Chase Oliver | |
|---|---|
 Oliver in 2024 | |
| Born | Chase Russell Oliver (1985-08-16)August 16, 1985 (age 40) Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Political party | Libertarian (2010–present) |
| Other political affiliations |
|
| Website | Campaign website |
Chase Russell Oliver (born August 16, 1985) is an American political activist and politician who was the nominee of theLibertarian Party for the2024 United States presidential election.[1][2][3] Oliver finished fifth in the popular vote with 0.4% and 650,126 votes.[4] Oliver was the Libertarian candidate for the2022 United States Senate election in Georgia and the2020 Georgia's 5th congressional district special election.[5]The Gazette described him as a "pro-gun,pro-police reform,pro-choice Libertarian" who is "armed andgay".[6]
In Georgia's2022 Senate election, Oliver received over 2% of the popular vote. Supporters of both major parties characterized him as aspoiler candidate who forcedRaphael Warnock into arun-off againstHerschel Walker, which Warnock narrowly won.[7]
He is the2026 gubernatorial nominee for theLibertarian Party of Georgia.[8]
Oliver was born on August 16, 1985, inNashville, Tennessee.[9] He worked in the restaurant business for 13 years prior to his involvement in political activism.[10]
On May 15, 2023, Oliver spoke at theAtlanta City Council meeting to opposeCop City. During his speech, Oliver highlighted the growing distrust between people and governments and their police forces. Oliver spoke out against the over-militarization of police andqualified immunity. He also advocated for the Atlanta City Council to improve existing training facilities instead of clear-cutting forests that had previously been designated by the City Council as public open space.[11][12][13]
On September 5, 2023, Oliver spoke at theColumbia, South Carolina City Council meeting in opposition to regulatory hurdles that prevent people from feeding the homeless. He advocated for the Columbia City Council, and other city councils across the country, to address regulatory barriers to feeding and supporting homeless Americans.[14][15]
Oliver supportedBarack Obama in the2008 U.S. presidential election but ended his support after Obama continued theIraq War. Oliver joined theLibertarian Party in 2010 after meeting several members of the party at anAtlanta Pride Festival.[16][17]
Oliver first ran for public office in 2020, as the Libertarian nominee for the2020 Georgia's 5th congressional district special election to replaceJohn Lewis, who had died frompancreatic cancer earlier that year. He won 2% of the vote and was eliminated during theblanket primary.[18]
After becoming the Libertarian nominee for the2022 U.S. Senate election in Georgia, Oliver faced off against the incumbent DemocraticRaphael Warnock andRepublican Party challengerHerschel Walker.[1][19] Oliver was the first openly gay Senate candidate in Georgia.[20]
On October 16, 2022, Oliver attended a debate hosted byGeorgia Public Broadcasting and debated against Warnock, as well as an empty podium representing Walker, who had declined to attend the debate.[21]
On election day, Oliver received over 2% of the popular vote. Opponents contended that he was aspoiler candidate and that his votes forced the Georgia senate race into arun-off.[7] In the runoff election, he declined to endorse either Warnock or Walker, while offering to host aninternet forum between the two candidates.[22]Rolling Stone called him the most influential Libertarian of the year.[16]
 | |
| Campaign | 2024 Libertarian Party presidential primaries 2024 United States presidential election |
|---|---|
| Candidate | Chase Oliver |
| Affiliation | Libertarian Party |
| Announced | April 4, 2023 |
| Receipts | US$268,981.07[23] |
| Website | |
| https://www.votechaseoliver.com/ | |
On December 2, 2022, Oliver announced his formation of anexploratory committee to inquire into a possible run for theLibertarian presidential nomination in the2024 U.S. presidential election.[24] He formally declared his candidacy on April 4, 2023.[25][26]
Oliver campaigned extensively inIowa during the summer of 2023.[27][28] On August 19, 2023, he spoke at theDes Moines Register Political Soapbox, becoming the first-everthird-party presidential candidate to speak at the event.[17][29]
Oliver filed to run inOklahoma's "first Libertarian presidential primary election since the party was formally recognized in 2016". Alongside fellow Libertarian primary candidateJacob Hornberger, Oliver achieved ballot access by collecting signatures from voters in eachCongressional district.[30][31] He won theOklahoma primary, which was held onSuper Tuesday, on March 5, 2024, with 61% of the vote.[32]
In January 2024, Oliver and fellow Libertarian presidential primary candidateLars Mapstead successfully worked together to securemajor party status andballot access for theLibertarian Party of Maine.[33] Afterwards, Oliver went toIowa in order to campaign ahead of the2024 Iowa Libertarian presidential caucuses.[34][35] He won the Iowa Caucus with 42.7% of the vote.[36]
On February 29, 2024, Oliver participated in a presidential candidates debate hosted by theFree & Equal Elections Foundation, alongsideParty for Socialism and Liberation nomineeClaudia De la Cruz,Green Party candidatesJill Stein and Jasmine Sherman, and fellow Libertarian candidate Lars Mapstead.[37][38]
Oliver won the Libertarian nomination on the seventh ballot at the National Convention,[3] defeatingMichael Rectenwald.[39] Oliver designatedMike ter Maat as his preferred choice of running mate.[40]
John Stossel has expressed support for Oliver over Democratic Party candidateKamala Harris and Republican Party candidateDonald Trump in 2024.[41][42]
Oliver ultimately finished in fifth place, behind Trump, Harris, Stein, and withdrawn independentRobert F. Kennedy Jr. His best performance was inNorth Dakota, where he secured 1.7% of the vote.[43]
In January 2026, Oliver was nominated as the Libertarian candidate in the2026 Georgia gubernatorial election.[8]
Oliver is considered part of the traditional wing of the Libertarian Party, and is a member of the more left-leaningClassical Liberal Caucus.[2][3][44][45]
Oliver ispro-choice, although he is opposed to taxpayer funding of abortions and supports theHyde Amendment.[46] He believes that abortion should be legal nationwide, and he has said he would support legislation to make it so.[47]
Ulbricht's conviction became acause célèbre inAmerican libertarian circles.[48] In the November 2024 issue ofReason magazine Chase Oliver said in an interview: "I would like to see [Trump], if he were elected,commuteRoss Ulbricht's sentence. Frankly, if I were president, I would give him a fullpardon."[49]
Oliver supports letting thefree market find the solution toclimate change. He contends that if businesses are left alone, they will be incentivized to develop technologies that will eventually replace currentcarbon-based fuels.[50]
Oliver has proposed selling off federal lands to help reduce federal debt.[51]
Oliver supports endingqualified immunity for law enforcement at the federal level.[6] Oliver also supports ending the death penalty and federalmandatory minimum sentencing.[52]
Oliver supportsfree trade, and opposestariffs. He also supports abalanced federal budget and reducing inflation.[6]
Oliver supports abolishing theUnited States Department of Education, and advocates "for more choice in the education marketplace on a state-by-state basis".[5] Oliver also opposes thefederal backing of student loans, and supports allowing student loan debt to be dischargeable inbankruptcy.[52]
Oliver is a strong supporter ofranked-choice voting in the United States, which he has said would have prevented the2022 U.S. Senate election in Georgia from going to a run-off by allowing voters to rank their preferred candidates when they voted the first time. He has also stated that ranked-choice voting would save millions of taxpayer dollars by allowing run-offs to be instant, while ensuring that winning candidates always get above 50% of the vote.[22]
Oliver opposes American military aid to Israel andUkraine. He has labeled theIsraeli offensive in Gaza asa genocide. Oliver also supports the closure of American overseas military bases.[13][53] John Stossel called Oliver "the most anti-war candidate" in the 2024 presidential election.[42]
During a 2022 debate with Warnock, Oliver expressed his support forgun rights, stating: "Armed gays are harder to oppress, and they're harder tobash."[50] Oliver opposes bans onbump stocks.[52] John Stossel has further affirmed that "Oliver supports gun rights."[41]
Oliver has said theAffordable Care Act did not lower the rise in health insurance costs "and never will".[54][self-published source] He wants to slowly phase out bothMedicare andMedicaid over a span of more than eight years.[55][56]
Oliver supports removing regulatory barriers that prevent people and organizations from feeding homeless people.[15]
Oliver supports an "Ellis Island-style immigration" system, stating: "If you're coming here to work and be peaceful, it's not my business."[28] He supports apathway to citizenship forundocumented immigrants.[57]
Oliver opposes the government interfering with certaintransgender health care decisions made by a parent, child and doctor.[58] However, he has expressed opposition togender-affirming surgery for those under the age of 18.[59]
He opposes laws targetingdrag shows, calling drag an "art form" that "can range from completely family friendly to something quite explicit — just like cinema, music, visual arts" and making the argument that if a parent can take their child to seeThe Passion of the Christ, they can take their children to see drag if they choose to. He believes that existing obscenity laws, along with parental supervision, are sufficient to protect children from objectionable content. He also opposes state mandates related to the participation oftransgender girls in women's sports, believing that such decisions should be made by individual sports leagues and not the government.[60]
Oliver supports abolishing theTransportation Security Administration along with repealing thePatriot Act and theFISA Amendments Act of 2008.[52]
Oliver has called Social Security a "Ponzi scheme".[61][56] He wants to preserve existing Social Security benefits for those currently retired or about to retire by maintaining the employer contribution to Social Security as long as necessary, but eliminate the worker contribution and Social Security benefits for younger workers to gradually phase out the program.[55][56]
Oliver was a contributing author in the September 23, 2023, article "Do Third Parties Help or Harm Democracy?", published by the nonprofit news organizationDivided We Fall. In the article, Oliver discussed the strategic position the Libertarian Party holds for the 2024 election season, third-party ballot access, and how the Libertarian Party platform parallels important issues of other third-party platforms, namely theGreen Party of the United States andForward Party, such asranked choice voting, immigration, cannabis legalization, and LGBTQ+ rights.[62]
Oliver advocates for ending thewar on drugs and supports thelegalization of marijuana.[63][64] Oliver also supports repealing theControlled Substances Act and supportsdecriminalizing all drugs by passing the Drug Policy Reform Act.[52]
As of 2023[update], Oliver resides in a suburb ofAtlanta.[1][17][65] He said he has a "deep faith inthe gospel".[66] He is openly gay.[67][68]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Kwanza Hall | 11,104 | 31.75% | |
| Democratic | Robert Michael Franklin Jr. | 9,987 | 28.55% | |
| Democratic | Mable Thomas | 6,692 | 19.13% | |
| Democratic | Keisha Waites | 4,255 | 12.17% | |
| Democratic | Barrington Martin II | 1,944 | 5.56% | |
| Libertarian | Chase Oliver | 712 | 2.04% | |
| Independent | Steven Muhammad | 282 | 0.8% | |
| Total votes | 34,967 | 100.00% | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Raphael Warnock (incumbent) | 1,946,117 | 49.44% | +1.05% | |
| Republican | Herschel Walker | 1,908,442 | 48.49% | −0.88% | |
| Libertarian | Chase Oliver | 81,365 | 2.07% | +1.35% | |
| Total votes | 3,935,924 | 100.0% | |||
THIRD-PARTY CORNER — Libertarian Chase Oliver, who ran for Georgia Senate last year and earned 2 percent of the vote, pushing the contest to a runoff, filed to run for president. He announced his bid last week.
Aligned with the more left-leaning Classical Liberal Caucus, he took aim at Mr Trump and Mr Kennedy in his acceptance speech.
Oliver is against state mandates on whether transgender girls should be allowed to compete with cisgender girls in female athletics. ... And in keeping with the Libertarian Party's maximal positions on the Bill of Rights, Oliver is opposed to laws targeting drag.
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Libertariannominee for President of the United States 2024 | Most recent |
