2004 Libertarian Party presidential primaries

The 2004 Libertarian Party presidential primaries allowed voters to indicate non-binding preferences for the Libertarian Party's presidential candidate. These differed from the Republican or Democratic presidential primaries and caucuses in that they did not appoint delegates to represent a candidate at the party's convention to select the party's nominee for the United States presidential election. The party's nominee for the 2004 presidential election was chosen directly by registered delegates at the 2004 Libertarian National Convention, which ran from May 28 to 31, 2004. The delegates nominated Michael Badnarik for president and Richard Campagna for vice president.

2004 Libertarian Party presidential primaries

← 2000 February 3, 2004–May 11, 2004 2008 →
Non-binding preferential vote
Candidate Gary Nolan Aaron Russo Michael Badnarik[a] Contests won 5 0 0 Popular vote 14,683 4,964 4,879 Percentage 55.0% 18.6% 18.3%
First place by popular vote   Gary Nolan (5)   No contest
Previous Libertarian nominee Harry Browne Libertarian nominee Michael Badnarik

Five primaries were held.^[1] A total of 26,701 votes were cast in these primaries.

Candidates

Candidate		Profession	Campaign	On primary ballot					Popular vote
				MO	WI	CA	MA	NE
Gary Nolan		Talk radio host							14,683
Aaron Russo		Entertainment businessman, film producer and director, and political activist							4,964
Michael Badnarik		Software engineer							4,879
Jeffrey Diket									223
Ruben Perez		2002 candidate for Texas Railroad Commission[2]							219
Alternate ballot options:
Uncommitted/No preference/Uninstructed delegation		N/A							1,115

Primaries and caucuses

National totals

Candidate	Votes	%	First-place primary/caucus finishes
Gary Nolan	14,683	54.99%	5
Aaron Russo	4964	18.59%	—
Michael Badnarik	4,879%	18.27	—
Uncommitted/uninstructed	885	3.31%	—
Jeffery Diket	223	0.84%	—
Ruben Perez	219	0.82%	—
Scattered write-ins	214	0.80%	—

Missouri primary

In the Wisconsin primary on February 3, the Libertarian Party had a state-run primary held alongside the Democratic, Republican primaries.[3]

Missouri Libertarian presidential primary, February 3, 2004[3][4] Candidate Votes Percentage Gary Nolan 899 45.7 Uncommitted 746 37.9 N. Ruben Perez 167 8.5 Jeffrey Diket 155 7.9 Total 1,967 100

Wisconsin primary

In the Wisconsin primary on February 17, the Libertarian Party had a state-run primary held alongside the Democratic, Republican primaries.[4][5]

Wisconsin Libertarian presidential primary, February 17, 2004[5] Candidate Votes Percentage Gary Nolan 1,491 43.2 Michael Badnarik 1,416 41.0 Uninstructed delegation 139 4.0 Total 3,450 100

California primary

Type: Semi-Closed

In the California primary on March 2, the Libertarian Party had a state-run primary held alongside those for the Republicans, Democrats, the Green Party, and the Peace and Freedom Party.[6]

California Libertarian presidential primary, March 2, 2004[4][6] Candidate Votes Percentage Gary Nolan 11,885 59.2 Aaron Russo 4,858 24.2 Michael Badnarik 3,335 16.6 Total 20,078 100

Massachusetts primary

In the Massachusetts primary on March 2, the Libertarian Party had a state-run primary held alongside the Democratic, Republican, and Green primaries.[1][7]

Massachusetts Libertarian presidential primary, March 2, 2004[4][8] Candidate Votes Percentage Gary Nolan 292 28.0 No preference 230 22.0 Aaron Russo 106 10.2 Michael Badnarik 82 7.9 Jeffrey Diket 68 6.5 Ruben Perez 52 5.0 Write-ins 214 20.5 Total 1,044 100

Nebraska primary

In the Nebraska primary on May 11, the Libertarian Party had a state-run primary held alongside the Democratic and Republican primaries.[9]

Missouri Libertarian presidential primary, May 11, 2004[4][9] Candidate Votes Percentage Gary Nolan 116 71.6 Michael Badnarik 46 28.4 Total 162 100

2004 National Convention

Main article: 2004 Libertarian National Convention

See also

Presidential primaries

• 2004 Democratic Party presidential primaries
• 2004 Green Party presidential primaries
• 2004 Republican Party presidential primaries

National Conventions

• 2008 Constitution Party National Convention
• 2004 Libertarian National Convention
• 2004 Green National Convention
• 2004 Democratic National Convention
• 2004 Republican National Convention

Notes

1. The primaries were non-binding. Despite not receiving a plurality of the popular vote, Badnarik was able to secure a majority of delegate votes at the convention, and thus the nomination.