2016 Libertarian Party presidential primaries

The 2016 United States presidential election was the twelfth contested election for the Libertarian Party of the United States. The 2004 presidential election saw Libertarian nominee Michael Badnarik appear on ballots in 48 states plus the District of Columbia. He received 0.3% of the popular vote, and came fourth behind the two major parties' nominees as well as third-placed independent Ralph Nader.[20] In the 2008 election, Bob Barr was nominated as the Libertarian Parties's candidate for the presidency and had ballot access to 45. However, Barr insignificantly improved upon Badnarik's performance, capturing only 0.4% of the popular vote in an election that also saw Nader finish a strong third behind the Democratic and Republican parties.[21]

Having received minimal publicity in previous elections, which contributed to the low voting share that the party received, the Libertarian Party gained significant exposure and media attention in the lead-up to the 2012 Libertarian National Convention and the 2012 presidential election, starting with former two term New Mexico governor Gary Johnson's announcement of his presidential run with the Party.[22][23] Using the publicity gained from the announcement, Johnson praised the Libertarian Party and championed their beliefs through interviews and public statements, which were often profane and harshly critical of both the Democratic and Republican parties. Johnson won the nomination at the 2012 Libertarian National Convention running on a platform of being more fiscally conservative than Republican nominee Mitt Romney and more socially liberal than Democratic President Barack Obama. Johnsons's campaign for the presidency focused mostly on upholding the continued publicity gained by the Libertarian Party due to his campaign and gaining support from independents and dissenting Democratic and Republican voters, often through echoing resentment towards the two parties. This included a court challenge against the Commission on Presidential Debates by Johnson that sought to include him in the official presidential election debates.[24][25]

On election day, Johnson oversaw a relatively sharp rise in the Libertarian Party's vote total, earning 1% of the popular vote, which equated to 1,275,821 votes, in the 48 states plus D.C. where the Libertarian Party had ballot access.[26] The result was double the number Bob Barr received in 2008, and made the Libertarian's the most popular third party in the election.[27] In the election Johnson received the most votes ever for the Libertarian Party nominee, passing Ed Clark's candidacy in 1980. His campaign received a largest vote total for a third-party presidential candidacy since Ralph Nader's 2000 campaign.[28][29]

On January 7, physician Marc Allen Feldman became one of the first candidates to enter the race for the 2016 nomination. Over the following months, candidacies were announced by Joy Waymire, Cecil Ince, Steve Kerbel, Shawna Joy Sterling, Derrick Michael Reid, and Rhett Smith. In early September, candidates entering the race included John David Hale, Jack Robinson Jr, and Austin Petersen.

On December 24, 2015, antivirus software pioneer John McAfee abandoned his previous effort to run as the candidate of a newly created Cyber Party, and announced he would instead seek the Libertarian nomination.[30] He had previously announced that his Cyber Party running mate would be Ken Rutkowski, but Rutkowski did not join him in seeking the Libertarian nomination.[31][32]

Gary Johnson formally announced his candidacy for the 2016 Libertarian presidential nomination, in an interview with Neil Cavuto on the Fox Business Network program Coast to Coast, on January 6, 2016.[33]

Though the Libertarian Party has little to no scientific polling and does not conduct binding primaries and caucuses, the first nationally televised pre-nominating convention Libertarian Party debate featured three candidates widely regarded as the leading contenders for the nomination: former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson, founder and CEO of McAfee Inc. John McAfee and owner and founder of The Libertarian Republic Austin Petersen.[34] A later debate hosted by RT America featured Marc Allan Feldman, Kevin McCormick, and Darryl Perry, however this did not receive as much media attention as the one featuring the three candidates in the top tier.[35]

Jesse Ventura speaking in Minnesota in 2016.

In several late 2015 interviews including those on The Alan Colmes Show and In Depth with Graham Bensinger, Jesse Ventura publicly flirted with the idea of running for president in 2016 as a Libertarian.[36] Beginning on February 29, 2016, Ventura again made headlines following an announcement that if Bernie Sanders were to lose the Democratic Party nomination to Hillary Clinton, he would launch a presidential campaign under the Libertarian Party. Ventura subsequently appeared on RT, CNN, Alex Jones and various local radio outlets the following several days reiterating interest in a presidential campaign. He likewise revealed that he was formally invited to the 2016 Libertarian National Convention in Orlando, Florida by party leaders and that he would announce by the end of March if he were to go that route.[37]

On March 3, 2016 Ventura released a shortlist of preliminary campaign platforms if he were to run for president. Included were rebuilding infrastructure, focusing on alternative energy, ending all foreign wars and following the teachings of Major General Smedley Butler, ending the war on drugs and reforming campaign financing.[38] Ventura ultimately decided not to seek the presidency, allowing his self determined deadline of May 1 to pass without an announcement. In mid-July, Ventura wrote an article declaring his support for Gary Johnson.[39]

Gary Johnson speaking at the 2016 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington, D.C.

After Donald Trump won the Indiana Primary on May 3, Texas Senator Ted Cruz and Ohio Governor John Kasich suspended their campaigns, Donald Trump became the presumptive nominee for the Republican Party.[40][41] This sparked the Stop Trump movement, also referred to as #NeverTrump to consider running an independent candidate of their own such as former Texas governor Rick Perry, former Republican nominee Mitt Romney or Nebraska senator Ben Sasse, all of whom declined to run.[42] As the filing deadline for Texas and other states quickly passed, the Libertarian Party gained national recognition when Gary Johnson was included in a national poll conducted by Monmouth University and received 11 percent.[43] Johnson was quickly deemed the front-runner for the Libertarian Party presidential nomination and was featured in subsequent polls.[44][45] Johnson's name was also Googled more times than the Libertarian Party itself, and he was featured in many interviews by mainstream media publications, something that none of the other Libertarian candidates had been able to do thus far in the campaign.[46] During the 2016 Libertarian National Convention various news networks flocked to the convention, and CSPAN covered the results.[1][47] Johnson won nomination on the second ballot of the convention.[48]

*Darryl W. Perry allegedly paid participants to "stuff" the poll, after which extra security measures were implemented and his name was excluded from future polls. Therefore, this result of 10.7% is not authentic.[61]

Type: Open

The Minnesota caucus was run on March 1, 2016, using ranked choice voting. Gary Johnson took over 75% of the 226 first-preference votes cast, with John McAfee second on 12% and Austin Petersen third on 8%.[62]

Minnesota Libertarian presidential caucus, March 1, 2016[62] Candidate Votes Percentage Gary Johnson 171 76% John McAfee 26 12% Austin Petersen 17 8% Darryl Perry 4 2% Cecil Ince 2 1% Steve Kerbel 2 1% None of the above 2 1% Marc Allan Feldman 1 0% Shawna Joy Sterling 1 0% Total 226 100%

County results —Minnesota.   Gary Johnson   No Votes

Type: Open

The Missouri primary ran on March 15, 2016, alongside those of the Republican, Democratic, and Constitution parties. 40% of the electorate voted to stand uncommitted to any candidate. Austin Petersen, running in his home state, finished second with 29% of the statewide vote, which was double that of Steve Kerbel from Colorado, who finished third with 14%. Petersen comfortably won the support of voters in the state's capital, Jefferson City, and its surrounding counties, but fell heavily behind the uncommitted vote in the state's two largest cities, Kansas City and St. Louis. Kerbel won three counties around Springfield, while Marc Allan Feldman, Cecil Ince, and Rhett Smith all won a sprawl of counties across the state; in most of these counties, however, only a single vote was cast. No votes were cast for Libertarian Party candidates in the northwestern counties of Harrison, Holt, Mercer, and Worth.[63]

Missouri Libertarian presidential primary, March 15, 2016[63] Candidate Votes Percentage Uncommitted 1,170 40% Austin Petersen 851 29% Steve Kerbel 401 14% Marc Allan Feldman 239 8% Cecil Ince 134 5% Rhett Smith 99 3% Total 2,894 100%

County results — Missouri.   Uncommitted   Austin Petersen   Steve Kerbel   Marc Allan Feldman   Cecil Ince   Rhett Smith   Tie   No Votes

Type: Semi-closed

The North Carolina primary was also run on March 15, 2016, and also alongside the primaries of the Republican, Democratic, and Constitution parties. Gary Johnson won against competing candidates with 42% of the primary vote, overcoming 35% of the electorate who remained uncommitted to any candidate, and far ahead of third-place finisher John David Hale with 6%. Most urban counties showed majority support for Johnson, particularly in the state's largest city, Charlotte, and its capital, Raleigh, while uncommitted votes mostly came from rural counties across the state. Many counties were tied between Johnson and the uncommitted vote, but a number of counties in the east recorded ties between Johnson and other candidates such as John David Hale and Joy Waymire, albeit with a small number of votes. In Gates County, a four-way tie was recorded when Gary Johnson, Cecil Ince, and Derrick Michael Reid recorded one vote each, with an additional uncommitted voter accounted for. Tyrrell was the only county in the entire state where Johnson did not win or tie; instead Hale tied with an uncommitted voter, with one vote each.[64]

North Carolina Libertarian presidential primary, March 15, 2016[64] Candidate Votes Percentage Gary Johnson 2,414 41.48% No Preference 2,067 35.52% John David Hale 329 5.65% Joy Waymire 268 4.61% Austin Petersen 189 3.25% Darryl Perry 118 2.03% Steve Kerbel 109 1.87% Derrick Michael Reid 74 1.27% Cecil Ince 72 1% Jack Robinson, Jr. 70 1.20% Marc Allan Feldman 66 1.13% Rhett Smith 43 0.74% Total 5,819 100%

County results — North Carolina.   Gary Johnson   Uncommitted   Tie

Type: Semi-closed

The Nebraska primary was held on May 10, 2016. Independents and registered Libertarians were allowed to vote in the state's Libertarian primary. The Nebraska Primary marked the third largest victory for the Johnson campaign, despite the most recent poll having shown him only 1% above Petersen nationally.

Nebraska Libertarian presidential primary, May 10, 2016[65] Candidate Votes Percentage Gary Johnson 366 52% Austin Petersen 135 19% John McAfee 121 17% Marc Allan Feldman 48 7% Steve Kerbel 35 5% Total 705 100%

County results — Nebraska   Gary Johnson   Austin Petersen   John McAfee   Marc Allan Feldman   Tie   No Votes

Type: Semi-closed[68]

In the California primary on June 7, the Libertarian Party appeared alongside the Republicans, Democrats, the Green Party (as part of their own series of primaries), the American Independent Party and the Peace and Freedom Party.[69] This non-binding primary took place after the 2016 Libertarian National Convention.

California Libertarian presidential primary, June 7, 2016[70] Candidate Votes Percentage Gary Johnson 19,294 62% John McAfee 3,139 10% Austin Petersen 1,853 6% Rhett Smith 1,531 5% Joy Waymire 923 3% John David Hale 873 3% Marc Allan Feldman 867 3% Jack Robinson, Jr. 739 2% Steve Kerbel 556 2% Darryl Perry 521 2% Derrick Michael Reid 462 2% Cecil Ince 417 1% Total 31,175 100%

Results by county.   Gary Johnson   Tie

• Jeff Krauss, former mayor of Bozeman, Montana [72]

• Daniel Hannan, Conservative Party member of the European Parliament, Secretary-General of the Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists[73]

• Ed Clark, 1980 Libertarian presidential nominee [74]
• Judge Jim Gray, former judge, prosecutor, 2012 vice-presidential nominee of the Libertarian Party[75]
• Mark Hinkle, former National Chairman of The Libertarian Party[76]
• Geoff Neale, former National Chairman of The Libertarian Party[77]
• Bill Redpath, former National Chairman of The Libertarian Party[78]

• Steve Kerbel, businessman, entrepreneur and former 2016 Libertarian presidential candidate[79]
• Robert Sarvis, attorney, businessman, politician and software developer[80]

• Drew Carey, comedian[81][82][83]
• Doug Stanhope, comedian, actor, 2008 presidential candidate [84]
• Randy Wayne, actor[85]
• Josh Wolf, comedian, television host[86]
• Teller, of Penn & Teller[87]

• Rudy Carpenter, football quarterback[88]
• Hal Gill, retired professional ice hockey player[88]
• Sean Waltman, professional wrestler[89]

• Krist Novoselić, musician, bassist and co-founder of Nirvana[90]

• Jay Cost, writer for The Weekly Standard[91]
• Matt Welch, editor-in-chief of Reason magazine[92]
• Kmele Foster, co-host of The Independents, political pundit[93]
• Todd Seavey, writer for Splice Today and author[94]

• Adrian Wyllie, activist, radio show host, 2014 Libertarian candidate for Governor of Florida and former chairman of Libertarian Party of Florida[95]
• Keith Larson, radio host and political commentator[96]

• Ed Lopez, Republican activist and Former National Vice Chairman of the Republican Liberty Caucus[97]
• Richard Winger, publisher and editor of Ballot Access News, political activist and analyst[98]
• Alan Gura, litigator, constitutional lawyer[88]
• Michael Munger, economist[88]

• Adam Kokesh, talk show host and activist[99]
• John Moore, Nevada assemblyman[100]
• L. Neil Smith, science fiction author and activist[101]
• Joy Waymire, Libertarian presidential candidate[102]

Mary Matalin speaking at a Bipartisan Policy event at Tulane University in 2009

• Erick Erickson, radio host and author[103]
• Nicholas J. Fuentes, talk show host[104]
• Mary Matalin, political consultant[105]

• Sean Haugh, 2002, 2014 and 2016 Libertarian candidate for United States Senate in North Carolina.[106][107]
• Dave Smith, comedian[108]