Chase Oliver (born 1985) is an American political activist, sales account executive, and HR representative. Oliver was 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 ...

nominee for the

2022 United States Senate election in Georgia The 2022 United States Senate election in Georgia was held on November 8, 2022, to elect a member of the U.S. Senate to represent the state of Georgia. Incumbent Democratic senator Raphael Warnock won his first full term in office, defeating R ...

, and the Libertarian Party nominee for the

2020 Georgia's 5th congressional district special election A special election filled the remainder of the term in the United States House of Representatives for Georgia's 5th congressional district in the 116th United States Congress. Incumbent Representative John Lewis, who was diagnosed with pancreat ...

Early life

Oliver was born in 1985 in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

Political career

Oliver was previously a Democrat and had supported

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

in the 2008 U.S. presidential election but later left the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

due to his own anti-war views. Oliver joined the

in 2010 after meeting several members of the party at an Atlanta Pride Festival.

2020 U.S. House campaign

Oliver first ran for public office in 2020, where he was the Libertarian nominee for the

to replace

John Lewis John Robert Lewis (February 21, 1940 – July 17, 2020) was an American politician and civil rights activist who served in the United States House of Representatives for from 1987 until his death in 2020. He participated in the 1960 Nashville ...

, who had died from

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of t ...

earlier that year. He won 2% of the vote and was eliminated during the

blanket primary The blanket primary is a system used for selecting political party candidates in a primary election, used in Argentina and historically in the United States. In a blanket primary, voters may pick one candidate for each office without regard to par ...

2022 U.S. Senate campaign

Oliver became the Libertarian nominee for the 2022 U.S. Senate election in Georgia, where he faced off against the incumbent Democratic

Raphael Warnock Raphael Gamaliel Warnock ( ; born July 23, 1969) is an American Baptist pastor and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Georgia since 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he assumed office on January 20, 2021. Since 20 ...

and Republican Party challenger

Herschel Walker Herschel Junior Walker (born March 3, 1962) is an American former football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons. He was also the Republican nominee in the 2022 United States Senate election in Georgia. ...

. On October 16, 2022, Oliver attended a debate hosted by

Georgia Public Broadcasting Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB) is a state network of PBS member television stations and NPR member radio stations serving the U.S. state of Georgia. It is operated by the Georgia Public Telecommunications Commission, an agency of the Geo ...

and debated against Warnock, as well as an empty podium representing Walker, who had declined to attend the debate. On election day, Oliver received over 2% of the popular vote, forcing the Georgia senate race into a run-off. He declined to endorse either Warnock or Walker, but offered to host a

Internet forum An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. They differ from chat rooms in that messages are often longer than one line of text, and are at least temporar ...

between the two candidates.

2024 presidential campaign

On December 2, 2022, Oliver announced that he was forming an

exploratory committee In the election politics of the United States, an exploratory committee is an organization established to help determine whether a potential candidate should run for an elected office. They are most often cited in reference to candidates for pre ...

to look into a Libertarian Party run for the 2024 U.S. presidential election.

Political positions

Abortion

Oliver considers himself as

pro-choice Abortion-rights movements, also referred to as pro-choice movements, advocate for the right to have legal access to induced abortion services including elective abortion. They seek to represent and support women who wish to terminate their pre ...

, although he is opposed to funding abortion through public money. He believes that abortion should be allowed nationwide, and he has said he would vote for legislation to make it so.

Climate change

Oliver supports a

free market In economics, a free market is an economic system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of government or any o ...

solution to

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

, believing that if businesses are left alone, that they will develop further technologies that will eventually replace current carbon-based fuels.

Electoral reform

Oliver is a strong supporter of

ranked-choice voting in the United States Ranked-choice voting (RCV) is a ranked voting system used in some states and cities in the United States in which voters may prioritize (rank) their choice of candidates among many, and a procedure exists to count lower ranked candidates if and af ...

, which he has said would have prevented the 2022 U.S. Senate election in Georgia from going to a run-off by allowing candidates to rank their preferred candidates when they voted the first time. He has also stated that ranked-choice voting would save millions of taxpayer dollars by allowing run-offs to be instant, while ensuring that candidates always get above 50% of the vote.

Gun rights

During a 2022 debate with Warnock, Oliver expressed his support for

gun rights The right to keep and bear arms (often referred to as the right to bear arms) is a right for people to possess weapons (arms) for the preservation of life, liberty, and property. The purpose of gun rights is for self-defense, including securi ...

, stating: "Armed gays are harder to oppress, and they're harder to bash."

War on drugs

Oliver supports ending the

war on drugs The war on drugs is a Globalization, global campaign, led by the United States federal government, of prohibition of drugs, drug prohibition, military aid, and military intervention, with the aim of reducing the illegal drug trade in the Unite ...

, and the

legalization of marijuana The legality of cannabis for medical and recreational use varies by country, in terms of its possession, distribution, and cultivation, and (in regards to medical) how it can be consumed and what medical conditions it can be used for. These ...

Personal life

Oliver is openly gay and resides in

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

.Boehm, Eric (November 18, 2022
"What's Next for Chase Oliver, the Libertarian Who Forced a Runoff in the Georgia Senate Race?"
''

Reason Reason is the capacity of consciously applying logic by drawing conclusions from new or existing information, with the aim of seeking the truth. It is closely associated with such characteristically human activities as philosophy, science, ...

''.com. Retrieved December 9, 2002.

Electoral history

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oliver, Chase 1984 births Living people American LGBT politicians Candidates in the 2022 United States Senate elections Gay politicians Georgia (U.S. state) Democrats Georgia (U.S. state) Libertarians Georgia (U.S. state) politicians Politicians from Atlanta Politicians from Nashville, Tennessee