| Election Name: | 2008 Libertarian Party presidential primaries |
| Country: | United States |
| Type: | primary |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Party Name: | no |
| Previous Year: | 2004 |
| Election Date: | February 5, 2008 |
| Next Year: | 2012 |
| Votes For Election: | Non-binding preferential vote |
| Candidate1: | Christine Smith |
| Color1: | 1F75FE |
| Home State1: | Colorado |
| States Carried1: | 1 |
| Popular Vote1: | 4,241 |
| Percentage1: | 22.4% |
| Candidate2: | Steve Kubby |
| Home State2: | California |
| States Carried2: | 0 |
| Popular Vote2: | 3,072 |
| Percentage2: | 16.2% |
| Candidate3: | Wayne Allyn Root |
| Home State3: | Nevada |
| States Carried3: | 0 |
| Popular Vote3: | 2,730 |
| Percentage3: | 14.4% |
| Candidate4: | Bob Jackson |
| States Carried4: | 0 |
| Popular Vote4: | 1,486 |
| Percentage4: | 7.9% |
| Candidate5: | George Phillies |
| Home State5: | Massachusetts |
| States Carried5: | 0 |
| Popular Vote5: | 1,015 |
| Percentage5: | 5.4% |
| Candidate6: | Uncommitted |
| Color6: | 000000 |
| States Carried6: | 1 |
| Popular Vote6: | 967 |
| Percentage6: | 5.1% |
| Libertarian nominee | |
| Before Election: | Michael Badnarik |
| After Election: | Bob Barr |
| Map Size: | 400px |
The 2008 Libertarian Party presidential primaries allowed voters to indicate non-binding preferences for the Libertarian Party's presidential candidate. These differed from the Republican or Democratic presidential primaries and caucuses in that they did not appoint delegates to represent a candidate at the party's convention to select the party's nominee for the United States presidential election. The party's nominee for the 2008 presidential election was chosen directly by registered delegates at the 2008 Libertarian National Convention, which ran from May 22 to 26, 2008. The delegates nominated former congressman Bob Barr (who did not run in the primaries) for president and media personality Wayne Allyn Root for vice president.
Two primaries were held, one in Missouri and one in California.[1] A total of 18,915 votes were cast in these primaries.
| Candidate | Profession | Campaign | On primary ballot | Popular vote | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CA | MO | ||||||||
| data-sort-value="Smith, Christine" | Christine Smith | Writer[2] | data-sort-value="4241" | 4,241 | |||||
| data-sort-value="Kubby, Steve" | Steve Kubby | Libertarian activist, 1998 California gubernatorial nominee | data-sort-value="3072" | 3,072 | |||||
| data-sort-value="Root, Wayne Allyn" | Wayne Allyn Root | Businessman, media personality, author, TV producer | data-sort-value="2730" | 2,730 | |||||
| data-sort-value="Jackson, Bob" | Bob Jackson | Engineer[3] | data-sort-value="1486" | 1,486 | |||||
| data-sort-value="Phillies, George" | George Phillies | College professor[4] | data-sort-value="1015" | 1,015 | |||||
| data-sort-value="Hess, Barry" | Barry Hess | 2002 and 2006 Libertarian nominee for Arizona governor[5] | data-sort-value="891" | 891 | |||||
| data-sort-value="Jingozian, Mike" | Mike Jingozian | Businessman | data-sort-value="853" | 853 | |||||
| data-sort-value="Imperato, Daniel" | Daniel Imperato | Businessman | data-sort-value="848" | 848 | |||||
| data-sort-value="Hollist, Dave" | Dave Hollist | Activist | data-sort-value="819" | 819 | |||||
| data-sort-value="Milnes, Robert" | Robert Milnes | Joirnalist | data-sort-value="721" | 721 | |||||
| data-sort-value="Finan, John" | John Finan | Activist | data-sort-value="706" | 706 | |||||
| data-sort-value="Link, Alden" | Alden Link | Company manager | data-sort-value="565" | 565 | |||||
| Colspan=11 | Alternate ballot options: | ||||||||
| data-sort-value="Uncommitted" | Uncommitted | N/A | data-sort-value="967" | 967 | |||||
| Candidate | Votes | % | First-place primary/caucus finishes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christine Smith | 4,241 | 22.42% | style=text-align:center | 1 |
| 3,072 | 16.24% | |||
| 2,730 | 14.43% | |||
| Bob Jackson | 1,486 | 7.86% | ||
| George Phillies | 1,015 | 5.37% | ||
| Barry Hess | 891 | 4.71% | ||
| Uncommitted/uninstructed | 885 | 4.68% | style=text-align:center | 1 |
| 853 | 4.51% | |||
| 848 | 4.48% | |||
| Dave Hollist | 819 | 4.33% | ||
| Robert Milnes | 721 | 3.81% | ||
| John Finan | 706 | 3.73% | ||
| Alden Link | 565 | 2.99% | ||
| Leon L. Ray | 1 | 0.00% |
Type: Semi-ClosedIn the California primary on February 5, the Libertarian Party had a state-run primary held alongside those for the Republicans, Democrats, the Green Party, the American Independent Party and the Peace and Freedom Party.[6]
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Christine Smith | 4,241 | 25.2 | |
| Steve Kubby | 2,876 | 17.1 | |
| Wayne Allyn Root | 2,360 | 14.0 | |
| Bob Jackson | 1,486 | 8.9 | |
| Barry Hess | 891 | 5.3 | |
| George Phillies | 852 | 5.1 | |
| Mike Jingozian | 774 | 4.6 | |
| Robert Milnes | 721 | 4.3 | |
| Daniel Imperato | 707 | 4.1 | |
| John Finan | 706 | 4.1 | |
| Dave Hollist | 678 | 4.0 | |
| Alden Link | 565 | 3.3 | |
| Leon L. Ray (write-in) | 1 | nil | |
| Total | 16,858 | 100 |
In the Missouri primary on February 5, the Libertarian Party had a state-run primary held alongside the Republican and Democratic primaries.[7]
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Uncommitted | 967 | 47.0 | |
| Wayne Allyn Root | 370 | 18.0 | |
| Steve Kubby | 196 | 9.5 | |
| George Phillies | 163 | 7.9 | |
| Dave Hollist | 141 | 6.9 | |
| Daniel Imperato | 141 | 6.9 | |
| Mike Jingozian | 79 | 3.8 | |
| Total | 2,057 | 100 |
See main article: 2008 Libertarian National Convention.
Presidential primaries