2024 Libertarian Party presidential primaries

Major candidates

Prior to the LP 2024 National Convention, 38 candidates filed with the Federal Election Commission to run for the Libertarian Party presidential nomination in 2024.^[20]

Nominee

More information Name, Born ...

2024 Libertarian Party nominee

Name		Born	Experience	Home state	Campaign Announcement date	Contests won	Popular vote	Running mate[r]	Ref.
Chase Oliver		August 16, 1985 (age 40) Nashville, Tennessee	Nominee for U.S. Senator from Georgia in 2022 Candidate for GA-05 in 2020 Chair of the Atlanta Libertarian Party (2016–2017)	Georgia	Campaign Website April 5, 2023 FEC filing[21]	6 (IA, IN, AZ, OK, CT, NE)	3,498 (8.6%)	Mike ter Maat[22][s]	[24]

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Eliminated at convention

This section includes candidates who filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission with intent to run under the Libertarian Party and who met one or more of the following criteria: a) meet Wikipedia's notability guidelines; b) participated in at least three Libertarian Party-sponsored debates; or c) received non-trivial media coverage as a candidate in this election cycle.

More information Candidate, Born ...

Eliminated in convention balloting

Candidate		Born	Experience	Home state	Campaign announced Announcement date	Campaign suspended Suspension date	Contests won	Popular vote	Ref.
No preference/ None of the above/ Uncommitted		N/A				May 26, 2024 (eliminated in seventh balloting)	2 (NC, MA)	6,384 (15.7%)	[11]
Michael Rectenwald		January 29, 1959 (age 67) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	Author and Scholar Former New York University professor (2008–2019)	Pennsylvania	August 28, 2023 FEC filing[25]	May 26, 2024 (eliminated in sixth balloting)	2 (MS, AL)	943 (2.3%)	[26]
Mike ter Maat		June 20, 1961 (age 64) Portland, Oregon	Economist Former Hallandale Beach, Florida police officer Nominee for FL-20 in 2022	Virginia	April 18, 2022 FEC filing[27]	May 26, 2024 (eliminated during fifth balloting; endorsed Oliver during balloting) (ran for vice-president)	1 (PA)	589 (1.5%)
Lars Mapstead		August 14, 1969 (age 56) Monterey, California	Co-founder of Friend Finder Networks Founder of Fupa Games and Legendary Speed[28]	California	March 23, 2021 FEC filing[29] Running mate: Larry Sharpe[30]	May 26, 2024 (eliminated during fourth balloting; endorsed Oliver after his nomination)	2 (ME, NM)	1,222 (3.0%)	[31]
Joshua Smith		March 13, 1983 (age 43) Antioch, California	Vice Chair of the Libertarian National Committee (2022–2023)	Iowa	July 24, 2023 FEC filing[32]	May 26, 2024 (eliminated during third balloting)	1 (MN)	416 (1.0%)	[26]
Jacob Hornberger		January 28, 1950 (age 76) Laredo, Texas	Founder and President of the Future of Freedom Foundation Independent candidate for U.S. Senate from Virginia in 2002 Candidate for President in 2000 and 2020	Virginia	February 20, 2023 FEC filing[33]	May 26, 2024 (eliminated during second balloting)	0	2,043 (5.0%)	[26]
Charles Ballay		January 1, 1970 (age 56) New Orleans, Louisiana	Otolaryngologist	Louisiana	August 24, 2023 FEC filing[34]	May 26, 2024 (eliminated during initial balloting; endorsed Oliver after his nomination)	1 (CA)	22,337 (55.1%)	[35]
Art Olivier		August 24, 1957 (age 68) Lynwood, California	Nominee for U.S. Vice President in 2000 Nominee for Governor of California in 2006 Mayor of Bellflower, California (1998–1999)	California	December 11, 2023 FEC filing[36]	May 26, 2024 (eliminated during initial balloting)	0	5 (nil%)	[37]

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Withdrew before the primaries

More information Name, Born ...

Former candidates in the 2024 Libertarian Party presidential primaries

Name	Born	Experience	Home state	Campaign announced	Campaign suspended	Campaign	Ref.
Joe Exotic	March 5, 1963 (age 60) Garden City, Kansas	Businessman and media personality Owner of the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park (1998–2018) Independent candidate for president in 2016 Candidate for Governor of Oklahoma in 2018	Texas	March 10, 2023	April 11, 2023 (ran for the Democratic nomination)[38]	FEC filing[39]	[40]

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Other candidates

The following candidates achieved at least one of the following in the 2024 election cycle: appeared on a primary ballot, received votes in a LP-sanctioned contest that did not require ballot access, were invited to a party-sanctioned debate or forum, or were included on the Libertarian National Committee's list of candidates.

LNC delegates are not bound to votes in primary elections, so while voters are able choose a candidate, it has no direct effect on the nominee selection at the party's nominating Convention.^[41]

On the ballot/received votes in multiple states

• Joseph Collins Jr., broadcaster from California (AL, MS, PA, CT)^[42][43]
• Joshua "Toad" Anderson (NC, PA)^[35](Nominated on floor of the national convention as "Toad")^[44]

On the ballot/received votes in one state

• David "TrimeTaveler" Dunlap (NC) from Florida^[35][45]
• Beau Lindsey (NC), "anonymous candidate" from Tennessee^[35][46][47]
• Robert Sansone (IA), Air Force veteran and government contractor from Colorado^[48]
• Mario Perales (IA), alien hunter from Iowa^[49][50][51]
• David Reed DeSilva III of Arizona (MN)^[52]

On the ballot/received votes in no states

• Joshua Rodriguez, computer scientist from Colorado^[53][54]
• Jody Jones, activist and economist from Florida^[55][56]

Declined to be candidates

The following notable individuals had been the subject of speculation about their possible candidacy but either publicly denied interest in running, or ultimately did not run.

• Justin Amash, former United States Representative from MI-03 (2011–2021), member of the Michigan House of Representatives from the 72nd district (2009–2011) (ran for U.S. Senate as a Republican, eliminated in primary)^[26][57]
• Spike Cohen, political activist, entrepreneur, podcaster, and Libertarian vice presidential nominee in 2020^[26]
• Chris Fronzak, lead musician for Attila^[58]
• Robert F. Kennedy Jr., environmental lawyer and founder of Children's Health Defense (previously ran for the Democratic nomination; ran as an independent before withdrawing and endorsing Trump)^[59][60]
• Vivek Ramaswamy, executive chairman of Strive Asset Management (2022–2023) and CEO of Roivant Sciences (2014–2021) (ran as a Republican; endorsed Trump)^[61][62]
• Dave Smith, stand-up comedian, libertarian political commentator, and podcaster^[63][64] (endorsed Rectenwald)^[65]
• Vermin Supreme, performance artist, activist, political satirist, perennial candidate, and candidate for the 2020 Libertarian presidential nomination (ran for the Democratic and Legal Marijuana Now nominations, now running as the US Pirate Party nominee) ^[66][67][68]

2021

• March 23: Co-founder of Friend Finder Networks Lars Mapstead files to run^[29]

2022

• April 18: Mike ter Maat files to run^[27]
• December 2: Nominee for Georgia's 2022 U.S. Senator race, Chase Oliver forms an exploratory committee for the party's nomination.^[75]

2023

• February 8: Vermin Supreme, a perennial candidate and satirist who had previously vied for party's nomination, announces his departure from the party, citing disagreements with party leadership.^[76]
• February 20: Jacob Hornberger, the runner-up for the party's 2020 nomination announces on X that he is seeking the nomination once again.^[77]
• March 10: Being arrested in 2020 for his role in a murder-for-hire plot, Joe Exotic, from his prison cell, launches his campaign for the nomination via X^[78][40]
• April 5: Following a months long exploratory committee, Chase Oliver announces his candidacy for the presidential nomination on X.^[79][80]
• April 11: Following condemnation from party chair Angela McArdle and his own frustrations about party infighting and views on weapon ownership, Exotic suspends his campaign to instead run for the Democratic nomination.^[40][38]
• July 24: Former Vice Chair of the Libertarian National Committee Joshua Smith formally begins his campaign for the nomination.^[26][32]
• August 19: After campaigning extensively in Iowa throughout the summer, Oliver makes history as the first third-party presidential candidate to speak at the Iowa State Fair.^[81]
• August 24: Otolaryngologist Charles Ballay files to run for the nomination.^[34]
• August 28: Author and former New York University professor Michael Rectenwald files to seek the Libertarian presidential nomination, announcing his candidacy days later.^[25]
• December 11: 2000 vice presidential nominee Art Olivier files to run for the presidential nomination.^[36]

2024

• January 13 Chase Oliver wins the Arizona Libertarian Party straw poll^[4]
• January 15: The Libertarian Party of Iowa held its first ever caucus as a recognized party in the state.^[82]
• January 16: The next day, Chase Oliver is announced as its winner via a plurality with 42.7% of the vote^[83]
• February 3 Michael Rectenwald wins the Libertarian Party of Alabama straw poll^[6]
• February 24 Rectenwald wins the Libertarian Party of Mississippi^[7]
• February 27 Joshua Smith wins the Libertarian Party of Minnesota's internally-held presidential preference caucus.^[8]
• March 2;
  • Oliver wins the Libertarian Party of Indiana internally-held presidential preference caucus.
  • Oliver wins the Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania internally-held presidential preference caucus.
• March 5;
  • "No preference" wins the North Carolina Libertarian primary^[11]
  • As the only candidate on the ballot, Charles Ballay wins the California Libertarian presidential primary.^[12]
  • Oliver wins the Oklahoma Libertarian presidential primary.^[14]
  • "No preference" wins Massachusetts Libertarian presidential primary.^[15]

Overview

Schedule

L1
Stanhope

L2
North Charleston

L3
Cromwell

L4
Tucson

L5
Des Moines

L6
Jacksonville

L7
Conyers

L8
Delta

L9
Midwest City

L10
Des Moines

L11
Clemmons

L11
St. Louis

L12
Costa Mesa

L13
Harrisburg

L14
New Brunswick

L15
Elmhurst

L16
Flint

L17
Watkins Glen

L18
Colorado Springs

L19
Metairie

L20
Corpus Christi

L21
Spokane

L22
Salt Lake City

L23
Overland Park

L24
Duluth

L25
Washington

Sites of the Libertarian Party presidential debates.

Debates

The following table lists debates which are sponsored by an affiliate of the Libertarian Party.

Forums

State polling

Ballot access

The following is a table of which candidates have received ballot access in which states. indicates that the candidate was on the ballot for the primary contest, indicates that the candidate was a recognized write-in candidate, and indicates that the candidate did not appear on the ballot in that state's contest. indicates that a candidate withdrew before the election but was still listed on the ballot. States not appearing in the table did not hold Libertarian presidential primaries.

More information State, Date ...

Ballot access in the 2024 Libertarian presidential preference contests

State	Date	Ballay	Hornberger	Mapstead	Oliver	Olivier	Rectenwald	Smith	ter Maat	Other	NOTA	Ref
AZ	Jan 13											[144]
IA (caucus)	Jan 15	Ballot access not required
AL	Feb 3									[bb]		[92]
MS	Feb 24									[bc]		[7]
MN	Feb 27	All FEC filed candidates qualified										[136]
IN	Mar 2
PA										[bd]		[137]
MA	Mar 5											[145]
NC										[be]		[146]
CA												[147][148]
OK												[149]
CT	April 2									[bf]		[16]
ME	May 5									[bg]		[150]
NE	May 14											[151]
NM	Jun 4											[152]

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