Chase Oliver wins Libertarian POTUS nomination

After a grueling seven ballots at the Libertarian National Convention, Chase Oliver won the party's presidential nomination, with >35% voting for None of the Above on the final ballot. 

Chase Oliver campaigning in Iowa, 2023. Photo by Gage Skidmore. CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons.

Chase Oliver Is the Libertarian Party's Presidential Pick | Reason | Eric Boehm: 

May 26, 2023 - "Two years ago, Chase Oliver burst onto the Libertarian political scene by forcing a runoff in the Georgia Senate election — a result that ultimately determined the majority in the U.S. Senate. Now he can aim to leave an even bigger mark.

"Oliver won the Libertarian Party's presidential nomination in dramatic fashion Sunday night, prevailing on the seventh round of balloting after running second in each of the first five rounds. Oliver received 60.6 percent of the vote in the final round, finally clearing the 50 percent threshold for victory against 'none of the above,' the only alternative that remained on the ballot after Oliver narrowly won a sixth-round showdown with professor-turned-podcaster Michael Rectenwald, who had led the count in each of the first five rounds [and was removed from the ballot for the seventh round - gd].

"'I am extending my hand. Take it, and be a partner with me in liberty," Oliver said in his victory speech, making a pitch to his opponents within the Libertarian Party, which has been riven for the past two years by a deep divide over tactics and principles. It was a fitting end to a tempestuous convention that saw Libertarian delegates loudly boo former President Donald Trump during an unorthodox appearance by the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.

"Oliver, a 38-year-old gay man from Atlanta with socially tolerant and pro-immigration views, delivered a passionate response after Trump's speech to the convention on Saturday. Now, he will get to spend the next six months competing directly against Trump and President Joe Biden, two men more than twice his age.... 

"Oliver's victory on Sunday night was a blow to the Mises Caucus, the right-leaning faction that took control of the Libertarian Party at the 2022 convention and that had orchestrated Trump's appearance at the convention. That faction's preferred candidate was Rectenwald.

"For much of Sunday's lengthy balloting process, it seemed like Rectenwald might narrowly prevail — even after giving a rambling, somewhat incoherent speech on Saturday night, after which he admitted that he'd been high on an edible. No candidate got close to an outright majority in the first round of balloting, completed in mid-afternoon on Sunday.... The second, third, and fourth rounds of voting whittled down the field but were hardly decisive. Rectenwald maintained his lead over Oliver... 

"It was the fifth round that provided the first indication of the final outcome. With tech entrepreneur Lars Mapstead eliminated, Oliver and ter Maat swept up dozens of additional votes while Rectenwald's momentum faltered. After being eliminated in that round, ter Maat extended an endorsement to Oliver from the convention floor — in exchange for being Oliver's vice-presidential choice. (Unlike the Republicans and Democrats, the Libertarian Party selects the two positions in separate votes. But the winner of the presidential nomination typically has significant influence in the outcome of the second contest.).... ter Maat's embrace of Oliver seemed to tilt the outcome."

Read more: https://reason.com/2024/05/26/chase-oliver-is-the-libertarian-partys-presidential-pick/