 Libertarian National Convention.
  2. ^ "Libertarian National Committee". Libertarian Party. Retrieved March 6, 2024.
  3. ^ Doherty, Brian (May 29, 2022). "Mises Caucus Takes Control of Libertarian Party". Reason. Retrieved March 6, 2024.
  4. ^ Schaffer, Peder (February 15, 2024). "RFK Jr.'s Libertarian play". Politico. Retrieved March 6, 2024.
  5. ^ "Libertarian Party".
  6. ^ Pellish, Aaron (26 May 2024). "RFK Jr. will be considered for Libertarian Party's presidential nomination. Trump didn't file paperwork to qualify". CNN. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
  7. ^ "Libertarian Party".
  8. ^ "Libertarian Party Bylaws and Convention Rules" (PDF).
  9. ^ "2024 Libertarian National Convention Live-stream and Open Thread".
  10. ^ Pellish, Aaron (May 26, 2024). "Chase Oliver wins Libertarian Party presidential nomination". CNN. Retrieved May 27, 2024.
  11. ^ "Libertarian Party".
  12. ^ "Libertarian Party".
  13. ^ a b c d e "Home". 2024 Libertarian National Convention. Retrieved March 6, 2024.
  14. ^ a b Trudo, Hanna (May 7, 2024). "RFK Jr. challenges Trump to debate at Libertarian Party convention". The Hill. Retrieved May 8, 2024.
  15. ^ a b Hudson, Matt (May 1, 2024). "Don't Miss a Historic Debate Vs. Vivek Ramaswamay at the Convention May 24th". Libertarian Party. Retrieved May 10, 2024.
  16. ^ "x.com". X (formerly Twitter).
  17. ^ Colvin, Jill (May 1, 2024). "Trump will speak at the Libertarian National Convention as he woos independent voters". Associated Press. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
  18. ^ "President Trump to Speak at Libertarian National Convention". 2024 Libertarian National Convention. Retrieved May 1, 2024.
  19. ^ Tomco, Brigham (May 1, 2024). "'I think it's ridiculous': Donald Trump to headline Libertarian Party national convention". Deseret News. Retrieved May 11, 2024.
  20. ^ "Trump furiously jeered as he taunts Libertarians for winning '3%' in elections at their convention". Yahoo News. May 26, 2024.
  21. ^ Pellish, Aaron (26 May 2024). "RFK Jr. loses in first round of Libertarian Party's presidential nomination vote. Trump didn't file paperwork to qualify | CNN Politics". CNN. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
  22. ^ "2024 Libertarian National Convention Delegate Allocation Manual" (PDF). Libertarian National Committee Secretary. December 6, 2023. Retrieved March 6, 2024.

External links