The Libertarian Party National Convention was held May 24-27, 2024 in Washington, D.C. and we have our nominees! Chase Oliver for President and Mike ter Maat for Vice President!
New York had a full delegation of 41 Delegates. The business of the convention opened on Friday, May 24 where the credentials report and agenda were adopted. Friday evening’s events include Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. speaking to the convention, regional caucuses, the Vice Presidential debate (with Clint Russell and Larry Sharpe), and Vivik Ramaswany addressing the convention. This was followed by a comedy night, and there was also an “Enemies of the State Dance Party” which honored Edward Snowden, Julian Assange, Ian Freeman, Ross Ulbricht, and Roger Ver.
On Saturday, May 25, there were two rounds of voting for LNC Chair. In the first round of voting, New York voted as follows: Angela McArdle (14), Mark Rutherford (11), Steven Nekhaila (4), Ken Moellman (4), and Jorge Besada (1). Besada was dropped while Nekhaila and Moellman withdrew. In the second round, New York voted as follows: McArdle (23), Rutherford (17), and NOTA (1). New York matched with the National result, as Angela McArdle was re-elected LNC Chair. In the evening, the major event was former President Donald Trump speaking to the convention, and from among the Libertarians in the room, he was met with mostly boos as he claimed to be Libertarian and do Libertarian things. There were very few cheers, one example being Trump’s alleged promise to free Ross Ulbricht.
On Sunday, May 26, business continued. Presidential nominations took up most of the morning and early afternoon. New York Delegates were also involved in this. Michael Rebmann gave one of the nominating speeches for Michael Rectenwald while Larry Sharpe, Lars Mapstead’s running mate, gave a nominating speech for Mapstead.
When it was time to vote in Round 1 for President, New York’s vote was as follows: Mike ter Maat (13), Jacob Hornberger (6), Michael Rectenwald (5), Lars Mapstead (4), Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. (3), Chase Oliver (3), Joshua Smith (3), Art Olivier (1), a write-in for Donald Trump (1), and NOTA (1). Nationally, Rectenwald was leading in the first round. Candidates under 5% were dropped from the ballot: Charles Ballay, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Art Olivier, and Toad.
We proceeded with Round 2 for the Presidential nomination. New York’s vote was as follows: Mike ter Maat (15), Michael Rectenwald (8), Lars Mapstead (7), Jacob Hornberger (4), Chase Oliver (3), Joshua Smith (1), and NOTA (1). Nationally, Rectenwald stayed in the lead, but no candidate reached a majority. Jacob Hornberger was eliminated after Round 2. While waiting for the results, Former Congressman and the Libertarian Party’s 1988 nominee for President, Dr. Ron Paul, spoke to the convention for a little over a half hour.
After Round 2, with nominations complete for LNC Vice-Chair, Secretary, and Treasurer, we proceeded to vote for those three offices in addition to Round 3 for the Presidential nomination. Special thanks to Chance Haywood and Steve Becker for assisting me with this. New York’s results were as follows, having been tallied just after 5:30 p.m., which was the scheduled time of adjournment. However, the convention business was far from over.
For President, Round 3, New York voted: Mike ter Maat (18), Michael Rectenwald (8), Lars Mapstead (6), Chase Oliver (6), Joshua Smith (1), and NOTA (1). Nationally, Rectenwald continued to lead and Joshua Smith was elimninated after Round 3.
For Vice-Chair, New York voted as follows: Mark Rutherford (25), Hannah Goodman (11), Josh Hlavka (3), and NOTA (1). New York matched the result, and Mark Rutherford was elected Vice-Chair.
For Secretary, New York voted as follows: Caryn Ann Harlos (19), Mimi Robson (11), Shawn Levasseur (9), and NOTA (1). New York again matched the result, with Caryn Ann Harlos re-elected Secretary.
For Treasurer, New York voted as follows: William Redpath (24), Patrick Mitchell (9), Allison Spink (6), and NOTA (1). New York once again matched the result, with William Redpath elected Treasurer.
While waiting for the results, Lisa Gansky, Chair of the Memorial Subcommittee gave an introduction to the subcommittee’s work, followed by New York’s Mark Axinn, speaking before the memorial video was shown. The video included New York Libertarians Becky Akers and Chris Garvey, who passed away within the last two years.
For the Presidential nomination, New York voted as follows for Round 4: Mike ter Maat (21), Michael Rectenwald (8), Lars Mapstead (6), Chase Oliver (5), and NOTA (1). Nationally, Rectenwald kept his lead and Lars Mapstead was eliminated after this round. The gala was supposed to begin at 7 p.m., but we were not even close to finishing. Fortunately, the Povertarian Caucus had pizzas available as the marathon business session moved forward.
For Round 5 for President, New York’s vote was as follows: Mike ter Maat (25), Chase Oliver (7), Michael Rectenwald (7), and NOTA (1). Recetenwald continued to lead nationally and Mike ter Maat, who continously led in New York, was eliminated.
In Round 6 for President, New York’s vote was as follows: Chase Oliver (24), Michael Rectenwald (10), a write-in for Courtney Love (1), and NOTA (4). Nationally, a majority of votes that normally went to Mike ter Maat shifted primarily to Chase Oliver, who now led Recetenwald 423-382. Oliver had 49.53% of the vote!
For Round 7, New York voted as follows: Chase Oliver (26), a write-in for Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. (1), a write-in for Glenn Danzig (1), and NOTA (7). Finally, at 10:11 p.m., more than 4 and a half hours after the scheduled adjournment, we finally had a Presidential nominee: Chase Oliver!
But, the night was far from over. We still had Members-At-Large of the LNC and the Vice Presidential nomination.
For the At-Large election, among the candidates were former LPNY Chair Tony D’Orazio and current Orange County, New York Vice Chair Pietro Geraci.
The At-Large vote in New York was as follows: Tony D’Orazio (18), Steven Nekheila (15), Travis Bost (13), Pietro Geraci (13), Mimi Robson (11), Andrew Watkins (11), Valerie Sarwark (9), Kathy Yaniscavich (9), Robert Vinson (8), Jim Turney (8), Josh Hlavka (6), Beth Vest (6), Heidi Alejandro Smith (5), Chris Thrasher (5), Jessi Cowart (4), Evan McMahon (4), Drew Heaton (4), Richard Longstreth (3), Hannah Goodman (3), Doug Craig (3), Eric Parker (2), Kevin Kahn (1), and NOTA (1). Special thanks for Pietro Geraci for assisting me with this tally.
The results for this nationally came just before midnight, with the following elected At-Large to the LNC: Andrew Watkins, Travis Bost, Kathy Yenisavich, Robert Vinson, and Steven Nekhalia.
Going into Monday, May 27, we had the Vice-Presidential nomination speechs. Mike ter Maat was the only former Presidential candidate to join the Vice-Presidential nomination race. New York’s Round 1 results were as follows: Mike ter Maat (16), Clint Russell (6), Larry Sharpe (1), and Kristin Alexander (1). No candidate recieved a majority.
Going into Round 2, New York’s results were as follows: Mike ter Maat (18) and Clint Russell (6). New York matched the National result, with Mike ter Maat winning the nomination for Vice President!
It was around 1 a.m. when the convention finally adjourned.