Gary Johnson wins Libertarian nomination
Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson won the Libertarian nomination for president at the party’s convention in Orlando, Fla., on Sunday.
Second ballot results: Johnson 518 Petersen 203 McAfee 131 Perry 52 Feldman 18 #LegalizeFreedom
— Libertarian Party (@LPNational) May 29, 2016
Gary Johnson is the 2016 Libertarian Presidential nominee! Congrats to the governor and his team. #LegalizeFreedom #tlot
— Libertarian Party (@LPNational) May 29, 2016
{mosads}Johnson was a favorite entering the convention in Orlando, but voting was forced to a second round when he fell five votes short of the majority on the first ballot.
On the second ballot, Johnson garnered 55.8 percent of the vote, according to ABC News.
Johnson, who was the 2012 Libertarian presidential candidate, received 49.5 percent of the vote on the first ballot, followed by consultant Austin Petersen, who had 21.3 percent of the vote.
The Libertarian party has drawn more attention this year as more and more voters seek alternatives to likely nominees Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, both of whom have unprecedentedly low favorability numbers.
In three national polls, Johnson was in the double digits in a hypothetical match-up against Trump and Clinton, the likely nominees for the Republican and Democratic parties.
Delegates had not yet voted on Johnson’s running mate, former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld, on Sunday afternoon. Some Libertarians are unsure about Weld, who joined the party less than two weeks ago and endorsed Ohio Gov. John Kasich in the Republican primary before he ended his campaign earlier this month.
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