Johnson gains more votes, supporters than last run

Home Election 2016 Johnson gains more votes, supporters than last run
Johnson gains more votes, supporters than last run
Libertarian party candidate Gary Johnson won nearly 4 percent of Michigan's votes during Tuesday's election, far surpassing the less than 1 percent he received in 2012. Wikimedia Commons.
Libertarian party candidate Gary Johnson won nearly 4 percent of Michigan’s votes during Tuesday’s election, far surpassing the less than 1 percent he received in 2012. Wikimedia Commons.

Libertarian Party presidential candidate Gary Johnson won nearly four percent of the vote in Michigan Tuesday, despite, four years ago, running as a write-in candidate and capturing less than 1 percent in the Great Lakes state.

Early Wednesday morning, election results showed Johnson was well under the five percent national popular vote threshold that would secure federal matching funds for the Libertarian Party. He needed to capture 15 percent to get Libertarian candidates into future national debates.

Despite missing the mark, junior Brendan Noble, president of Hillsdale Young Americans for Liberty, said Johnson, as well as other third party candidates, appeared to fare better than in past elections.

“Johnson received far more votes than the 1 percent he received in 2012,” Noble said.  “The movement and party has missed many of its goals, but it is larger and has received more votes than ever.”

The Collegian polled 493 Hillsdale students Oct. 20, and more than 20 percent of respondents said they would vote for Gary Johnson. In September, The Detroit News reported that 9 percent of Michigan voters supported Johnson.

The number of Libertarian supporters has steadily increased, ever since Donald Trump became the presumptive Republican candidate. After Texas Sen. Ted Cruz ended his bid for the Republican presidential nomination in May, Google searches for “Gary Johnson” and “Libertarian Party” increased sharply and continued to do so through the summer, spiking again Monday, according to data compiled by Google Trends.

“I think that the Libertarian Party attracting more attention is wonderful,” said junior Noah Weinrich, president of Hillsdale’s Classical Liberal Organization.  “I wouldn’t exactly call myself a libertarian, and I’m not a huge Johnson supporter, but I think it’s fantastic that libertarian ideas are getting more attention.”

At least six major publications endorsed Johnson for president, most notably the Chicago Tribune and The Detroit News. Johnson also scored a major Michigan supporter: Jimmy Greene, president of the Michigan chapter of Associated Builders and Contractors Inc.

Johnson told The Collegian in an exclusive interview Oct. 28 that he has run his campaign with integrity and that even if he loses, he is proud of his success and support.

“It’s been a principled run,” Johnson told The Collegian. “Six newspapers have endorsed me, and I think that’s something to be proud of — speaking the truth.”

According to Weinrich, Johnson’s success shows how many voters are rejecting the two-party system and the limited choices it provides.

For only the second time, the Libertarian candidate made it onto the ballot in all 50 states.  The 2012 presidential election was record-breaking, when Johnson won 1.2 million popular votes, according to data compiled by the clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives. The only other time the Libertarian Party took one percent of the vote was in 1980, when the Ed Clark and David Koch ticket scored more than 900,000 popular votes.

The party has frequently scored 1 percent of the vote in U.S. House and Senate races, though there are no Libertarians in the current Congress. Only 10 Libertarians have been elected to state legislatures in the history of the party, and there are 135 Libertarians in elected positions nationwide right now, according to the party’s data.

“I hope the Libertarian Party takes these accomplishments, and failures, and coalesces around a more organized, united, and actually libertarian movement and leaders,” Noble said.  “I hope that the party can manage to be taken more seriously and that it handles itself more professionally.”