Two years ago, Chase Oliver took the liberal political world by storm with his runoff election for the Georgia Senate. The result ultimately determined a majority in the U.S. Senate.
Now he can aim to leave a bigger mark.
Oliver was nominated as the Libertarian Party's presidential candidate in dramatic fashion on Sunday night, winning the seventh round of voting after coming in second place on each of the first five rounds of voting. Oliver received 60.6% of the vote in the final round, finally passing the 50% threshold for victory over “none of the above.” This was the only alternative left on the ballot after Oliver narrowly won. 6 round match with professor-turned-podcaster Michael Rectenwald, who led the tallies in each of the first five rounds.
In his victory speech, Oliver told his opponents within the Liberal Party, which has been riven by deep divisions over the past two years, “I'm holding out my hand. Take it and become partners in freedom.” Divide tactics and principles.
It was a fitting end to a heated convention in which Libertarian Party delegates loudly booed the unorthodox appearance of former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.
Oliver (38), a gay man from Atlanta, responded enthusiastically. After Trump's Speech He will attend the convention Saturday and will now spend the next six months competing directly with Trump and President Joe Biden, two men more than twice his age. After winning on Sunday, Oliver promised to continue to press a message that no major party candidate seems likely to deliver.
In his victory speech, Oliver promised, “I will continue to deliver a hopeful, positive message of freedom to both those who consider themselves liberals and those who do not yet know they are.”
“Chase is a hard worker, a talented communicator, and he’s not in his 80s.” said Joe Bishop-Henchman, former Liberal Party chairman and not a delegate to this year's convention.
Oliver's victory on Sunday night was a blow to the Mises Caucus, a right-wing faction that controlled the Libertarian Party at the 2022 convention and orchestrated Trump's convention attendance. The faction's preferred candidate was Rectenwald.
During Sunday's lengthy voting process, Rectenwald appeared close to winning. gibberish and somewhat incoherent speech On Saturday night he admitted to being high on edibles.
No candidate came close to a majority in the first round of voting, which was completed mid-afternoon Sunday. Rectenwald took the lead with 28.2%, followed by Oliver with 19.7% and Mike ter Maat with 15.3%. In the first round of voting, 11 votes were for ‘not applicable’, and former President Donald Trump (6 votes) and Stormy Daniels (1 vote) were write-in votes. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who ran as an independent candidate and also ran just before running for the Libertarian Party, was eliminated after receiving just over 2% of the vote.
The second, third and fourth votes narrowed the field but were not decisive. Rectenwald maintained a lead over Oliver, who pulled away from the rest of the competitors as Rectenwald's apparent rival.
It was the fifth round that provided the first sign of the final result. The elimination of tech entrepreneur Lars Mapstead gave Oliver and ter Maat a few dozen more votes and weakened Rectenwald's momentum.
After being eliminated in that round, ter Maat expressed his support for Oliver on the convention floor in return for Oliver's choice as Vice President. (Unlike the Republican and Democratic parties, the Liberal Party elects the two positions through separate ballots, but the winner of the presidential candidate generally has a significant influence on the results of the second primary.)
After ter Maat announced his support for Oliver, Mises Caucus members said they also offered ter Maat the vice-presidential position. Competing proposals complicated the final voting round, but the outcome appeared to be tilted with ter Maat embracing Oliver.
In recent weeks, media attention has focused on whether the Libertarian Party will nominate a prominent illiberal like Kennedy or even Trump.
Neither side came close to victory. Kennedy was eliminated in the first round of voting, and Trump did not even advance to the first round of voting, receiving only 6 write-in votes.
Oliver, who has already campaigned in all 50 states, though it has been difficult at times, is the Libertarian Party's 2024 standard bearer.