Portal:Libertarianism/Selected biography/11

Mary J. Ruwart is a libertarian speaker, writer, activist and was a leading candidate for the 2008 Libertarian Party presidential nomination. She is the author of the bestselling 1992 book Healing Our World: The Other Piece of the Puzzle.

A member of the Libertarian Party, Ruwart campaigned unsuccessfully for the party's presidential nomination in 1984 and for the vice presidential nomination in 1992. Ruwart was the Libertarian Party of Texas's nominee for Senate in 2000, where she faced incumbent Republican Kay Bailey Hutchison: Ruwart polled 1.16% of the popular vote (72,798 votes), finishing fourth behind Green Party candidate Douglas S. Sandage.

Ruwart has served on the Libertarian National Committee and was a keynote speaker at the 2004 Libertarian National Convention. In 2002, libertarians launched an unsuccessful lobbying campaign to get Ruwart appointed Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner. Additionally, Ruwart has served on the boards of the International Society for Individual Liberty, the Fully Informed Jury Association and the Michigan chapter of the Heartland Institute.