The Libertarian Party nominated political activist Chase Oliver as its nominee for president at its convention Sunday, rejecting former President Donald Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s longshot bids for the party’s nomination.
Oliver secured the nomination in the seventh round of voting after sitting in second place for the first five rounds. He received nearly 60% of the vote in the final round, finally clearing the 50% threshold required for victory, with his final opponent being the “none of the above” option.
The last candidate to challenge Oliver was professor-turned-podcaster Michael Rectenwald, who was eliminated in the sixth round after leading in each of the first five rounds. Oliver overcame Rectenwald in the final two rounds after candidate Mike ter Maat was eliminated in the fifth round and endorsed Oliver in exchange for being named his vice presidential choice.
“I will continue to bring a hopeful and positive message of liberty to both those who consider themselves libertarian and those who don’t know they are libertarian yet,” Oliver said in his victory speech.
According to the party’s platform, libertarians value small government and individual freedoms.
They tend to oppose war and funding other nations’ wars, the War on Drugs, the death penalty, spying on Americans, taxes, running up the federal deficit and pandemic lockdowns while supporting gun rights, LGBTQ+ rights, freedom of expression and other freedoms that do not infringe on the rights of others.
