The 2020 Libertarian National Convention delegates selected the
Libertarian Party
Active parties by country
Defunct parties by country
Organizations associated with Libertarian parties
See also
* Liberal parties by country
* List of libertarian organizations
* Lists of political parties
Lists of political part ...
nominees for
president
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
* President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
and
vice president
A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...
in the
2020 United States presidential election.
Primaries were held, but were preferential in nature and did not determine delegate allocation. The convention was originally scheduled to be held from May 21 to May 25 at the
JW Marriott
JW Marriott is a luxury hotel brand owned by Marriott International.
History
The JW Marriott brand was established in 1984, with the opening of the first hotel in Washington, D.C. It was named as a tribute to J.W. Marriott, the founder of Marr ...
Austin luxury hotel in downtown
Austin,
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
. On April 26, all reservations at the JW Marriott Austin were canceled in response to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
, leaving the convention oversight committee to seek another venue for a possible July date.
After extensive discussion and debate surrounding the question of whether the party's bylaws permitted it to convene online,
the convention was eventually scheduled to be held online from May 22 to May 24 to nominate the party's presidential ticket and in
Orlando, Florida from July 7 to July 12 to conduct other business.
Nominations and balloting
Chair election
Joe Bishop-Henchman, Tony D'Orazio, Jacob Lamont, Mike Shipley, and Joshua Smith ran for chair of the
Libertarian National Committee
The Libertarian National Committee (LNC) controls and manages the affairs, properties, and funds of the United States Libertarian Party. It is composed of the party officers, five at-large representatives elected every two years at the national ...
. Bishop-Henchman and Smith were both incumbent at-large representatives on the committee. Bishop-Henchman was also the incumbent chair of the DC Libertarian Party. Smith previously ran for national chair at the 2018 convention. Incumbent LNC Chair
Nicholas Sarwark announced that he would not be running for a fourth term and endorsed Joe Bishop-Henchman.
Endorsements
Results
No one won a majority on the first round. Mike Shipley was eliminated, while Tony D’Orazio and Jacob Lamont withdrew.
Joe Bishop-Henchman was elected on the second round
Vice-chair election
Incumbent LNC Vice Chair Alex Merced indicated that he would not seek re-election.
Presidential nomination
Delegates were required to submit nominating tokens for candidates who they wished to place on the ballot for the nomination.
30 Tokens was the threshold for being nominated, with
Jo Jorgensen
Jo Jorgensen (born May 1, 1957) is an American libertarian political activist and academic. Jorgensen was the Libertarian Party's nominee for president of the United States in the 2020 election, in which she finished third in the popular vot ...
,
Jacob Hornberger
Jacob George Hornberger (born January 1, 1950) is an American attorney, author, and politician who was a Libertarian candidate for president in 2000 and 2020. He is the founder and president of the Future of Freedom Foundation.
Early life
Horn ...
,
Vermin Supreme
Vermin Love Supreme (born 1960 or 1961) is an American performance artist and activist who has run as a candidate in various local, state, and national elections in the United States. He served as a member of the Libertarian Party's judicial c ...
,
John Monds
John Monds (born June 17, 1965) is an American politician and activist. He was the Libertarian nominee for Governor of Georgia in 2010. He was the first African American to appear on the general election ballot for Governor of Georgia.
In 200 ...
,
James P. Gray and
Adam Kokesh
Adam Charles Kokesh (; born February 1, 1982) is an American libertarian political activist, radio host, and author. Kokesh was a U.S. 2020 Libertarian presidential candidate running on the single-issue platform of an "orderly dissolution of th ...
meeting that mark.
Vice-presidential nomination
The Libertarian Party delegates selected the party's vice-presidential nominee the day after they selected the presidential nominee.
Endorsements
= Nominee
=
= Withdrawn
=
Theme
In early 2019, the Libertarian Party held a contest, allowing members to decide the 2020 convention theme, charging $5 a vote. On April 11, it was announced that the winning theme was "
TANSTAAFL
"There ain't no such thing as a free lunch" (alternatively, "There is no such thing as a free lunch" or other variants) is a popular adage communicating the idea that it is impossible to get something for nothing. The acronyms TANSTAAFL, TINSTAA ...
",
an acronym for "There Ain't No Such Thing As a Free Lunch", a
libertarian economic concept popularized by American writer
Robert Heinlein
Robert Anson Heinlein (; July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988) was an American science fiction author, aeronautical engineer, and naval officer. Sometimes called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was among the first to emphasize scientific accu ...
and subsequently
Chicagoan school economist
Milton Friedman
Milton Friedman (; July 31, 1912 – November 16, 2006) was an American economist and statistician who received the 1976 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his research on consumption analysis, monetary history and theory and the ...
.
[ Safire, William "On Language; Words Left Out in the Cold" ''New York Times'', 2-14-199]
/ref> The phrase was also embodied in the Libertarian Party's first logo, adopted in 1972, in an image known as the "Libersign".
The second place theme was Ancapistan, an anarcho-capitalist utopia. Ancapistan, although controversial within the Party, was number one for many weeks during the contest, until in the final remaining hours leading up to midnight it was outspent by a few supporters of TANSTAAFL.
The theme contest raked in $24,007 for the LP to gear towards convention expenses.
Convention speakers
Planned speakers
According to the convention website, the following Notability in the English Wikipedia, notable people were scheduled speakers:
* Patrick M. Byrne, founder and former CEO of Overstock.com
Overstock.com, Inc. is an American internet retailer selling primarily furniture headquartered in Midvale, Utah, near Salt Lake City. Businessman Patrick M. Byrne founded Overstock.com in 1999. The company initially sold exclusively surplus and ...
* Jim Cantrell
Jim Cantrell is an American entrepreneur, mechanical engineer and road racer. He is the CEO and co-founder of Phantom Space Corporation, which seeks to build space transportation technology. After working at the French Space Agency CNES (Centre N ...
, CEO and co-founder of Vector Launch, Inc.
* Laura Ebke, former Libertarian Nebraska state legislator
* Jim Gray, jurist and 2012
File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...
Libertarian vice-presidential nominee
* Lisa Jaster, engineer and U.S. Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...
soldier
* Larry Sharpe, 2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...
Libertarian nominee for Governor of New York (keynote speaker)
* Joel Trammell
Joel Trammell is an American businessman and entrepreneur. Trammell works in CEO education and software.
Trammell is the former CEO of Black Box Network Services, and the founder and chairman of Khorus Software, which equips CEOs with strategy- ...
, entrepreneur
Keynote speaker dispute
Black Guns Matter founder and 2019 candidate for Philadelphia City Council At-Large Maj Toure was initially chosen to be the convention's keynote speaker. This changed in November 2019, when Convention Oversight Committee Chairman Daniel Hayes rescinded Toure's invitation. Hayes cited tweets posted by Toure that were perceived as being transphobic
Transphobia is a collection of ideas and phenomena that encompass a range of negative attitudes, feelings, or actions towards transgender people or transness in general. Transphobia can include fear, aversion, hatred, violence or anger tow ...
and anti-immigrant. Larry Sharpe, host of ''The Sharpe Way'' and 2018 Libertarian candidate for New York Governor was later selected to replace Toure as keynote speaker.
Delegate allocation
Delegates to the convention were allocated based on the number of sustaining members of the national Libertarian Party per state
State may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State
* ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States
* ''Our S ...
, as well as the percentage of the vote cast by state in the 2016 presidential election
This national electoral calendar for 2016 lists the national/ federal elections held in 2016 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included.
January
*7 January: Kiri ...
for Libertarian presidential nominee Gary Johnson
Gary Earl Johnson (born January 1, 1953) is an American businessman, author, and politician. He served as the 29th governor of New Mexico from 1995 to 2003 as a member of the Republican Party. He was the Libertarian Party nominee for Presid ...
. Delegates voted for changes to the national party's platform and bylaws, on members of the Libertarian National Committee
The Libertarian National Committee (LNC) controls and manages the affairs, properties, and funds of the United States Libertarian Party. It is composed of the party officers, five at-large representatives elected every two years at the national ...
and on the party's 2020 presidential and vice-presidential nominees. A total of 1,046 delegates were selected to vote at the convention.
Events
On the night of May 21 (EST), the final debates for president and vice-president are being held. Participation was limited to those candidates who had finished in the top five in receiving "debate tokens" from the national convention delegates, and had also received over 10% of those tokens. Jim Gray, Jacob Hornberger
Jacob George Hornberger (born January 1, 1950) is an American attorney, author, and politician who was a Libertarian candidate for president in 2000 and 2020. He is the founder and president of the Future of Freedom Foundation.
Early life
Horn ...
, Jo Jorgensen
Jo Jorgensen (born May 1, 1957) is an American libertarian political activist and academic. Jorgensen was the Libertarian Party's nominee for president of the United States in the 2020 election, in which she finished third in the popular vot ...
, John Monds
John Monds (born June 17, 1965) is an American politician and activist. He was the Libertarian nominee for Governor of Georgia in 2010. He was the first African American to appear on the general election ballot for Governor of Georgia.
In 200 ...
and Vermin Supreme
Vermin Love Supreme (born 1960 or 1961) is an American performance artist and activist who has run as a candidate in various local, state, and national elections in the United States. He served as a member of the Libertarian Party's judicial c ...
all met this threshold and participated in the debate. For the vice-presidential debate, participation was also limited to candidates in the top five with a 10% threshold. Larry Sharpe, Spike Cohen
Jeremy "Spike" Cohen (born June 28, 1982) is an American libertarian political activist, entrepreneur, and podcaster. He was the Libertarian Party's nominee for vice president of the United States in 2020, serving as Jo Jorgensen's running mate ...
and Ken Armstrong participated in the debate, with John McAfee
John David McAfee ( ; 18 September 1945 – 23 June 2021) was a British-American computer programmer, businessman, and two-time presidential candidate who unsuccessfully sought the Libertarian Party nomination for president of the United States ...
placing in the top five but not receiving 10% of the tokens.
Schedule
Due to the coronavirus epidemic, the balloting for the LP presidential nomination was held online, while the rest of the convention was scheduled be held in person in July. Several practice runs were done the previous weekend.
Sunday, May 17th
Final Credentials Committee Report Pre-convention
Thursday, May 21st
* Presidential debate, moderated by John Stossel
John Frank Stossel (born March 6, 1947) is an American libertarian television presenter, author, consumer journalist, and pundit. He is known for his career as a host on ABC News, Fox Business Network, and Reason TV.
Stossel's style combines ...
. (8:30PM Eastern Time)
* Vice-presidential debate, hosted by Jim Turney (approx 10PM Eastern Time)
Both were broadcast on the Libertarian Party's YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
channel.
Friday, May 22nd
* Convention opens at 6PM Eastern Time
* Credentials report.
* Adoption of Agenda.
Saturday, May 23rd
* Business resumes at 11AM Eastern Time
* Nomination process for 2020 Libertarian Presidential Nominee
Jo Jorgensen
Jo Jorgensen (born May 1, 1957) is an American libertarian political activist and academic. Jorgensen was the Libertarian Party's nominee for president of the United States in the 2020 election, in which she finished third in the popular vot ...
is nominated on the fourth ballot.
Sunday, May 24th
* Business resumes at 10AM Eastern Time
* Nomination process for 2020 Libertarian Vice-Presidential Nominee
Spike Cohen
Jeremy "Spike" Cohen (born June 28, 1982) is an American libertarian political activist, entrepreneur, and podcaster. He was the Libertarian Party's nominee for vice president of the United States in 2020, serving as Jo Jorgensen's running mate ...
is nominated on the third ballot.
Presidential nomination results
Nomination round
Only candidates who received 30 or more tokens from the delegates qualified for the ballot.
There were several attempts to place candidates who had not received 30 tokens on the ballot anyway, with special attention drawn to an attempt to place “ Great Meteor of Death” on the ballot.
Balloting
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, Kokesh was excluded from the second ballot. No candidate achieved the majority on the second ballot, so there was a third ballot vote. Due to finishing last of the five remaining nominated candidates, Gray was excluded from the third ballot. Gray subsequently endorsed Jorgensen in his concession speech while Gray's running mate Larry Sharpe withdrew from the vice-presidential nomination.
No candidate achieved the majority on the third ballot, so there was a fourth ballot vote. Due to finishing last of the four remaining nominated candidates, Monds was excluded from the fourth ballot. Monds subsequently endorsed Jorgensen in his concession speech and indicated he would accept the vice-presidential nomination if offered by the delegates.
Jorgensen was nominated on the fourth ballot with 51.1% of the vote.
Vice presidential nomination results
Only candidates who received 30 or more tokens from the convention delegates qualified for the ballot.
Nomination round
Balloting
Prior to voting, presidential nominee Jo Jorgensen said that she would be voting for John Monds as her vice presidential running mate, but declined to endorse a candidate.
No candidate achieved the majority on the first ballot, so there was a second ballot vote. Due to finishing last of the four nominated candidates, Kokesh was excluded from the second ballot. No candidate achieved the majority on the second ballot, so there was a third ballot vote. Due to finishing last of the three remaining nominated candidates, Armstrong was excluded from the third ballot. Armstrong endorsed Cohen in his concession speech. Cohen received the vice presidential nomination on the third ballot.
Delegate polling
National polling of delegates to the Convention
Both of these polls were conducted using ranked choice voting, progression down the table indicates later rounds of voting as the candidate with the lowest total is eliminated.
See also
* 2020 Libertarian Party presidential primaries
* 2020 Republican National Convention
The 2020 Republican National Convention in which delegates of the United States Republican Party selected the party's nominees for president and vice president in the 2020 United States presidential election, was held from August 24 to 27, 202 ...
* 2020 Democratic National Convention
The 2020 Democratic National Convention was a presidential nominating convention that was held from August 17 to 20, 2020, at the Wisconsin Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and virtually across the United States. At the convention, delegates of ...
* 2020 Green National Convention
* 2020 Constitution Party National Convention
* 2020 United States presidential election
Notes
References
External links
Official site
{{Libertarian Party (United States)
2020 conferences
2020 in Florida
2020
2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...
Political conventions in Florida
2020 in Texas
Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on politics