Libertarian Party US Presidential Election Results: Difference between revisions

In 1972, the Libertarian Party was barely organized and was still in its infant stage. The Presidential Nominee was John Hospers. The Vice Presidential Nominee was [[Tonie Nathan]]. The ticket was only on the ballot in 2 states and received one electoral vote from a faithless elector in Virginia.

The 1980 Presidential Election was another major milestone for the Libertarian Party. The Party nominated [[Ed Clark]] for President and [[David Koch]] for Vice President. The campaign was largely self financed and was able to run several national television advertisements. The ticket gained ballot access in all 50 states. In Alaska, the ticket gained 11.66% of the vote.

In a nomination contest that featured candidates with very different backgrounds and styles, and was also seen by some as a choice between presenting a "right" or "left" image, former Congressman [[Ron Paul]] was selected over American Indian activist [[Russell Means]] as the Presidential Nominee for 1988. [[Andre Marrou]], one of the few Libertarians who had been elected to a state legislature, was the Vice Presidential Nominee. The campaign raised over $2,000,000 and was on the ballot in 46 states.

Harry Browne was re-nominated as the Presidential Nominee in 2000 but chose [[Art Olivier]] as his running mate. The campaign had some controversy surrounding it after the National Director was found to have worked on the campaign in 1996 before Harry Browne's candidacy had been decided. The campaign nearly got on the ballot in all 50 states again but a split with the Arizona Chapter caused Harry Browne to be replaced on the ticket with another Libertarian.

[[Bob Barr]] was nominated as the Presidential Nominee in 2008 with [[Wayne Allyn Root]] nominated as the Vice Presidential Candidate. The Barr campaign was expected to do very well but due to several factors such as Sarah Palin's nomination as McCain's VP, Ron Paul's dropping of his endorsement of Barr, and the campaign's lack of advertising. The campaign still raised nearly $1.4 million dollars but didn't get as many votes as many Libertarian Leaders felt it could have. The ticket was on the ballot in 44 states.

[[Gary Earl Johnson|Gary Johnson]] was nominated again in 2016, this time with [[William Weld]] as his running mate. This was seen by some as the LP's most "credible" national ticket ever, with both candidates being former governors, but others saw the inclusion of Weld as a dilution of the party's brand. For the first time since 2000, the LP had a presidential ticket on the ballot in all 50 states. In an election that was very close between front-runners Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, but with many voters unhappy about that choice, the LP's team achieved a record-breaking three percent of the national vote, receiving the votes of almost 4.5 million people.