Libertarian Party Nominates Dr. Jo Jorgensen for President, by Joe Monack

Libertarian Party Nominates Dr. Jo Jorgensen for President

by Joe Monack

Written on May 23rd, 2020

     On Saturday, May 23rd, 2020, the Libertarian Party nominated Dr. Jo Jorgensen for president at a virtual convention with about 1,000 delegates from 50 states and D.C. 

     After several rounds of runoff voting, Jorgensen received 51 percent to secure the nomination for president. Other candidates seeking the nomination at the convention were Adam Kokesh, Jim Gray, John Monds, Vermin Supreme, and Jacob Hornberger. (Congressman Justin Amash of Michigan said he was going to run but dropped out before the convention began.)

     Jorgensen was born in Libertyville, IL in 1957. She got her Bachelor's in psychology at Baylor and then an MBA from Southern Methodist University. Finally, she earned a Doctorate from Clemson where she is now a senior lecturer of psychology. She was the Vice-Presidential candidate of the Libertarian Party in 1996, running on a ticket with Harry Browne.

     Jorgensen is the Libertarian Party's first female presidential candidate in its history of elections dating back to 1972. She is considered more moderate/pragmatic than others in the party -- a feature that could theoretically dampen her support among some purists, but could also bring in more mainstream voters who dislike both Donald Trump and Joe Biden. For example, Jorgensen does not argue that we need to totally eliminate government, like an anarchist would, but that, "We have got to cut the size and scope of the government." 

     Despite being seen as somewhat moderate for a Libertarian, she is still less "statist" (that being the use of government to attempt to solve problems) than the two major parties' candidates. She called the government's response to coronavirus “the biggest assault on our liberties I’ve seen in my lifetime" and opposes government bailouts for businesses, unlike Trump and Biden. The Libertarian Party is sometimes described as socially liberal, economically conservative, although many describe themselves as consistently for liberty or consistently against government meddling.

     Her running mate will be chosen on Sunday as the convention continues for a third day. There may also be a vote on whether to make the porcupine the official mascot of the Libertarian Party, although that's still up in the air.

     For more information on Dr. Jo, visit her website.  http://joj2020.com/

Sources:

http://reason.com/2020/05/23/jo-jorgensen-wins-libertarian-party-presidential-nomination/

http://www.kgun9.com/news/political/jo-jorgensen-named-first-female-libertarian-presidential-nominee

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jo_Jorgensen

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/local/2020/05/16/michigan-congressman-justin-amash-drops-out-of-presidential-race-as-third-party-candidate/

Update (written on May 24th, 2020):

Spike Cohen won the VP nomination.

Written by Joseph Monack on May 23^rd and 24^th, 2020

Published to this site on May 24^th, 2020

with permission from the author