Day three of the Libertarian National Convention: Johnson/Weld chosen as nominees
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Libertarian National Convention, 2016
May 29, 2016
Although it took nearly eight hours from the time the first ballots for president were distributed to state delegation chairs, the Libertarian Party ended up with the odds-on favorites Gary Johnson and William Weld winning the ticket as expected. A total of 997 credentialed delegates and alternates were on hand to cast their vote. The meeting was chaired by Nicholas Sarwark, who won re-election as National Chair later in the afternoon.
Presidential election
The table below displays a state-by-state tally for each presidential candidate in the first round of balloting. Only the first ballot had state-by-state tallies available:
| First Ballot Libertarian Presidential Vote | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 458 | 63 | 197 | 131 | 58 | 9 | 3 | 5 |
| State | Gary Johnson | Daryl Perry | Austin Petersen | John McAfee | Marc Feldman | Kevin McCormick | Write-in | None of the Above |
| Alabama | 7 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Alaska | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Arizona | 11 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Arkansas | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| California | 48 | 4 | 33 | 21 | 4 | 3 | 1 (Vermin Supreme) 1 (Heidi Zemen) |
0 |
| Colorado | 17 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 (Derrick Grayson) | 0 |
| Connecticut | 3 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Delaware | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| D.C. | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Florida | 28 | 5 | 13 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Georgia | 9 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Hawaii | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Idaho | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Illinois | 19 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Indiana | 18 | 2 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Iowa | 3 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Kansas | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kentucky | 7 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Louisiana | 4 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Maine | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Maryland | 10 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Massachusetts | 8 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Michigan | 15 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Minnesota | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mississippi | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Missouri | 7 | 1 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Montana | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nebraska | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nevada | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| New Hampshire | 1 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| New Jersey | 9 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| New Mexico | 11 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| New York | 16 | 3 | 16 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| North Carolina | 18 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| North Dakota | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ohio | 21 | 0 | 9 | 3 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Oklahoma | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Oregon | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Pennsylvania | 16 | 12 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rhode Island | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| South Carolina | 9 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| South Dakota | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tennessee | 14 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Texas | 26 | 2 | 10 | 15 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Utah | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 (Ron Paul) | 0 |
| Vermont | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Virginia | 19 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Washington | 13 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| West Virginia | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Wisconsin | 13 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Wyoming | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
 Date: November 8, 2016 |
Winner: Donald Trump (R) Hillary Clinton (D) • Jill Stein (G) • Gary Johnson (L) • Vice presidential candidates |
Important dates • Nominating process • Ballotpedia's 2016 Battleground Poll • Polls • Debates • Presidential election by state • Ratings and scorecards |
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This page was current as of the 2016 election.
Johnson missed the 50 percent victory threshold by five votes, according to the official tally. Because McCormick had the fewest votes, he was dropped from the ballot for the second round. Addressing the body after his removal, McCormick did not endorse another candidate. Vote tallies were projected on a screen for the second vote rather than read aloud state by state as on the first ballot. The second ballot totals were:
- Johnson: 518 (55%)
- Petersen: 203 (21%)
- McAfee: 131 (14%)
- Perry: 52 (5%)
- Feldman: 13 (2%)
Johnson's election would come as no surprise to most, given the 2012 nominee's status as front-runner prior to the weekend. In total, Johnson won the most delegates from 31 states, with Petersen carrying seven states and Perry and McAfee each claiming the most delegates in one state each. In the other 10 states, more than one candidate tied for the most delegates.
Vice presidential election
Prior to vice presidential nominations, candidates who did not win the presidential nomination were allowed to speak for two minutes each. Feldman spoke in favor of nominating William Weld, but said he would not have selected him as his own vice president. Petersen refused to endorse Weld for vice president and instead offered his support to Alicia Dearn. McAfee endorsed Derrick Grayson over Judd Weiss, whose name appeared alongside McAfee's on his campaign placards. Perry slammed the idea of a ticket containing two former Republican governors and instead endorsed Will Coley. Prior to the business session, delegates were allowed to submit tokens for nomination for the vice presidential candidates.[1] The ones who met the threshold for nomination were:
- William Weld: 192
- Larry Sharpe: 161
- Alicia Dearn: 104
- Will Coley: 61
- Judd Weiss: 46
- Derrick Grayson: 33
During nomination speeches, Weiss dropped out of the race and offered an endorsement for Coley. A delegate objected to Grayson's candidacy, citing his previous run as a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Georgia. Dearn asked Weld to join her on stage and, amidst a mix of applause and boos, pleaded for unity within the party. She stopped short, however, of either dropping out or outright endorsing Weld. Given five minutes to speak after nominations, Johnson appealed to the crowd to nominate Weld to give him "the tools [he needs] to win."
For the vice presidential ballot, 928 delegates and alternates were eligible to vote, meaning a candidate needed 465 votes to secure a majority. The results of the first ballot were as follows:
- William Weld: 426 (49%)
- Larry Sharpe: 264 (30%)
- Alicia Dearn: 29 (3%)
- Will Coley: 93 (11%)
- Derrick Grayson: 48 (6%)
Dearn was eliminated as the candidate with the fewest votes. Coley chose to withdraw from consideration after the first vote. In a concession speech, Coley pledged his support to Sharpe. Dearn, meanwhile, endorsed Weld to jeers from the delegation. Delegates were then asked to vote a second time. Grayson withdrew during the voting and painted Weld as an establishment Republican before endorsing Sharpe. The results of the second ballot were as follows:
- Weld: 441 (50.5%)
- Sharpe: 409 (46.9%)
- Grayson: 9 (1%)
The announcement of Weld as vice presidential nominee came with mixed reviews from the convention floor. The vote did leave Johnson with his preferred running mate, however. While the two eventual nominees may have had their own tough moments throughout the convention, they emerged from the largest Libertarian National Convention to date as the pair tasked with elevating the name and reputation of the party.
See also
- Libertarian National Convention, 2016
- Gary Johnson presidential campaign, 2016
- Austin Petersen
- John McAfee
- Marc Allan Feldman
- Kevin McCormick
- Presidential candidates, 2016
- Presidential debates (2015-2016)
- Presidential election, 2016/Polls
- 2016 presidential candidate ratings and scorecards
- Presidential election, 2016/Straw polls
- ↑ Tokens were submitted by delegates anonymously throughout the morning. Although the token submission process acts as a sort of straw poll, it is not totally accurate, as some delegates may pledge votes to other candidates once their preference has reached the nomination threshold.
