Joanne Marie Jorgensen

Joanne Marie Jorgensen, May 1, 1957 (Libertyville, Ill.) -

VP candidate for Libertarian Party (aka Independent) (1996)

Running mate with nominee: Harry Edson Browne (1933-2006)
Popular vote: 485,798 (0.50%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

In many ways the 1996 election had several historic landmarks for the Libertarians, starting with their Presidential nomination process. In this year they qualified for primary election status in more states than any other third party in US history up to that point. The clear winner in this chapter of election season was financial advisor and author Harry Browne. With a campaign committee that included past Presidential and VP nominees Hospers, Clark, Bergland, Nathan, and Lord, Harry Browne seemed to be the choice of the Party's establishment. There were charges that the Party itself, which is supposed to be neutral in such cases, engineered Browne's selection over more extreme, less desirable candidates in terms of appealing to mainstream voters. Accusation of conspiracies and unethical behavior by staff members were made. Although not as split as it had been in earlier years, the Libertarians went into the 1996 election bruised and battered from their own inner wars.

One of the distinguishing paradoxes about the Libertarians is that in spite of the fact the party is comprised of a vast array of individualists with conflicting concepts of ideological purity vs. political practice, the core of their official platform has changed little over the decades. Unlike the candidates from the Big Two  when I wonder where the Democratic and Republican  candidates fall in the Left/Right spectrum given the pandering and meandering vagueness of their political stances, with Libertarians on the ballot the nuances are different-- I want to find out if they are pure or practical, do they lean more toward economic, or, civil libertarianism?

Jo Jorgensen, a Party member who had run for Congress in 1992 as a Libertarian, actively campaigned for the Vice-Presidential nomination and did not appear to have any strong competition. She developed a stump speech that was repeated throughout the year: "Republican politicians give us the political equivalent of 1-900 phone sex. They tell us that we're special. They ask us what we really want— and tell us that they want it, too. Then they start breathing heavy and getting excited by what we want. They tell us their fantasy for us. They tease us and tempt us. They arouse our passions. They tell us how much they want it and how good it is going to be. When we hang up from the 1-900 Republican Tax Cut Fantasy Line, we realize three things: they cost us a lot of money, the real thing is a lot more satisfying, and they're never going to come over ... The Democrats want to increase annual spending by $55 billion. The Republicans want to up the total by $45 billion. That $10 billion dollar difference works out to 10.5 cents daily from every American. So whoever said there isn't a dime's worth of difference between Democrats and Republicans was wrong; there is a dime's difference. One dime!"

The Party wasted no time adjusting to the World Wide Web. Jorgensen kept a campaign diary that was posted on the Browne website. I found this particular entry to be insightful and of interest as it reveals a bit of the human side of campaigning and what life must be like for candidates in the same circumstances--

Thursday, October 10. I have one of my most rewarding experiences speaking before a high school class. There are two male students in the back of the room who keep asking me great questions -- questions of interest, not of skepticism.

Finally one of them, a large guy who looks like a football player (but isn't -- I asked), says, "So what you're saying is that you think that people should be able to do ANYthing they want, as long as they don't hurt anyone else?" I reply, "Yes, that's about it." He practically jumps out of his chair and exclaims, "Wow! THIS is the party for me!!"

-- (Political) Queen for a Day --
Later that evening. After my last talk in Virginia I go out to dinner with the local Libertarians and a few audience members who tag along. The menu includes both dinner and breakfast items. Even though it's dinnertime, I ask if I can order from the breakfast menu. (I rarely eat breakfast out, so I get breakfast food whenever I can .)

The waiter informs me that they only serve breakfast in the morning, so I tell him I'll be happy ordering from the dinner menu. Jokingly, the local Libertarians ask the waiter if he knows who I am and ask if he would turn down such a request from Jack Kemp. The waiter, after talking with the chef, returns and says they will be more than happy to make anything I want, anytime I want it.

I object, explaining that this is the kind of treatment I want taken away from the politicians, and that I am running to make government so small that people wouldn't have a reason to treat politicians so specially.

But the waiter insists and seems truly hurt, so I relent and order breakfast. Here is yet one more taste I get of how our elected representatives in Washington are treated like kings and queens. No wonder none of them want to leave office once elected! 

The Browne/Jorgensen ticket made the ballot in all 50 states + DC, a very impressive achievement. Ross Perot and his Reform Party plus Ralph Nader and the Green Party delegated the Libertarians to 5th place in the final results but even so the Party achieved some milestones. Browne was not a household name but he still finished with the second highest popular vote and percentage numbers in the history of the Party up that time. Jorgensen had the third highest of number of popular votes for any female third party candidate in US history, only behind Winona LaDuke of the Green Party in 1996 and 2000.

The Browne/Jorgensen ticket had their best showings in: Arizona 1.02%, Nevada 0.96%, Alaska 0.94%, New Hampshire 0.85%, Wyoming and Colorado 0.82% each, Massachusetts 0.80%, Georgia 0.78%, and Delaware 0.76%. These results were different in that they demonstrated a wider regional appeal than just the Far West as in the past.

Jo Jorgensen is now the 2020 Presidential candidate for the Libertarian Party, finally breaking the glass ceiling of that party for the top spot.

Election history:
1992 - US House of Representatives (SC) (Libertarian Party) - defeated
2020 - US President (Libertarian Party) - pending

Other occupations: academic lecturer in psychology, computer systems business

Notes:
Was on a roller hockey team.
Can fly planes.
Grew up in a conservative Republican family.
Courted by conservative Democrats to run for Congress in 1998 but apparently it did not happen.

Nancy Theresa Lord

Nancy Theresa Lord, February 8, 1952 (Silver Spring, Md.) -

VP candidate for Libertarian Party (aka Independent) (1992)

Running mate with nominee: Andre Verne Marrou (b. 1938)
Popular vote: 290,087 (0.28%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

In a contested convention, 1988 Libertarian VP Andre Morrou emerged as the 1992 Presidential nominee.

The nomination for running-mate was even more contested. Morrou's personal choice was passed up and after multiple ballots the Party selected Nancy Lord over more established figures. Raised in the Jewish faith (just like 1972 VP Tonie Nathan), Lord was impressively a lawyer with a medical degree. 1980 Libertarian Presidential candidate Ed Clark had backed Lord for the VP position. In 1992 she was a member of the National Rifle Association and the National Abortion Rights Action League-- that might seem like a strange combination for most members of the major parties, but perfectly in the groove for Libertarians.

By 1992 the Libertarian Party had been around for over two decades and even by then had emerged as America's most stable third party. They were not going to go away. In this election year they were a bit handicapped financially without a millionaire or household name on the ticket, nor did they seem to have any campaign investment angels. On top of that, Ross Perot was grabbing most of the voters who were discontented with the major parties, and 1988 Libertarian Presidential nominee Ron Paul endorsed Pat Buchanan in the 1992 Republican primaries.

Hopefully this won't insult my Libertarian friends, but the Marrou/Lord ticket superficially appeared to me to have a similar dynamic as the Clinton/Gore team. Marrou being the outgoing charmer with a sense of humor. But also the one to go on the attack. Lord being the more reserved policy wonk. In the course of shaking hands while on the street she was known to pay more attention to dogs the people were walking than the potential voters. That indicator would be foreshadowing her unfortunate dog legal experience a couple decades later.

Lord told reporter Hal Marcovitz the Libertarians will win the White House by 2000, or 2004 at most. "We want to be the governing party by the 21st century," said Lord. "If we're not, I would be concerned."

Reporters noted Lord's candid, honest comments and found her very quotable. Some examples:

Sometimes I get very tired of hearing myself talk. Campaigning is very tiring. Not being in control of where you sleep, or what you eat. It wears you out.

[After her car was broken into and robbed in Manhattan]: If Bill Clinton's car had gotten broken into it would have been on the national news. But my car gets broken into and it's just another larceny.

Every bad thing does not need a law against it. You don't make something illegal just because it's stupid.

We want the government out of our personal lives and out of our economic lives. When you centralize power, you attract people who like to wield it. They produce very benevolent reasons, but they are after power.

Marrou had apparently made some enemies within the Party and he was nearly removed from the ticket. There were serious charges against him involving unpaid child support, a contempt of court outstanding warrant, more multiple marriages than he originally claimed, spending campaign money without approval, and mismanagement of  personal finances. But rather than give him his day in Party court, they decided to allow him to remain on the ticket for fear of generating bad publicity.

The national ticket disappointing results dipping down to 0.28% would serve as one of their lower point elections, but their percentages have all been better than that ever since. But in the local results the Party enjoyed some actual wins, plus higher percentages. One idea was that Perot voters continued to vote for third parties as they went down-ballot and the Libertarians were the ones to get the most benefit.

On the Presidential ballot in all 50 states + DC for only the second time, the Libertarians had their best showings in: New Hampshire (0.66%), Colorado (0.55%), Alaska (0.53%), Arizona (0.46%), Pennsylvania ; California (0.43% each), and Wyoming (0.42%).

Election history:
1990 - Mayor of Washington, DC (Libertarian Party)- defeated
2010 - Nye County (Nev.) District Attorney (Republican) - primary - defeated
2012 - Nye County (Nev.) District Attorney (Republican) - primary - defeated
2012 - District Court Judge, District 5, Department 1 (Nev.) - defeated

Other occupations: attorney, board of directors for the National Association for the Reform of Marijuana Law (NORML), Abbott Laboratories employee, board of directors for the Fully Informed Jury Association

Notes:
Demonstrated against the Vietnam War before joining the Libertarians.
Also called Nancy Lord Johnson for awhile after marrying former militia figure James "J.J." Johnson
 ca1997.
Was embroiled in Nye County, Nev. court cases ca2012 regarding charges resulting from hoarding
 about 40 dogs.

Theodora Nathalia Nathan

Theodora Nathalia Nathan, February 9, 1923 (New York, NY) – March 20, 2014 (Eugene, Or.)

VP candidate for Libertarian Party (1972)

Running mate with nominee: John Hospers (1918-2011)
Popular vote: 3,674 (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 1/538

The campaign:

A new national political party emerged in the 1972 Presidential election. Even though they were only on the ballot in two states, Colorado where the Party had been created and Washington (and official write-ins in four others), they would go on to become America's largest third party. I recall reading the 1972 Washington State Voters Pamphlet trying to figure out this unusual group that had a civil liberties policy to the Left of the Democratic Party and an economic policy to the Right of the Republican Party but all on a foundation of what seemed to me a Darwinian belief in survival of the fittest in both wings with as little government involvement as possible. The closest Presidential election precedent I could come up with at the time was Barry Goldwater's version of the Republican Party in 1964.

John Hospers and Toni Nathan had both been influenced by the writings of Ayn Rand and were considered among the founders of the Party. Nathan had originally been a Democrat, which I imagine was an unusual political background for the Libertarians of that era. Nathan did not attend the Party's convention expecting to be selected as the running-mate, but the nomination seemed to fit and launched her interest in running for public office for over the next quarter century.

The 1972 platform included:

Crime. "We hold that no action which does not infringe the rights of others can properly be termed a crime."

Freedom of Speech and The Press. "We pledge to oppose all forms of censorship, whatever the medium involved."

The Right to Keep and Bear Arms. "In recognition of the fact that the individual is his own last source of self-defense, the authors of the Constitution guaranteed, in the Second Amendment, the right of the people to keep and bear arms. This reasoning remains valid today. We pledge to uphold that guarantee. We oppose compulsory arms registration."

Volunteer Army. "We oppose the draft (Selective Service), believing that the use of force to require individuals to serve in the armed forces or anywhere else is a violation of their rights, and that a well-paid volunteer army is a more effective means of national defense than the involuntary servitude exemplified by the draft."

Subsidies. "In order to achieve a free economy in which government victimizes no one for the benefit of anyone else, we oppose all government subsidies to business, labor, education, agriculture, science, the arts, or any other special interests."

Tariffs and Quotas. "Like subsidies, tariffs and quotas serve only to give special treatment to favored interests and to diminish the welfare of other citizens. We therefore support abolition of all tariffs and quotas as well as the Tariff Commission and the Customs Court."

Consumer Protection. "We shall support strong and effective laws against fraud and misrepresentation. We shall oppose, however, that present and prospective so-called "consumer protection" legislation which infringes upon voluntary trade."

Overpopulation. "We support an end to all subsidies for childbearing built into our present laws, including all welfare plans and the provision of tax-supported services for children. We further support the repeal of all laws restricting voluntary birth control or voluntary termination of pregnancies during their first hundred days. We shall oppose all coercive measures to control population growth."

Education. "We support the repeal of all compulsory education laws, and an end to government operation, regulation, and subsidy of schools. We call for an immediate end of compulsory busing."

Poverty and Unemployment. "We support repeal of all laws which impede the ability of any person to find employment—including, but not limited to, minimum wage laws, so-called "protective" labor legislation for women and children, governmental restrictions on the establishment of private day-care centers, the National Labor Relations Act, and licensing requirements. We oppose all government welfare and relief projects and "aid to the poor" programs, inasmuch as they are not within the proper role of government, and do contribute to unemployment. All aid to the poor should come from private sources."

Foreign Aid. "We support an end to the Federal foreign aid program."

Military Alliances. "The United States should abandon its attempts to act as policeman for the world, and should enter into alliances only with countries whose continued free existence is vital to the protection of the freedom of all American citizens."

Secession. "We shall support recognition of the right to secede. Political units or areas which do secede should be recognized by the United States as independent political entities where: (1) secession is supported by a majority within the political unit, (2) the majority does not attempt suppression of the dissenting minority, and (3) the government of the new entity is at least as compatible with human freedom as that from which it seceded."

The United Nations. "We support withdrawal of the United States from the United Nations. We further support a Constitutional Amendment designed to prohibit the United States from entering into any treaty under which it relinquishes any portion of its sovereignty."

I was politically active here in Washington State in 1972, and I have to say that if not for the Voters Pamphlet I would not have been aware of the Libertarian Party. The media up here pretty much ignored them and the embryonic party really didn't have a strong enough organization yet to wage an effective statewide campaign.

The Hospers/Nathan ticket received 0.12% of the Colorado vote and 0.10% in Washington. A faithless Nixon Elector in Virginia named Roger MacBride (1929-1995) cast his vote for the Libertarian ticket. There had been other women in the VP role in the past, as well as running-mates of the Jewish faith, but Toni Nathan was the first in either category to have ever been granted an Electoral vote-- before Geraldine Ferraro in 1984, before Joe Lieberman in 2000. MacBride had been a former Goldwater Republican and had served in the Vermont State Legislature a decade earlier. In 1976 he was the Libertarian Party nominee for President.

Election history:
1976 - US House of Representatives (Or.) (Independent) - defeated
1980 - US Senate (Or.) (Libertarian Party) - defeated
1983 - Libertarian Party nomination for US President - defeated
1984 - Lane County (Or.) County Commission (Libertarian Party) - defeated
1990 - US House of Representatives (Or.) (Libertarian Party) - defeated
1992 - Oregon State Senate (Libertarian Party) - defeated
1996 - US House of Representatives (Or.) (Libertarian Party) - defeated
1998 - Oregon State Senate (Libertarian Party) - defeated

Other occupations: insurance agent, music publisher, decorating service owner, radio and television producer, television talk show host

Buried: Sunset Hills Cemetery (Eugene, Or.)

Notes:
1980 opponents were Bob Packwood (winner) and Ted Kulongoski.
She lived in a county in Oregon named after another third party vice-presidential candidate who also
 received votes from the Electoral College, Joseph Lane (1801-1881) who in 1860 ran as VP in the 
 Constitutional Democratic Party.
Married a composer, Charles Nathan, who had the same surname.
She was a lifelong naturopath.
"The American public has a right to hear discussions on ALL issues that affect them. If all views were represented in the dialogues preceding the national election, there would be more voters participating and a better indication of what voters really wanted. If the winning candidate could know the major concerns of the public, he/she could act upon them. After all, the election is the most revealing and authentic poll of all, providing voters are aware of all viewpoints and vote for the ones they support. The election isn't a horse race and voters don't have to pick a winner. They should vote their consciences and pick the candidate who best represents their values. This way is really the only way of getting their concerns before those who will ultimately determine the direction of this country on matters of supreme importance."--Toni Nathan 2004.