2016 Libertarian National Convention

The 2016 Libertarian National Convention was the gathering at which delegates of the Libertarian Party chose the party's nominees for president and vice president in the 2016 national election. The party selected Gary Johnson, a former Governor of New Mexico, as its presidential candidate, with Bill Weld, a former Governor of Massachusetts as his running mate. The convention was held from May 26–30, 2016, in Orlando, Florida.^[2][3]

2016 Libertarian National Convention

2016 presidential election
Nominees Johnson and Weld
Convention
Date(s)	May 26–30, 2016
City	Orlando, Florida, United States
Venue	Rosen Centre Hotel & Resort[1]
Keynote speaker	Ruth Bennett
Candidates
Presidential nominee	Gary Johnson of New Mexico
Vice-presidential nominee	Bill Weld of Massachusetts
Other candidates	Austin Petersen of Missouri John McAfee of Tennessee Darryl W. Perry of New Hampshire
Voting
Total delegates	911 delegates 76 alternates 928 votes
Votes needed for nomination	464 (Majority)
Results (president)	Johnson (NM): 518 (55.8%) Petersen (MO): 203 (21.8%) McAfee (VA): 131 (14.1%) Perry (NH): 52 (5.6%) Feldman (OH): 18 (1.9%) Other candidates (including NOTA): 6 (0.6%)
Ballots	President: 2 Ballots Vice President: 2 Ballots
‹ 2014 · 2018 ›

Theme

The theme of the 2016 convention was #LegalizeFreedom.^[4]

Events

VP debate

Orlando

Cleveland

Philadelphia

Houston

Sites of the 2016 national presidential nominating conventions. Blue, red, green, and yellow indicate the conventions for the Democratic, Republican, Green, and Libertarian parties, respectively.

• May 26 – The presidential candidates Marc Allan Feldman, Gary Johnson, John McAfee, Darryl W. Perry, and Austin Petersen participated in a political debate at the convention.
• May 27 – A debate between the Libertarian candidates seeking the vice presidential nomination was held. On the same day, the candidates for chairperson of the LNC debated.
• May 28 – A debate between the Libertarian presidential candidates was held. The debate was televised live by C-SPAN.^[5] It was moderated by Larry Elder.
• May 29 – The vote and nomination of the Libertarian presidential and vice-presidential candidates was held and televised by C-SPAN. Multiple ballots extended this.
  • In addition to the announcement of the Party's presidential ticket, a chairperson for the LNC was elected at the convention. Incumbent chairman of the Libertarian National Committee, Nicholas Sarwark was re-elected to the position.

Presidential delegate count

Libertarian National Convention Presidential vote, 2016 – 1st Ballot[6]
Candidate	First Ballot	Percentage
Gary Johnson	458	49.5%
Austin Petersen	197	21.3%
John McAfee	131	14.2%
Darryl Perry	63	6.8%
Marc Allan Feldman	58	6.3%
Kevin McCormick	9	1.0%
None of the above	5	0.5%
Ron Paul (Write-in)	1	0.1%
Vermin Supreme (Write-in)	1	0.1%
Heidi Zemen (Write-in)	1	0.1%
Derrick Grayson (Write-in)	1	0.1%
Totals	925	100%

No candidate achieved the majority on the first ballot, so there was a second ballot vote.  Due to finishing last of the six nominated candidates, McCormick was excluded from the second ballot.

Libertarian National Convention Presidential vote, 2016 – 2nd Ballot[6]
Candidate	Second Ballot	Percentage
Gary Johnson	518	55.8%
Austin Petersen	203	21.9%
John McAfee	131	14.1%
Darryl Perry	52	5.6%
Marc Allan Feldman	18	1.9%
None of the above	2	0.2%
Derrick Grayson (Write-in)	1	0.1%
Michael Shannon (Write-in)	1	0.1%
Kevin McCormick (Write-in)	1	0.1%
Rhett Smith (Write-in)	1	0.1%
Totals	928	100%

State by state delegate count

First place by delegate votes.

Gary Johnson (36)   Austin Petersen (9)   No vote (1)   John McAfee (3)   Tie (4)

Libertarian National Convention Presidential vote, 2016 – 1st Ballot[6]
State / District	Candidate							Write-in				Abstentions
	Marc Allan Feldman	Gary Johnson	John McAfee	Kevin McCormick	Darryl W. Perry	Austin Petersen	N.O.T.A.	Derrick Grayson	Ron Paul	Vermin Supreme	Heidi Zemen
Alabama		7	3		2	1
Alaska	1					5
Arizona	2	11	7	2	2	2
Arkansas	1	4	3				1
California	4	48	21	3	4	33				1	1
Colorado		17	1		2	2		1
Connecticut		3	3			4
Delaware		1		1		1
District of Columbia		3
Florida	4	28	3		5	13
Georgia	5	9	8		4	5
Hawaii		4				1
Idaho		6				1
Illinois		19	3		1	4
Indiana	1	18	4		2	9
Iowa	2	3	1	1		3
Kansas		2			1	2
Kentucky	1	7	3
Louisiana		4				8	1
Maine		2				5
Maryland	4	10			2	2
Massachusetts		8	3
Michigan	2	15	5		1	1	1
Minnesota		5			2	2
Mississippi		6	1			1
Missouri	1	7	1	1	1	12	1
Montana	1	1	2		1	2
Nebraska		2				6
Nevada		11				1	1
New Hampshire		1	2		5	1
New Jersey	2	9	5		2	3
New Mexico		11			2
New York	1	16	3		3	16
North Carolina	4	18	2	1	1	3
North Dakota		1	2			2
Ohio	8	21	3			9
Oklahoma	1	2	1		1	1
Oregon
Pennsylvania	3	16	4		12	6						1
Rhode Island		3
South Carolina		9				4
South Dakota		1
Tennessee		14	3		1
Texas	7	26	15		2	10
Utah	1	2	2			2			1
Vermont			3
Virginia	1	19	2		2	6						1
Washington	1	13	10			3
West Virginia						5
Wisconsin		13	2		1
Wyoming		2			1
Totals	58	458	131	9	63	197	5	1	1	1	1	2
Percentages	6.3%	49.5%	14.2%	1.0%	6.8%	21.3%	0.5%	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%	—

No candidate achieved the majority on the first ballot, so there was a second ballot vote.  Due to receiving less than 5% of the votes, McCormick was excluded from the second ballot.

Libertarian National Convention Presidential vote, 2016 – 2nd Ballot[6]
State / District	Candidate						Write-in
	Marc Allan Feldman	Gary Johnson	John McAfee	Darryl W. Perry	Austin Petersen	N.O.T.A.	Derrick Grayson	Kevin McCormick	Michael Shannon	Rhett Smith
Alabama		9	2	1	1
Alaska	1				5
Arizona		11	8	2	3	1
Arkansas		5	4
California	1	56	25	2	33
Colorado	1	17	1	3	1		1
Connecticut		4		1	4			1
Delaware		1			2
District of Columbia		3
Florida	2	31	5	3	12
Georgia	1	10	10	2	8
Hawaii		4			1
Idaho		6			1
Illinois		19	3	1	4
Indiana	1	24	1		8
Iowa		4	2		5
Kansas		2			4
Kentucky		8	3
Louisiana		4		1	8
Maine		2			5
Maryland	2	10	1	2
Massachusetts		8	3
Michigan	1	16	4	2	1	1
Minnesota		8		1	1
Mississippi		6	1		1
Missouri		10		1	13
Montana		2	3		2
Nebraska		2			5				1
Nevada		11			2
New Hampshire		2	4	3	1
New Jersey	1	11	4	2	3
New Mexico		12			1
New York		20	1	3	15
North Carolina	1	19	3	1	5
North Dakota		2	2		1
Ohio	3	21	7		9
Oklahoma		3			3
Oregon
Pennsylvania		18	4	12	7
Rhode Island		3
South Carolina		8		1	4
South Dakota		1
Tennessee		14	3	1
Texas	2	34	12	3	8					1
Utah		5			3
Vermont			3
Virginia		21	2	2	5
Washington	1	13	10		3
West Virginia		1			4
Wisconsin		15		1
Wyoming		2		1
Totals	18	518	131	52	203	2	1	1	1	1
Percentages	1.9%	55.8%	14.1%	5.6%	21.9%	0.2%	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%

Vice-presidential delegate count

Prior to vice presidential balloting, Marc Allan Feldman endorsed Gary Johnson's running mate Bill Weld, and Austin Petersen endorsed Alicia Dearn. Judd Weiss, whom John McAfee had selected as his running mate, withdrew his name from consideration and endorsed William Coley, who had been Darryl Perry's running mate. Consequently, McAfee endorsed Derrick Grayson, who received a write-in vote in each round of the presidential contest but had not campaigned for either the presidency or vice presidency prior to the convention.

Libertarian National Convention Vice Presidential vote, 2016 – 1st Ballot[6]
Candidate	First Ballot	Percentage
Bill Weld	426	49.0%
Larry Sharpe	264	30.4%
William Coley	93	10.7%
Derrick Grayson	48	5.5%
Alicia Dearn	29	3.3%
None of the above	6	0.7%
Daniel Hogan (Write-in)	1	0.1%
Austin Petersen (Write-in)	1	0.1%
Gary Johnson (Write-in)	1	0.1%
Totals	869	100%

No candidate achieved the majority on the first ballot, so there was a second ballot vote. Due to finishing last of the five nominated candidates, Dearn was excluded from the second ballot. Dearn then endorsed Weld. Additionally, both Coley and Grayson withdrew their names and endorsed Sharpe. However, Grayson withdrew his candidacy after the second ballots had been handed out, and therefore his name remained on the ballot as a valid candidate.

Libertarian National Convention Vice Presidential vote, 2016 – 2nd Ballot[6]
Candidate	Second Ballot	Percentage
Bill Weld	441	50.6%
Larry Sharpe	409	46.9%
None of the above	12	1.4%
Derrick Grayson	9	1.0%
Mary Ruwart (Write-in)	1	0.1%
Totals	872	100%

Speakers

Notable speakers included:^[7]

• Craig Bowden, 2016 candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives from Utah's 1st congressional district
• William Coley, 2016 Libertarian vice presidential candidate
• Judge Jim Gray, 2012 Libertarian Vice Presidential nominee
• Larry Elder, lawyer, writer and radio and television personality who calls himself the "Sage of South Central," a district of Los Angeles, California
• Bruce Fein, lawyer specializing in constitutional and international law
• Sharon Harris, libertarian political activist and president of the Advocates for Self-Government, author
• Carla Howell, political activist and small government advocate
• Adam Kokesh, Iraq War veteran, anti-war and libertarian activist, and author
• Tim Moen, Leader of the Libertarian Party of Canada since May 2014, firefighter, paramedic, business owner, filmmaker, and volunteer
• John Moore, former member of the Nevada Assembly representing District 8, realtor
• Jordan Page, singer-songwriter and musician
• Jim Rogers, Chairman of Rogers Holdings and Beeland Interests, Inc., Co-founder of the Quantum Fund, businessman, investor and author
• Jeffrey Tucker, economics writer of the Austrian School, advocate of anarcho-capitalism and Bitcoin, publisher of libertarian books, conference speaker, and internet entrepreneur
• Dr. Thomas Woods, historian, author, and senior fellow of the Mises Institute

Incidents

• On May 29, candidate for chairman of the LNC James Weeks took stage and stripped down to a thong, saying "I thought we could use a little bit of fun." He danced on the stage before announcing the suspension of his bid for chairperson. He was booed loudly by the delegates and removed from the convention.^[8] The incident was streamed live on C-SPAN. This took place during the tabulation of votes on the second ballot for vice president, and many delegates attempted to make a motion to expel Weeks from the party. This was cut short when chairman Nicholas Sarwark moved to set the matter aside and announce the results of the vice presidential nomination. Weeks was later expelled from the Libertarian Party of Michigan, which disavowed all support for his candidacy for county Sheriff.^[9]
• After losing the nomination to Gary Johnson, Austin Petersen endorsed the nominee and gave him a plastic replica of a type of pistol owned by George Washington. Several delegates attending the convention later reported seeing Gary Johnson, the party's nominee, tossing the gift in the garbage. It was returned to Petersen by a family that attended the convention.^[10] A spokesman for the campaign apologized on behalf of Gov. Johnson, and explained the frustration arose from Petersen handing Johnson the replica before immediately launching into an attack on Johnson's endorsement of Weld for vice president. Petersen expressed a desire to move past the incident, encouraged his supporters to do the same, and confirmed that his endorsement of Johnson for the general election remained unchanged.^[11]

See also

• Libertarian National Convention
• Libertarian Party presidential debates and forums, 2016
• Libertarian Party presidential primaries, 2016
• United States Libertarian Party
• Other U.S. political parties' presidential nominating conventions of 2016:
  • Constitution Party National Convention
  • Democratic National Convention
  • Green National Convention
  • Republican National Convention
• 2016 United States presidential election