History of the Libertarian Party (United States)
This group included John Hospers, Edward Crane, Manuel Klausner, Murray Rothbard, Roy Childs, D. Frank Robinson, and Theodora (Tonie) Nathan.
Members of the party supported giving its presidential nomination to Murray Rothbard, Alan Greenspan, Vivien Kellems, A. Ernest Fitzgerald, Martin Anderson, Phil Crane, Robert A. Heinlein, H. R. Gross, Milton Friedman, Sam Ervin, Henry Manne, or Karl Hess.
[6] On December 29, 1981, the first widely reported successful election in the continental United States of a Libertarian Party candidate in a partisan race occurred as Richard P. Siano, a Boeing 707 pilot for Trans World Airlines, running against both a Republican and a Democrat, was elected to the office of Kingwood Township Committeeman in western Hunterdon County, New Jersey.
[7][8] In 1984, the party's presidential nominee, David Bergland, gained access to the ballot in 36 states and earned one-quarter of one percent of the popular vote.
In 1994, radio personality Howard Stern embarked on a political campaign for Governor of New York, formally announcing his candidacy under the Libertarian Party ticket.
The VP candidate in 1996 was South Carolina entrepreneur Jo Jorgensen; in 2000, Art Olivier of California was Browne's running mate.
Three candidates – gun-rights activist and software engineer Michael Badnarik, talk radio host Gary Nolan, and Hollywood producer Aaron Russo – came within two percent of each other on the first two ballots at the 2004 national convention in Atlanta.
His running mate was Richard Campagna who secured the vice presidential nod at the party's Atlanta convention with a landslide victory.
On May 12, 2008, ten days before the 2008 Libertarian National Convention, Bob Barr, a former employee for then CIA Director George W. Bush and later a Republican U.S.
Protests caused by the Great Recession and the Affordable Care Act resulted in gains for both the Libertarian and Republican parties in the 2010 midterm elections.
Though the Republicans successfully absorbed many voters from these protests as well, they would later lose popularity as the Libertarians continued to benefit into the 2012 elections and held on to much of the support they had lost in the mid-2000s.
After initially running for the Republican nomination, former Governor of New Mexico Gary Johnson announced his intention to seek that of the Libertarians.
Johnson is known for his opposition to United States involvement in the Afghanistan, Iraq and Libyan wars and as a fiscal conservative who supports "slashing government spending".
[16] Johnson's supporters heavily skewed young, with 70% of them being under 50, and many of them Republican-leaning and holding a bachelor's degree or higher; however, he was deeply unpopular with very conservative voters.
[17] Despite the success, Johnson's campaign is best remembered for his gaffe on September 8, on MSNBC's Morning Joe, he was asked by panelist Mike Barnicle, "What would you do, if you were elected, about Aleppo?"
"[19] The gaffe seriously damaged Johnson's credibility in the eyes of the average voter, seeing his polling steeply drop from its peak of 13% of the national electorate.
"[28][29][30] However, the New York Times reported in October 2024 that Democratic-linked dark money groups were funding ads promoting Oliver, with the goal of eating into Donald Trump's vote share.
[35] The judicial committee found that McArdle hadn't violated any by-laws, but that the "joint fundraiser" was improper, and must be withdrawn from immediately.
[36] Oliver and ter Maat earned 637,251 votes, or 0.42% of the electorate, falling behind RFK Jr. who got 0.48% despite dropping out, and behind the Green Party's Jill Stein who got 0.50%.
