The 2012 Libertarian National Convention, in which delegates of the Libertarian Party (LP) chose the party's nominees for

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and

vice president A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...

in the 2012 general election, was held May 2–6, 2012, in

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

, at the

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.Myers, Laura (November 30, 2010
"Las Vegas will host Libertarian convention"
''

Las Vegas Review-Journal The ''Las Vegas Review-Journal'' is a daily subscription newspaper published in Las Vegas, Nevada, since 1909. It is the largest circulating daily newspaper in Nevada and one of two daily newspapers in the Las Vegas area. The ''Review-Journal' ...

''. Retrieved November 30, 2010.Malcolm, Andrew (November 30, 2010
"Las Vegas gets its first national political convention"
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''. Retrieved November 30, 2010. Former

Governor of New Mexico The governor of New Mexico () is the head of government of New Mexico. The governor is the head of the executive branch of New Mexico's state government and the commander-in-chief of the New Mexico National Guard. As noted in the govern ...

Gary Johnson Gary Earl Johnson (born January 1, 1953) is an American businessman and politician who served as the 29th List of governors of New Mexico, governor of New Mexico from 1995 to 2003 as a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republica ...

won the presidential nomination on the first ballot. Retired California state court judge Jim Gray won the vice presidential nomination, also on the first ballot. The convention also chose to replace most of the

Libertarian National Committee The Libertarian National Committee (LNC) controls and manages the affairs, properties, and funds of the United States Libertarian Party. It is composed of the party officers, five at-large representatives elected every two years at the national co ...

party officers and members-at-large. The theme of this convention was ''Liberty Will Win''. Several non-binding advisory primaries were held ahead of the convention as part of the

2012 Libertarian Party presidential primaries The 2012 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 caucuse ...

Host selection

This was the first presidential nominating convention ever held in the Las Vegas Valley. Winger, Richard (November 21, 2010
"Libertarian Presidential Convention Will be May 4–6, 2012, in Las Vegas"
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Ballot Access News ''Ballot Access News'' is a United States–based website and monthly online and print newsletter edited and published by Bill Redpath and Richard Winger. History Richard Winger, an expert on ballot access law in the United States, started t ...

''. Retrieved December 1, 2010. Other cities that bid to host the convention included

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, and

San Francisco, California San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

Candidates debate

In February 2012,

, Lee Wrights, Bill Still,

Carl Person Carl E. Person (pronounced /ˈpir sən/) (born July 20, 1936) is an American attorney and politician. He founded the Paralegal Institute in the early 1970s and played a pivotal role in creating the paralegal field. He has also run unsuccessfully ...

, and Leroy Saunders participated in a debate held by the

Libertarian Party of Florida The Libertarian Party of Florida (LPF) is the state affiliate of the Libertarian National Committee in Florida. Founded in 1987, it is committed to the principles of limited government, individual freedom, and personal responsibility. The curren ...

and moderated by LPUSA Chair Mark Hinkle. The debate participants were selected by convention delegates in a secret ballot, in which a candidate needed to score 10 percent of the vote or higher to be allowed to take part. Libertarian candidates in the debate called for ending government interference in personal, family and business decisions; much lower government spending; deregulation; lower taxes; a currency free of government manipulation; free trade; and a peaceful, non-interventionist foreign policy.

Schedule

The convention covered five days over May 2–6. The business of deciding the national platform and candidates formally began on May 3, and a second candidate debate was held on May 4. On May 5, the party nominated Gary Johnson as its presidential candidate and Jim Gray as vice presidential candidate. On May 6, elections for the Libertarian National Committee concluded. Candidates for the presidential nomination were required to gather "tokens" from delegates. 53 tokens were required to participate in debates, while 30 were needed to be listed on the ballot.

Convention speakers

Speakers at the convention included: * Norma Jean Almodovar –

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activist and former LAPD cop, LP candidate for

Lieutenant Governor of California The lieutenant governor of California is the second highest Executive (government), executive officer of the government of the U.S. state of California. The Lieutenant governor (United States), lieutenant governor is elected to serve a four-yea ...

David Bergland David Peter Bergland (June 4, 1935 – June 3, 2019) was an American politician who was the United States Libertarian Party's nominee for President of the United States in the 1984 presidential election,1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

LP presidential nominee * Judge John Buttrick – Superior Court Judge of

Maricopa County, Arizona Maricopa County () is a County (United States), county in the south-central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the population was 4,420,568, or about 62% of the state's total, making it the List ...

* Alicia Garcia Clark – National

(LNC) leader from 1981 to 1983 *

Ed Clark Edward E. Clark (born May 4, 1930) is an American lawyer and politician who ran for governor of California in 1978, and for president of the United States as the nominee of the Libertarian Party in the 1980 presidential election. Background C ...

–

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

LP presidential nominee * Michael Cloud – Author, ''Secrets of Libertarian Persuasion'', who ran for

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Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

in 2002 * Sharon Harris – President of Advocates for Self-Government *

Carla Howell Carla Howell (born 1955) is an American politician, small government advocate and activist. She was the Libertarian Party of Massachusetts candidate for Massachusetts State Auditor in 1998, U.S. Senate in 2000, and Governor in 2002. She then served ...

– Executive Director of the Libertarian Party; 2000 LP nominee for the U.S. Senate in Massachusetts, 2002 LP nominee for

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Manny Klausner ''Reason'' is an American libertarian monthly magazine published by the Reason Foundation, with the tagline "Free Minds and Free Markets". The magazine aims to produce independent journalism that is "outside of the left/right echo chamber." As ...

– Co-founder of the

Reason Foundation The Reason Foundation is an American Libertarianism in the United States, libertarian think tank that was founded in 1978. The foundation publishes the magazine ''Reason (magazine), Reason''. Based in Los Angeles, California, it is a nonprofit, ...

, and former editor of ''Reason'' magazine *

Nancy Lord Nancy Theresa Lord (February 8, 1952 – February 14, 2022) was an American attorney and medical researcher who was the vice-presidential candidate of the Libertarian Party in the 1992 presidential election, as the running-mate of Andre Marrou ...

–

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LP vice-presidential nominee *

Tibor Machan Tibor Richard Machan (; 18 March 1939 – 24 March 2016) was a Hungarian-American philosopher. A professor emeritus in the department of philosophy at Auburn University, Machan held the R. C. Hoiles Chair of Business Ethics and Free Enterpri ...

– Professor of

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Tonie Nathan Theodora Nathalia "Tonie" Nathan (February 9, 1923 – March 20, 2014) was an American radio producer, television producer, and political activist. She was the first woman to receive an electoral vote in a United States presidential election. S ...

–

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LP vice-presidential nominee, and first woman in U.S. History to receive an electoral vote * Robert Poole – Co-founder of ''

Reason Reason is the capacity of consciously applying logic by drawing valid conclusions from new or existing information, with the aim of seeking the truth. It is associated with such characteristically human activities as philosophy, religion, scien ...

'' magazine *

Mary Ruwart Mary J. Ruwart (born October 16, 1949) is an American retired biomedical researcher and a libertarian speaker, writer, and activist. She was a leading candidate for the 2008 Libertarian Party presidential nomination and is the author of the b ...

– Research scientist and former contender for the Libertarian Party presidential nomination

Presidential candidates

Presidential delegate count

Libertarian National Committee elections

The 2012 Libertarian National Convention saw a two-day election of officers and members-at-large of the Libertarian National Committee officers leading to the defeat of most of the incumbents who were seen as being part of a "top-down faction". The voting for chair saw the first instance where "

None of the Above "None of the above" (NOTA), or none for short, also known as "against all" or a "scratch" vote, is a ballot option in some jurisdictions or organizations, designed to allow the voter to indicate disapproval of the candidates in a voting system ...

", which was listed as a choice on the party ballot, received more votes than any of the candidates for chair. After a new list of individuals was nominated, Geoff Neale was elected chair. R. Lee Wrights was elected Vice Chair, Ruth Bennett Secretary, and Tim Hagan Treasurer. Elected as national committee members-at-large were

Bill Redpath The Libertarian National Committee (LNC) controls and manages the affairs, properties, and funds of the United States Libertarian Party. It is composed of the party officers, five at-large representatives elected every two years at the national co ...

Michael Cloud Michael Jonathan Cloud (born May 13, 1975) is an American politician representing Texas's 27th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives since 2018. He is a member of the Republican Party. Cloud is a member of the n ...

Arvin Vohra The 2020 Libertarian Party presidential primaries and caucuses were a series of electoral contests to indicate non-binding preferences for the Libertarian Party's presidential candidate in the 2020 United States presidential election. These d ...

, and

Wayne Allyn Root Wayne Allyn Root (born July 20, 1961) is an American conservative television and radio host, author, activist, conservative political commentator and conspiracy theorist. He is the host of three television shows: "The ROOT Reaction" nightly at 1 ...

. Winger, Richard (May 6, 2012
"Libertarian Party Takes Two Days to Choose Party Officers"
''

''.

References

External links

Official Website of Libertarian National 2012 Convention
{{Authority control Libertarian Party (United States) National Conventions

Libertarian Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according ...

Gary Johnson

Conventions in Nevada Political events in Nevada Events in Las Vegas 2012 conferences May 2012 in the United States 2010s political conferences