2024 Libertarian Party presidential primaries

2024 Libertarian Party presidential primaries

January 13 to June 4, 2024
Non-binding preferential vote
Candidate Charles Ballay None of the above Chase Oliver Home state Louisiana — Georgia Contests won 1 2 6 Popular vote 22,337 6,384 3,498 Percentage 55.1% 15.7% 8.6%   Candidate Jacob Hornberger Lars Mapstead Michael Rectenwald Home state Virginia California Pennsylvania Contests won 0 2 2 Popular vote 2,043 1,226 943 Percentage 5.0% 3.0% 2.3%   Candidate Mike ter Maat Joshua Smith Home state Florida Iowa Contests won 1 1 Popular vote 589 416 Percentage 1.5% 1.0%
First place by first-instance vote   Chase Oliver   None of the Above   Write-in   Michael Rectenwald   Mike ter Maat   Lars Mapstead   Joshua Smith   Jacob Hornberger   Charles Ballay   Toad Anderson   No vote
Previous Libertarian nominee Jo Jorgensen Libertarian nominee Chase Oliver

The 2024 Libertarian Party presidential primaries and caucuses were a series of current electoral contests to indicate non-binding preferences for the Libertarian Party (LP) presidential nominee in the 2024 United States presidential election. These differed from the Republican or Democratic presidential primaries and caucuses in that they do not appoint delegates to represent a candidate at the party's convention to select the party's presidential nominee.

The party's nominee was chosen directly by registered delegates at the 2024 Libertarian National Convention on May 26 in Washington, D.C. Chase Oliver was chosen as the party's nominee in the seventh round of voting.

Results

Candidates and ballot options listed on multiple ballots and receiving at least 1% of the national popular vote are listed individually on the table. All remaining votes are detailed under the other column.

Legend:		1st place (popular vote)		2nd place (popular vote)		3rd place (popular vote)		Candidate has withdrawn		Candidate unable to appear on ballot

Date	Contest	Candidates and results
		Charles Ballay	Jacob Hornberger	Lars Mapstead	Chase Oliver	Michael Rectenwald	Joshua Smith	Mike ter Maat	Other	None of the Above
January 13	Arizona	Not on ballot	2nd	5th	1st	3rd	3rd	5th	Not on ballot	2 votes
January 15	Iowa	0% 0 votes	1.1% 1 vote	1.1% 1 vote	42.7% 38 votes	16.9% 15 votes	13.5% 12 votes	13.5% 12 votes	10.1% 9 votes	1.1% 1 vote
February 3	Alabama	4th	6th	3rd	5th	1st	Not on ballot	2nd	6th	Not on ballot
February 24	Mississippi	0% 0 votes	11.8% 2 votes	29.4% 5 votes	11.8% 2 votes	41.2% 7 votes	0% 0 votes	0% 0 votes	0% 0 votes	5.9% 1 vote
February 27	Minnesota	2.3% 1 vote	14.0% 6 votes	0% 0 votes	23.3% 10 votes	20.9% 9 votes	30.2% 13 votes	4.7% 2 votes	2.3% 1 vote	2.3% 1 vote
March 2	Indiana	Not on ballot	4.0% 4 votes	13.9% 14 votes	62.4% 63 votes	5.9% 6 votes	4.0% 4 votes	6.9% 7 votes	Not on ballot	3.0% 3 votes
	Pennsylvania	2.2% 3 votes	4.4% 6 votes	0.1% 1 vote	19.0% 26 votes	22.6% 31 votes	16.1% 22 votes	28.5% 39 votes	6.6% 9 votes	Not on ballot
March 5	North Carolina	3.6% 183 votes	7.0% 357 votes	3.5% 176 votes	13.3% 676 votes	3.8% 195 votes	7.0% 354 votes	2.7% 137 votes	18.7% 946 votes	40.5% 2,058 votes
	California	98.6% 21,906 votes	Not on ballot		1.4% 313 votes	Not on ballot
	Oklahoma	Not on ballot	38.9% 362 votes	Not on ballot	61.1% 569 votes	Not on ballot
	Massachusetts	Not on ballot	11.0% 1,089 votes	4.0% 399 votes	14.6% 1,453 votes	5.5% 546 votes	Not on ballot	3.2% 314 votes	21.7% 2,161 votes	40.0% 3,982 votes
April 2	Connecticut	First Ballot: 6.6% 7 votes Final Ballot: 0.0% 0 votes	First Ballot: 11.3% 12 votes Final Ballot: 34.4% 23 votes	First Ballot: 6.6% 7 votes Final Ballot: 0.0% 0 votes	First Ballot: 34.9% 37 votes Final Ballot: 65.6% 49 votes	First Ballot: 14.6% 14 votes Final Ballot: 0.0% 0 votes	First Ballot: 9.4% 10 votes Final Ballot: 0.0% 0 votes	First Ballot: 8.5% 9 votes Final Ballot: 0.0% 0 votes	First Ballot: 3.8% 4 votes Final Ballot: 0.0% 0 votes	First Ballot: 5.7% 6 votes Final Ballot: 0.0% 0 votes
May 5	Maine	Not on ballot	0.0% 0 votes	73.3% 11 votes	13.3% 2 votes	Not on ballot	6.7% 1 vote	0.0% 0 votes	6.7% 1 vote	Not on ballot
May 14	Nebraska	21.2% 237 votes	18.2% 204 votes	16.1% 180 votes	27.6% 309 votes	10.7% 120 votes	Not on ballot	6.2% 69 votes	Not on ballot
June 4	New Mexico	Not on ballot		56.5% 432 votes	Not on ballot					43.5% 332 votes
Totals as of June 5 (See Above)		55.1% 22,337 votes	5.0% 2,043 votes	3.0% 1,226 votes	8.6% 3,498 votes	2.3% 943 votes	1.0% 416 votes	1.5% 589 votes	7.7% 3,131 votes	15.7% 6,384 votes

Candidates

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.

Nominee

2024 Libertarian Party nominee

Name		Born	Experience	Home state	Campaign Announcement date	Contests won	Popular vote	Running mate	Ref.
Chase Oliver		August 16, 1985 (age 39) 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	6 (IA, IN, AZ, OK, CT, NE)	3,498 (8.6%)	Mike ter Maat

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.

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%)
Michael Rectenwald		January 29, 1959 (age 65) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	Author and Scholar Former New York University professor (2008–2019)	Pennsylvania	August 28, 2023 FEC filing	May 26, 2024 (eliminated in sixth balloting)	2 (MS, AL)	943 (2.3%)
Mike ter Maat		June 20, 1961 (age 63) Portland, Oregon	Economist Former Hallandale Beach, Florida police officer Nominee for FL-20 in 2022	Virginia	April 18, 2022 FEC filing	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 55) Monterey, California	Co-founder of Friend Finder Networks Founder of Fupa Games and Legendary Speed	California	March 23, 2021 FEC filing Running mate: Larry Sharpe	May 26, 2024 (eliminated during fourth balloting; endorsed Oliver after his nomination)	2 (ME, NM)	1,226 (3.0%)
Joshua Smith		March 13, 1983 (age 41) Antioch, California	Vice Chair of the Libertarian National Committee (2022–2023)	Iowa	July 24, 2023 FEC filing	May 26, 2024 (eliminated during third balloting)	1 (MN)	416 (1.0%)
Jacob Hornberger		January 28, 1950 (age 74) 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	May 26, 2024 (eliminated during second balloting)	0	2,043 (5.0%)
Charles Ballay		January 1, 1970 (age 54) New Orleans, Louisiana	Otolaryngologist	Louisiana	August 24, 2023 FEC filing	May 26, 2024 (eliminated during initial balloting; endorsed Oliver after his nomination)	1 (CA)	22,337 (55.1%)
Art Olivier		August 24, 1957 (age 67) 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	May 26, 2024 (eliminated during initial balloting)	0	5 (nil%)

Withdrew before the primaries

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)	FEC filing

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.

On the ballot/received votes in multiple states

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

On the ballot/received votes in one state

• David "TrimeTaveler" Dunlap (NC) from Florida
• Beau Lindsey (NC), "anonymous candidate" from Tennessee
• Robert Sansone (IA), Air Force veteran and government contractor from Colorado
• Mario Perales (IA), alien hunter from Iowa
• David Reed DeSilva III of Arizona (MN)

On the ballot/received votes in no states

• Joshua Rodriguez, computer scientist from Colorado
• Jody Jones, activist and economist from Florida

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)
• Spike Cohen, political activist, entrepreneur, podcaster, and Libertarian vice presidential nominee in 2020
• Chris Fronzak, lead musician for Attila
• 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)
• Vivek Ramaswamy, executive chairman of Strive Asset Management (2022–2023) and CEO of Roivant Sciences (2014–2021) (ran as a Republican; endorsed Trump)
• Dave Smith, stand-up comedian, libertarian political commentator, and podcaster (endorsed Rectenwald)
• 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)

Endorsements

Lars Mapstead

Notable individuals

• Larry Sharpe, businessman, motivational speaker, and nominee for Governor of New York in 2018 and 2022 (running mate)

Chase Oliver

Organizations

• Classical Liberal Caucus

Notable individuals

• Keenan Dunham, former chair of the Horry County, South Carolina Libertarian Party and candidate for LP presidential nomination in 2016, 2020, and 2024
• Mark Tuniewicz, Libertarian National Committee regional representative

Michael Rectenwald

State officials

• Andrew Napolitano, former Judge of the New Jersey Superior Court (1987–1995)

Notable individuals

• Gene Epstein, economist
• Dave Smith, stand-up comedian, podcaster, and libertarian political commentator
• Maj Toure, libertarian political activist and rapper (Independent)

Organizations

• Mises Caucus

Joshua Smith

Notable individuals

• Shane Hazel, 2020 nominee for U.S. Senate in Georgia, 2022 nominee for Governor in Georgia

Timeline of the race

2021

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

2022

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

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.
• February 20: Jacob Hornberger, the runner-up for the party's 2020 nomination announces on X that he is seeking the nomination once again.
• 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
• April 5: Following a months long exploratory committee, Chase Oliver announces his candidacy for the presidential nomination on X.
• 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.
• July 24: Former Vice Chair of the Libertarian National Committee Joshua Smith formally begins his campaign for the nomination.
• 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.
• August 24: Otolaryngologist Charles Ballay files to run for the nomination.
• August 28: Author and former New York University professor Michael Rectenwald files to seek the Libertarian presidential nomination, announcing his candidacy days later.
• December 11: 2000 vice presidential nominee Art Olivier files to run for the presidential nomination.

2024

• January 13 Chase Oliver wins the Arizona Libertarian Party straw poll
• January 15: The Libertarian Party of Iowa held its first ever caucus as a recognized party in the state.
• January 16: The next day, Chase Oliver is announced as its winner via a plurality with 42.7% of the vote
• February 3 Michael Rectenwald wins the Libertarian Party of Alabama straw poll
• February 24 Rectenwald wins the Libertarian Party of Mississippi
• February 27 Joshua Smith wins the Libertarian Party of Minnesota's internally-held presidential preference caucus.
• 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
  • As the only candidate on the ballot, Charles Ballay wins the California Libertarian presidential primary.
  • Oliver wins the Oklahoma Libertarian presidential primary.
  • "No preference" wins Massachusetts Libertarian presidential primary.

Overview

	Active campaign		Withdrawn candidate
	Midterm elections		Primary
	Super Tuesday		Libertarian National Convention

Debates and forums

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

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Sites of the Libertarian Party presidential debates.

Debates

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

Libertarian Party-sponsored debates among candidates for the 2024 Libertarian Party U.S. presidential nomination

Date	Place	Host	Participants
P  Participant.  I  Invitee.  A  Absent.  N  Confirmed non-invitee.  O  Out of race (exploring, suspended, or not yet entered)			Ballay	Hornberger	Mapstead	Oliver	Olivier	Rectenwald	Smith	ter Maat	Others
October 3, 2023	Stanhope, New Jersey	North New Jersey Libertarian Party	A	A	A	P	O	P	P	A	A
November 11, 2023	North Charleston, South Carolina	South Carolina Libertarian Party	N	P	P	P	O	P	P	P	N
December 2, 2023	Cromwell, Connecticut	Connecticut Libertarian Party	A	P	P	P	O	P	A	P	A
January 13, 2024	Tucson, Arizona	Arizona Libertarian Party	A	P	P	P	A	P	A	P	A
January 15, 2024	Des Moines, Iowa	Libertarian Party of Iowa	A	A	P	P	A	A	P	P	A
January 20, 2024	Jacksonville, Florida	Libertarian Party of Florida	A	P	P	P	A	P	P	P	A
January 27, 2024	Conyers, Georgia	Libertarian Party of Georgia	A	P	P	P	A	P	P	P	P
February 3, 2024	Delta, Alabama	Libertarian Party of Alabama	P	P	P	P	A	P	A	P	P
February 7, 2024	Midwest City, Oklahoma	Libertarian Party of Oklahoma	N	P	N	P	N	N	N	N	N
February 17, 2024	Des Moines, Iowa	Libertarian Party of Iowa	A	A	A	A	P	A	A	P	A
February 18, 2024	Clemmons, North Carolina	Libertarian Party of North Carolina	A	P	P	P	A	P	A	P	A
February 23, 2024	St. Louis, Missouri	Libertarian Party of Missouri	A	P	A	A	A	A	A	P	A
February 24–25, 2024	Costa Mesa, California	Libertarian Party of California	N2	N2	N2	A	A	N1	A	N1	N1/2
March 2, 2024	Harrisburg, Pennsylvania	Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania	P	P	A	P	P	P	P	P	A
March 3, 2024	New Brunswick, New Jersey	Libertarian Party of New Jersey	P	P	P	P	A	P	P	P	A
March 8, 2024	Elmhurst, Illinois	Libertarian Party of Illinois	P	P	P	P	P	A	P	P	A
March 9, 2024	Flint, Michigan	Libertarian Party of Michigan	P	P	P	P	P	A	A	P	A
March 17, 2024	Watkins Glen, New York	Libertarian Party of New York	P	P	P	P	A	P	A	P	P
March 23, 2024	Colorado Springs, Colorado	Libertarian Party of Colorado	A	P	P	P	A	P	A	P	A
April 6, 2024	Metairie, Louisiana	Libertarian Party of Louisiana	P	P	P	P	A	A	A	P	A
April 12, 2024	Corpus Christi, Texas	Libertarian Party of Texas	N	N	P	P	N	P	N	P	N
April 14, 2024	Spokane, Washington	Libertarian Party of Washington	A	P	A	P	A	P	P	P	A
April 19, 2024	Salt Lake City, Utah	Libertarian Party of Utah	P	A	P	A	A	A	A	P	A
April 20, 2024	Overland Park, Kansas	Libertarian Party of Kansas	A	P	A	P	A	P	P	P	A
April 21, 2024	Duluth, Minnesota	Libertarian Party of Minnesota	P	A	P	P	P	A	P	P	A
May 25, 2024	Washington, D.C.	United States Libertarian Party	P	N	P	P	N	P	P	P	N

Candidate	Debates
ter Maat	24
Oliver	22
Mapstead	20
Hornberger	19
Rectenwald	16
Smith	12
Ballay	11
Olivier	5
Collins Jr.	2
Anderson	1

Forums

Forums among candidates for the 2024 Libertarian Party U.S. presidential nomination

Date	Place	Host	Participants
P  Participant.  A  Absent.  O  Out of race (exploring, suspended, or not yet entered)			Ballay	Hornberger	Mapstead	Oliver	Olivier	Rectenwald	Smith	Maat	Others
February 15, 2023	Online	Larry Sharpe	O	O	P	P	O	O	O	P	P
March 26, 2023	Unknown, Washington	Libertarian Party of Washington	O	A	A	P	O	O	O	P	A
April 26, 2023	Online	Larry Sharpe	O	A	P	P	O	O	O	P	P
June 24, 2023	Lancaster, New Hampshire	PorcFest	O	A	P	A	O	O	O	P	A
October 21, 2023	Jacksonville, Florida	Libertarian Party of Duval County	A	A	P	P	O	P	P	P	A
December 10, 2023	Unknown, New Jersey	Libertarian Party of New Jersey	A	P	A	A	O	P	A	P	A

Primary election polling

State polling

Poll source	Sample size	Date(s)	Hornberger	Mapstead	Oliver	Rectenwald	ter Maat	Others
Iowa State Fair Presidential Straw Poll	143	August 21, 2023	4%	2%	19%		2%	74%
Suffolk University Massachusetts Poll	10	February 2, 2024 – February 5, 2024	10%	0%	10%	0%	0%	70%

Campaign finance

According to campaign finance laws, an individual must begin filing reports once they raise or spend more than $5,000. This fundraising table includes money raised and spent as of June 30, 2023. As Smith had not officially announced his campaign as of that date, he has not reported any fundraising. Fundraising reports for the third quarter must be filed by October 15, 2023.

Overview of campaign financing for candidates in the 2024 Libertarian Party presidential primaries

through June 30, 2023

Candidate	Total raised	Total raised since last quarter	Individual contributions			Debt	Spent	Spent since last quarter	COH
			Total	Unitemized	Pct
Hornberger	$30,386	$12,870	$30,361	$1,611	5.3%	$0	$13,338	$3,807	$17,048
Mapstead	$158,414	$151,193	$2,300	$1,800	78.3%	$150,000	$94,497	$56,871	$101,543
Oliver	$24,164			$5,432	22.5%	$0	$24,058		$106
Smith, Joshua	$0	$0	$0	$0	0.0%	$0	$0	$0	$0
ter Maat	$126,805		$6,961	$1,937	27.8%	$0	$96,820		$29,985
Exotic	$10,294				100.0%	$0	$8,530		$1,764

Schedule

Caucuses and primaries in the 2024 Libertarian Party presidential primaries

Date	Primaries/caucuses	Ref
January 13	Arizona convention
January 15	Iowa caucus
February 3	Alabama convention
February 24	Mississippi convention
February 27	Minnesota caucus
March 2	Indiana convention
	Pennsylvania convention
March 5	California primary
	Oklahoma primary
	Massachusetts primary
	North Carolina primary
April 2	Connecticut straw poll
May 5	Maine convention
May 14	Nebraska primary
May 24–26	Convention
June 4	New Mexico primary

Ballot access

The following is a table for 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. If a state does not appear in the table, the filing deadline in the state has not passed.

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
IA	Jan 15	Ballot access not required
AL	Feb 3
MS	Feb 24
MN	Feb 27	All FEC filed candidates qualified
IN	Mar 2
PA
MA	Mar 5
NC
CA
OK
CT	April 2
ME	May 5
NE	May 14
NM	Jun 4

See also

• Third party and independent candidates for the 2024 United States presidential election
• 2024 Democratic Party presidential primaries
• 2024 Republican Party presidential primaries
• 2024 Green Party presidential primaries
• 2024 Constitution Party presidential primaries
• 2024 United States presidential election