The party's nominee for the 2016 presidential election was chosen directly by registered delegates at the 2016 Libertarian National Convention, which ran from May 26 to 30, 2016.

Five recognized candidates withdrew: Cecil Ince, Steve Kerbel, Joy Waymire, Bart Lower and Donald Eugene Lowe.

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.

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.

[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.

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.

[35] 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.

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.

[43] Johnson was quickly deemed the front-runner for the Libertarian Party presidential nomination and was featured in subsequent polls.

No votes were cast for Libertarian Party candidates in the northwestern counties of Harrison, Holt, Mercer, and Worth.

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.

As of March 31, 2016 three candidates had reported their fundraising amounts to the Federal Election Commission; Gary Johnson, John McAfee and Austin Petersen.

Bill Weld, former governor of Massachusetts, was nominated for vice president after having previously been announced as Johnson's intended running mate.

Two governors running as a ticket attracted attention, in part because it had not happened for any party since the 1948 United States presidential election.