Libertarians pick first female presidential nominee

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Newly minted Libertarian Party presidential nominee Jo Jorgensen is touting that she’s the “freedom" candidate.

“The choice isn't one or the other but the one that gives you the most freedom! Make the decision that benefits the most people and not some 'lesser evil,'” the Clemson University professor tweeted on Monday, two days after she was nominated by the Libertarian Party as their presidential standard-bearer in November’s general election.

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Of course, the Libertarians' pick is unlikely to stand much of a chance in the general election against President Trump and presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden, and even her odds of playing a spoiler role appear slim.

Jorgensen, who was the Libertarians' 1996 vice presidential nominee, captured the nomination following four rounds of voting.

“I am glad that the voters will finally have a real choice because the non-choice between Trump and Biden is still an option between big government and more big government,” Jorgensen wrote in a statement released by the party early Sunday.

The psychologist and grandmother is the first woman to top the party’s presidential ticket. She’s a decade younger than 73-year-old Trump and 14 years younger than Biden.

But she enjoys a lot less name recognition than 2012 and 2016 nominee Gary Johnson, a former Republican governor of New Mexico.

Johnson and his running mate – former Gov. Bill Weld of Massachusetts – won nearly 4.5 million votes in 2016, topping 3 percent of the popular vote. But they failed to win any electoral votes.

Johnson and Weld were on the ballot in all 50 states four years ago. The Libertarian Party says it started this year obtaining ballot access in 35 states. But the coronavirus pandemic has slowed their efforts to get their presidential ticket on the ballot in the remaining states.

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Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan – a Republican congressman who left the GOP last year to become an independent – briefly flirted this spring with a bid for the Libertarian Party’s presidential nomination. But the vocal Trump critic ended his pursuit earlier this month.