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2008 presidential election | |
.jpg) Nominees Barr and Root | |
| Convention | |
|---|---|
| Date(s) | May 22–26, 2008 |
| City | Denver,Colorado |
| Venue | Sheraton Hotel |
| Chair | Bill Redpath |
| Notable speakers | Dr. Mary Ruwart |
| Candidates | |
| Presidential nominee | Bob Barr ofGeorgia |
| Vice-presidential nominee | Wayne Allyn Root ofNevada |
| Other candidates | Mary Ruwart ofTexas Mike Gravel ofAlaska Steve Kubby ofCalifornia, activist George Phillies ofMassachusetts |
| ‹ 2006 · 2010 › | |
 2008 U.S. presidential election | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic Party | |||
| Republican Party | |||
| Minor parties | |||
| Related races | |||
| |||
The2008 Libertarian National Convention was held from May 22 to May 26, 2008, at theSheraton Hotel (formerly theAdam's Mark Hotel)[1] inDenver, Colorado. The delegates at the convention, on behalf of theU.S. Libertarian Party, nominatedBob Barr forpresident andWayne Allyn Root forvice president in the2008 presidential election. The convention was televised nationally onC-SPAN.[2]
Libertarians hold anational convention every two years to vote on party bylaws, platform and resolutions and elect national party officers and a judicial committee. Every four years it nominatespresidential and vice presidential candidates.[3]
The theme of this convention wasA Better Choice for America.[4]
Two non-binding primaries preceded the convention.
In 2006 the self-styled Libertarian Party "reformers" at the National Convention inPortland, Oregon took out 46 platform planks detailing party positions, leaving just fifteen. In 2008 more "radical" libertarians attempted to restore that platform. They did not succeed, but they narrowly prevented the reformers from softening the language of thenon-aggression principle in the party's “Statement of Principles”.[5] The revised platform did replace the plank onsecession,[6] deleted in 2006, with a definition ofself-determination drawn from theDeclaration of Independence: "Whenever any form of government becomes destructive of individual liberty, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to agree to such new governance as to them shall seem most likely to protect their liberty."[7]
| Libertarian Party presidential candidates, 2008 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Home state | Profession | Campaign | |
 | Bob Barr | Georgia | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromGeorgia's7th district (1995–2003) |  (Campaign •Positions •Website) |
 | Mike Gravel | Alaska | U.S. Senator from Alaska (1969–1981) | (Campaign •Positions •Website) |
.jpg) | Daniel Imperato | Florida | Businessman | |
_(1).jpg) | Mike Jingozian | Oregon | Software developer | |
.jpg) | Steve Kubby | California | Libertarian activist | (Campaign) |
 | Robert Milnes | New Jersey | Activist | |
 | George Phillies | Massachusetts | Professor of Physics atWorcester Polytechnic Institute | |
_(a).jpg) | Wayne Allyn Root | Nevada | Businessman, media personality, author, TV producer | (Campaign) |
 | Mary Ruwart | Texas | Retired biomedical researcher; Libertarian speaker, writer, and activist | (Campaign) |
| Christine Smith | Colorado | Humanitarian activist, and writer | |
After the first round, six of the eight candidates running moved on to the second round of voting. Mike Jingozian and Christine Smith were both eliminated due to their small percentage of votes. Jingozian endorsed former Senator Mike Gravel, and Smith presented a speech attacking Bob Barr after the results were announced.
| Candidate | Total votes cast | Percent of votes cast | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bob Barr | 153 | 24.3% | ||||||||||||
| Mary Ruwart | 152 | 24.1% | ||||||||||||
| Wayne Allyn Root | 123 | 19.5% | ||||||||||||
| Mike Gravel | 71 | 11.3% | ||||||||||||
| George Phillies | 49 | 7.8% | ||||||||||||
| Steve Kubby | 41 | 6.5% | ||||||||||||
| Mike Jingozian | 23 | 3.7% | ||||||||||||
| Christine Smith | 6 | 1.0% | ||||||||||||
| Ron Paul (write-in) | 6 | 1.0% | ||||||||||||
| Penn Jillette (write-in) | 3 | 0.5% | ||||||||||||
| NOTA | 2 | 0.3% | ||||||||||||
| Daniel Imperato (write-in) | 1 | 0.2% | ||||||||||||
| Stephen Colbert (write-in) | 1 | 0.2% | ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
After the second round, five of the six candidates running moved on to the third ballot. Steve Kubby, after receiving only 5% of the total vote, dropped out of the race and endorsed Dr. Mary Ruwart.
| Candidate | Total votes cast | Percent of votes cast | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bob Barr | 188 | 29.8% | |||||||||||
| Mary Ruwart | 162 | 25.7% | |||||||||||
| Wayne Allyn Root | 138 | 21.9% | |||||||||||
| Mike Gravel | 73 | 11.6% | |||||||||||
| George Phillies | 36 | 5.7% | |||||||||||
| Steve Kubby | 32 | 5.1% | |||||||||||
| NOTA | 1 | 0.2% | |||||||||||
| Stephen Colbert (write-in) | 1 | 0.2% | |||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
After the third round of voting, four of the five remaining candidates moved on to the fourth ballot. Dr. George Phillies was eliminated after receiving approximately 5% of the vote.
| Candidate | Total votes cast | Percent of votes cast | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bob Barr | 186 | 29.6% | |||||||||
| Mary Ruwart | 186 | 29.6% | |||||||||
| Wayne Allyn Root | 146 | 23.3% | |||||||||
| Mike Gravel | 78 | 12.4% | |||||||||
| George Phillies | 31 | 4.9% | |||||||||
| Ron Paul (write-in) | 1 | 0.2% | |||||||||
| |||||||||||
After the fourth vote, three of the four candidates went on to the fifth round of voting. Fmr. Sen. Mike Gravel was eliminated after not getting a sufficient number of votes, and subsequently announced that his political career was over.
| Candidate | Total votes cast | Percent of votes cast | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bob Barr | 202 | 32.0% | ||||||||
| Mary Ruwart | 202 | 32.0% | ||||||||
| Wayne Allyn Root | 149 | 23.6% | ||||||||
| Mike Gravel | 76 | 12.0% | ||||||||
| NOTA | 3 | 0.5% | ||||||||
| ||||||||||
After the fifth ballot, the final two of three candidates continued on to the sixth ballot. Wayne Allyn Root was therefore eliminated, and after the vote, he made a speech endorsing Barr and stating that he would like to be Barr's candidate for vice-president. Barr and Root then stated that they would run together.
| Candidate | Total votes cast | Percent of votes cast | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mary Ruwart | 229 | 36.8% | ||||||||
| Bob Barr | 223 | 35.8% | ||||||||
| Wayne Allyn Root | 165 | 26.5% | ||||||||
| NOTA | 6 | 1.0% | ||||||||
| ||||||||||
With only Barr and Ruwart remaining on the ballot, Barr received 324 votes to Ruwart's 276 and 26NOTA. Barr thus won the nomination with 51.8% of the final vote.[8]
Ruwart made a concession speech following the announcement of the results with her campaign staff on the stage.
| Candidate | Total votes cast | Percent of votes cast | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bob Barr | 324 | 51.8% | |||||||
| Mary Ruwart | 276 | 44.1% | |||||||
| NOTA | 26 | 4.2% | |||||||
| |||||||||
A separate vote was held for the vice presidential nomination. Presidential nominee Barr endorsed Root, while presidential runner-up Ruwart endorsed Kubby.
After the first ballot, three of the six active candidates running moved on to the second ballot.
| Candidate | Total votes cast | Percent of votes cast | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wayne Allyn Root | 269 | 47.7% | |||||||||
| Steve Kubby | 209 | 37.1% | |||||||||
| Daniel Williams | 40 | 7.1% | |||||||||
| Jim Burns | 27 | 4.8% | |||||||||
| Gail Lightfoot | 14 | 2.5% | |||||||||
| NOTA | 2 | 0.4% | |||||||||
| Mike Ferguson (write-in) | 1 | 0.2% | |||||||||
| Mary Ruwart (write-in) | 1 | 0.2% | |||||||||
| Leonard Schwartz | 1 | 0.2% | |||||||||
| |||||||||||
After the second ballot, Wayne Allyn Root was nominated as the vice presidential candidate, prevailing by a difference of 30 votes over Steve Kubby, and 279 votes over Daniel Williams.
| Candidate | Total votes cast | Percent of votes cast | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wayne Allyn Root | 289 | 51.0% | ||||||||
| Steve Kubby | 259 | 45.7% | ||||||||
| Daniel Williams | 10 | 1.8% | ||||||||
| NOTA | 6 | 1.1% | ||||||||
| Unknown Richard (write-in) | 1 | 0.2% | ||||||||
| Mike Ferguson (write-in) | 1 | 0.2% | ||||||||
| Mary Ruwart (write-in) | 1 | 0.2% | ||||||||
| ||||||||||
