2016 Libertarian National Convention

The 2016 Libertarian National Convention was the gathering at which delegates of the Libertarian Party chose the party's nominees for president and vice president in the 2016 national election. The party selected Gary Johnson, a former Governor of New Mexico, as its presidential candidate, with Bill Weld, a former Governor of Massachusetts as his running mate. The convention was held from May 26–30, 2016, in Orlando, Florida.[2][3]

2016 Libertarian National Convention
2016 presidential election
Nominees
Johnson and Weld
Convention
Date(s)May 26–30, 2016
CityOrlando, Florida, United States
VenueRosen Centre Hotel & Resort[1]
Keynote speakerRuth Bennett
Candidates
Presidential nomineeGary Johnson of New Mexico
Vice presidential nomineeBill Weld of Massachusetts
Other candidatesAustin Petersen of Missouri
John McAfee of Tennessee
Darryl W. Perry of New Hampshire
Voting
Total delegates911 delegates
76 alternates
928 votes
Votes needed for nomination464 (Majority)
Results (president)Johnson (NM): 518 (55.8%)
Petersen (MO): 203 (21.8%)
McAfee (VA): 131 (14.1%)
Perry (NH): 52 (5.6%)
Feldman (OH): 18 (1.9%)
Other candidates (including NOTA): 6 (0.6%)
BallotsPresident: 2 Ballots
Vice President: 2 Ballots

Theme

The theme of the 2016 convention was #LegalizeFreedom.[4]

Events

VP debate
Map of United States showing Orlando, Florida
Orlando
Orlando
Cleveland
Cleveland
Philadelphia
Philadelphia
Houston
Houston
Sites of the 2016 national presidential nominating conventions. Blue, red, green, and yellow indicate the conventions for the Democratic, Republican, Green, and Libertarian parties, respectively.
  • May 26 – The presidential candidates Marc Allan Feldman, Gary Johnson, John McAfee, Darryl W. Perry, and Austin Petersen participated in a political debate at the convention.
  • May 27 – A debate between the Libertarian candidates seeking the vice presidential nomination was held. On the same day, the candidates for chairperson of the LNC debated.
  • May 28 – A debate between the Libertarian presidential candidates was held. The debate was televised live by C-SPAN.[5] It was moderated by Larry Elder.
  • May 29 – The vote and nomination of the Libertarian presidential and vice-presidential candidates was held and televised by C-SPAN. Multiple ballots extended this.
    • In addition to the announcement of the Party's presidential ticket, a chairperson for the LNC was elected at the convention. Incumbent chairman of the Libertarian National Committee, Nicholas Sarwark was re-elected to the position.

Presidential delegate count

Libertarian National Convention Presidential vote, 2016 – 1st Ballot[6]
Candidate First Ballot Percentage
Gary Johnson 458 49.5%
Austin Petersen 197 21.3%
John McAfee 131 14.2%
Darryl Perry 63 6.8%
Marc Allan Feldman 58 6.3%
Kevin McCormick 9 1.0%
None of the above 5 0.5%
Ron Paul (Write-in) 1 0.1%
Vermin Supreme (Write-in) 1 0.1%
Heidi Zemen (Write-in) 1 0.1%
Derrick Grayson (Write-in) 1 0.1%
Totals 925 100%

No candidate achieved the majority on the first ballot, so there was a second ballot vote.  Due to finishing last of the six nominated candidates, McCormick was excluded from the second ballot.

Libertarian National Convention Presidential vote, 2016 – 2nd Ballot[6]
Candidate Second Ballot Percentage
Gary Johnson 518 55.8%
Austin Petersen 203 21.9%
John McAfee 131 14.1%
Darryl Perry 52 5.6%
Marc Allan Feldman 18 1.9%
None of the above 2 0.2%
Derrick Grayson (Write-in) 1 0.1%
Michael Shannon (Write-in) 1 0.1%
Kevin McCormick (Write-in) 1 0.1%
Rhett Smith (Write-in) 1 0.1%
Totals 928 100%

State by state delegate count

First place by delegate votes.
Libertarian National Convention Presidential vote, 2016 – 1st Ballot[6]
State / District Candidate Write-in Abstentions
Marc Allan Feldman Gary Johnson John McAfee Kevin McCormick Darryl W. Perry Austin Petersen N.O.T.A. Derrick Grayson Ron Paul Vermin Supreme Heidi Zemen
Alabama 7 3 2 1
Alaska 1 5
Arizona 2 11 7 2 2 2
Arkansas 1 4 3 1
California 4 48 21 3 4 33 1 1
Colorado 17 1 2 2 1
Connecticut 3 3 4
Delaware 1 1 1
District of Columbia 3
Florida 4 28 3 5 13
Georgia 5 9 8 4 5
Hawaii 4 1
Idaho 6 1
Illinois 19 3 1 4
Indiana 1 18 4 2 9
Iowa 2 3 1 1 3
Kansas 2 1 2
Kentucky 1 7 3
Louisiana 4 8 1
Maine 2 5
Maryland 4 10 2 2
Massachusetts 8 3
Michigan 2 15 5 1 1 1
Minnesota 5 2 2
Mississippi 6 1 1
Missouri 1 7 1 1 1 12 1
Montana 1 1 2 1 2
Nebraska 2 6
Nevada 11 1 1
New Hampshire 1 2 5 1
New Jersey 2 9 5 2 3
New Mexico 11 2
New York 1 16 3 3 16
North Carolina 4 18 2 1 1 3
North Dakota 1 2 2
Ohio 8 21 3 9
Oklahoma 1 2 1 1 1
Oregon
Pennsylvania 3 16 4 12 6 1
Rhode Island 3
South Carolina 9 4
South Dakota 1
Tennessee 14 3 1
Texas 7 26 15 2 10
Utah 1 2 2 2 1
Vermont 3
Virginia 1 19 2 2 6 1
Washington 1 13 10 3
West Virginia 5
Wisconsin 13 2 1
Wyoming 2 1
Totals 58 458 131 9 63 197 5 1 1 1 1 2
Percentages 6.3% 49.5% 14.2% 1.0% 6.8% 21.3% 0.5% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1%

No candidate achieved the majority on the first ballot, so there was a second ballot vote.  Due to receiving less than 5% of the votes, McCormick was excluded from the second ballot.

Libertarian National Convention Presidential vote, 2016 – 2nd Ballot[6]
State / District Candidate Write-in
Marc Allan Feldman Gary Johnson John McAfee Darryl W. Perry Austin Petersen N.O.T.A. Derrick Grayson Kevin McCormick Michael Shannon Rhett Smith
Alabama 9 2 1 1
Alaska 1 5
Arizona 11 8 2 3 1
Arkansas 5 4
California 1 56 25 2 33
Colorado 1 17 1 3 1 1
Connecticut 4 1 4 1
Delaware 1 2
District of Columbia 3
Florida 2 31 5 3 12
Georgia 1 10 10 2 8
Hawaii 4 1
Idaho 6 1
Illinois 19 3 1 4
Indiana 1 24 1 8
Iowa 4 2 5
Kansas 2 4
Kentucky 8 3
Louisiana 4 1 8
Maine 2 5
Maryland 2 10 1 2
Massachusetts 8 3
Michigan 1 16 4 2 1 1
Minnesota 8 1 1
Mississippi 6 1 1
Missouri 10 1 13
Montana 2 3 2
Nebraska 2 5 1
Nevada 11 2
New Hampshire 2 4 3 1
New Jersey 1 11 4 2 3
New Mexico 12 1
New York 20 1 3 15
North Carolina 1 19 3 1 5
North Dakota 2 2 1
Ohio 3 21 7 9
Oklahoma 3 3
Oregon
Pennsylvania 18 4 12 7
Rhode Island 3
South Carolina 8 1 4
South Dakota 1
Tennessee 14 3 1
Texas 2 34 12 3 8 1
Utah 5 3
Vermont 3
Virginia 21 2 2 5
Washington 1 13 10 3
West Virginia 1 4
Wisconsin 15 1
Wyoming 2 1
Totals 18 518 131 52 203 2 1 1 1 1
Percentages 1.94% 55.8% 14.1% 5.6% 21.9% 0.2% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1%

Vice-presidential delegate count

Prior to vice presidential balloting, Marc Allan Feldman endorsed Gary Johnson's running mate Bill Weld, and Austin Petersen endorsed Alicia Dearn. Judd Weiss, whom John McAfee had selected as his running mate, withdrew his name from consideration and endorsed William Coley, who had been Darryl Perry's running mate. Consequently, McAfee endorsed Derrick Grayson, who received a write-in vote in each round of the presidential contest but had not campaigned for either the presidency or vice presidency prior to the convention.

Libertarian National Convention Vice Presidential vote, 2016 – 1st Ballot[6]
Candidate First Ballot Percentage
Bill Weld 426 49.0%
Larry Sharpe 264 30.4%
William Coley 93 10.7%
Derrick Grayson 48 5.5%
Alicia Dearn 29 3.3%
None of the above 6 0.7%
Daniel Hogan (Write-in) 1 0.1%
Austin Petersen (Write-in) 1 0.1%
Gary Johnson (Write-in) 1 0.1%
Totals 869 100%

No candidate achieved the majority on the first ballot, so there was a second ballot vote. Due to finishing last of the five nominated candidates, Dearn was excluded from the second ballot. Dearn then endorsed Weld. Additionally, both Coley and Grayson withdrew their names and endorsed Sharpe. However, Grayson withdrew his candidacy after the second ballots had been handed out, and therefore his name remained on the ballot as a valid candidate.

Libertarian National Convention Vice Presidential vote, 2016 – 2nd Ballot[6]
Candidate Second Ballot Percentage
Bill Weld 441 50.6%
Larry Sharpe 409 46.9%
None of the above 12 1.4%
Derrick Grayson 9 1.0%
Mary Ruwart (Write-in) 1 0.1%
Totals 872 100%

Speakers

Notable speakers included:[7]

Incidents

  • On May 29, candidate for chairman of the LNC James Weeks took stage and stripped down to a thong, saying "I thought we could use a little bit of fun." He danced on the stage before announcing the suspension of his bid for chairperson. He was booed loudly by the delegates and removed from the convention.[8] The incident was streamed live on C-SPAN. This took place during the tabulation of votes on the second ballot for vice president, and many delegates attempted to make a motion to expel Weeks from the party. This was cut short when chairman Nicholas Sarwark moved to set the matter aside and announce the results of the vice presidential nomination. Weeks was later expelled from the Libertarian Party of Michigan, which disavowed all support for his candidacy for county Sheriff.[9]
  • After losing the nomination to Gary Johnson, Austin Petersen endorsed the nominee and gave him a plastic replica of a type of pistol owned by George Washington. Several delegates attending the convention later reported seeing Gary Johnson, the party's nominee, tossing the gift in the garbage. It was returned to Petersen by a family that attended the convention.[10] A spokesman for the campaign apologized on behalf of Gov. Johnson, and explained the frustration arose from Petersen handing Johnson the replica before immediately launching into an attack on Johnson's endorsement of Weld for vice president. Petersen expressed a desire to move past the incident, encouraged his supporters to do the same, and confirmed that his endorsement of Johnson for the general election remained unchanged.[11]

See also

References

  1. "LP 2016 National Convention". Libertarian Party. Archived from the original on 18 October 2016. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
  2. Winger, Richard (July 11, 2014). "Libertarian Party Moves Into National Party Headquarters That it Owns". Ballot Access News. Retrieved 2014-07-11.
  3. "Libertarian National Committee Minutes July 15–16, 2012" (PDF). Libertarian National Committee. p. 4. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-01-22. Retrieved 2014-07-11.
  4. Jenni Woods. "Libertarian Party". Libertarian.nationbuilder.com. Archived from the original on 2016-02-09. Retrieved 2016-02-13.
  5. "Libertarian Party Holds Presidential Debate | Video". C-SPAN.org. Retrieved 2016-07-25.
  6. Libertarian Party National Convention (Live Video). Orlando, Florida: C-SPAN. May 29, 2016. Retrieved May 29, 2016.
  7. Raymond Agnew. "Speakers – Libertarian Party". Libertarian.nationbuilder.com. Archived from the original on 2016-02-09. Retrieved 2016-02-13.
  8. Richardson, Valerie. "Libertarian Party chair candidate strips on stage at national convention". The Washington Times. Retrieved May 29, 2016.
  9. Peal, Wayne (2016-06-13). "Libertarian stripper banned from party". Freep.com. Retrieved 2016-08-26.
  10. "Gary Johnson Shoots Himself in the Foot: Throws Out Austin Petersen's Gun". Liberty Hangout. 2016-05-30. Retrieved 2016-05-31.
  11. "Gary Johnson tossed rival Austin Petersen's gift of George Washington's replica pistol in trash". The Washington Times. Retrieved 2016-07-25.
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