For Immediate Release Sunday, May 29, 2016
ORLANDO – He’s already at over 10% in four polls….
Today Libertarian Party delegates elected Gov. Gary Johnson, two-term governor of New Mexico, to be the party’s nominee for President of the United States, with a mission of moving America in the direction of more personal freedom, fiscal responsibility, and less military intervention.
‘We already have over 411,000 registered Libertarian voters,’ said Nicholas Sarwark, Libertarian Party Chair. ‘And now we’ve nominated Gov. Gary Johnson as our presidential candidate for 2016. Together, he and the other Libertarian candidates will propel the rapid growth of the LP all across America and give disenfranchised voters a real choice for less government and more freedom.’
Gov. Johnson is a successful businessman and a crusader for fiscal responsibility, free enterprise and individual liberties. As governor, he vetoed over 750 bills, perhaps more vetoes than all other 49 governors combined. He cut taxes 14 times while maintaining New Mexico as one of only four states in the country with a balanced budget. He was the first U.S. governor to call for ending marijuana prohibition.
The Libertarian Party is the only alternative political party in the United States expected to be on the ballot in all fifty states this November.
After winning on the second ballot, Johnson implored delegates in his acceptance speech to elect former Massachusetts governor William Weld to be his running mate.
Six candidates met the 30-vote threshold to be eligible for the vice presidential nomination:
Gov. William Weld – 192 votes
Larry Sharpe – 161
Alicia Dearn – 104
Will Coley – 61
Judd Weiss – 46
Derrick Grayson – 33
Others under thirty votes – 109
A motion from the floor was defeated which would have made the other presidential candidates eligible for the VP nomination. In spite of this, the candidates received some votes, but not enough to push any of them over the 30-vote threshold:
Austin Peterson – 17
Marc Alan Feldman – 9
John McAfee – 6
Darryl Perry – 2
Delegates will select Johnson’s running mate later today. If no candidate for vice president attains a majority on the first ballot, the candidate finishing last will be eliminated from the race. In addition, any candidate polling less than 5 percent will also be eliminated from the subsequent ballot. A candidate securing a majority of convention delegates will be the vice presidential nominee.
The LNC will hold a press conference following the selection of the VP nominee.
