2004 Libertarian National Convention Explained

Year:	2004
Party:	Libertarian
Date:	May 28–31, 2004
Venue:	Marriott Marquis Hotel
City:	Atlanta Georgia
Presidential Nominee:	Michael Badnarik
Presidential Nominee State:	Texas
Vice Presidential Nominee:	Richard Campagna
Vice Presidential Nominee State:	Iowa
Othercandidates:	Gary Nolan of Ohio Aaron Russo of California
Previous Year:	2002
Next Year:	2006

The 2004 Libertarian National Convention was held from May 28 to May 31, 2004, at the Marriott Marquis Hotel^[1] in Atlanta, Georgia. The delegates at the convention, on behalf of the U.S. Libertarian Party, nominated Michael Badnarik for president and Richard Campagna for vice president in the 2004 presidential election. The convention was televised nationally on C-SPAN.

Libertarians hold a National 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 nominates presidential and vice presidential candidates.^[2]

Speakers

Those which attended include:

• Michael Badnarik, activist
• Gary Nolan, radio host
• Aaron Russo, businessman and filmmaker
• Ron Paul, former Libertarian presidential candidate and current Republican Congressman
• Neal Boortz, national syndicated radio talk show host
• James Bovard, author of Terrorism and Tyranny
• Sheriff Richard Mack
• David Nolan, co-founder of the Libertarian Party
• Michael Colley, retired United States Navy vice admiral
• Dean Cameron, actor
• Jim Gray, judge of the Superior Court of Orange County, California, author
• Dr. Mary Ruwart, author
• Ed Thompson, nominee for Governor of Wisconsin in 2012
• Jimmie Vaughan, musician

Voting for presidential nomination

First ballot

After the first round, a motion was passed to suspend the rules and allow only the top three candidates from the first round to proceed to the second ballot.

2004 Libertarian Party National Convention total vote count: Round 1

Candidate	Total votes cast	Percent of votes cast
	258	33.2%
	256	32.9%
	246	31.6%
	10	1.3%
	4	0.5%
	3	0.4%
	1	0.1%
	Color key: 1st place 2nd place 3rd place 4th place 5th place 6th place 7th place

Second ballot

After the second round, Gary Nolan, not receiving the necessary votes to advance, endorsed Michael Badnarik.

2004 Libertarian Party National Convention total vote count: Round 2

Candidate	Total votes cast	Percent of votes cast
	285	36.4%
	249	31.8%
	244	31.2%
	5	0.6%
	Color key: 1st place 2nd place 3rd place 4th place

Third ballot

After the second round of voting, Gary Nolan addressed the convention, endorsing Michael Badnarik for the 2004 nomination of the Libertarian Party.

2004 Libertarian Party National Convention total vote count: Round 3

Candidate	Total votes cast	Percent of votes cast
Michael Badnarik	423	54.4%
	344	44.2%
	11	1.4%
	Color key: 1st place 2nd place 3rd place

Voting for vice presidential nomination

A separate vote was held for the vice presidential nomination. Per convention rules, nominee Michael Badnarik addressed the crowd, however he declined to declare his preferred running mate.

First ballot

Richard Campagna of Iowa was nominated as vice presidential candidate on the first ballot.

2004 Libertarian Party National Convention total vote count: Round 1

Candidate	Total votes cast	Percent of votes cast
Richard Campagna	353	56.4%
	220	35.1%
	36	5.8%
	10	1.6%
	7	1.1%
	Color key: 1st place 2nd place 3rd place 4th place 5th place

See also

• Libertarian National Convention
• Other parties' presidential nominating conventions of 2004:
  • Green
  • Democratic
  • Republican
• Libertarian Party of Colorado
• U.S. presidential election, 2004

Notes and References

1. Web site: Libertarian National Convention Minutes, 2004 . 2012-05-16 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120511110412/http://www.lp.org/archives/lpnatconv2004.pdf . 2012-05-11 . dead .
2. Web site: Libertarian Party Bylaws. https://web.archive.org/web/20080605025750/http://www.lp.org/organization/bylaws.shtml. dead. June 5, 2008.