The vote share for Libertarian candidates for governor is at an all-time high so far this decade – up 55 percent from the 2000s

Photo of Vic KaplanOf the two states holding gubernatorial elections this cycle, only one – New Jersey – will have alternatives to major party nominees on the ballot.

In addition to Democratic U.S. Representative Mikie Sherill and former Republican Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli, New Jersey voters will also have the option of backing Libertarian Vic Kaplan or Socialist Workers candidate Joanne Kuniansky.

Kaplan is the former state chair of New Jersey’s Libertarian Party and received 0.9 percent as their candidate for last November’s 12th Congressional District race.

During the 2024 cycle, Libertarian nominees for governor fared quite well across the country with five of the party’s six nominees winning more than 2.5 percent of the vote, averaging 2.87 percent overall:

  • Indiana: Westfield U.S. navy veteran Donald Rainwater (4.51 percent)
  • North Carolina: Cramerton financial planner Mike Ross (3.15 percent)
  • West Virginia: Buckhannon attorney Erika Klie Kolenich (2.87 percent)
  • Utah: St. George attorney J. Robert Latham (2.78 percent)
  • Montana: Helena software engineer Kaiser Leib (2.52 percent)
  • Missouri: St. Charles radio and television consulting firm owner Bill Slantz (1.38 percent)

Rainwater’s 2024 performance is currently the ninth best showing by a Libertarian for governor across the 308 candidates fielded for the office since 1973 when New Jersey’s John A. Goodson, a South Plainfield guidance counselor, became the first such nominee. [Rainwater also holds the #2 spot with his 11.44 percent showing in 2020’s race for governor].

Ross (#41) and Kolenich (#47) also cracked the Top 50 with Latham (#51) landing just off the list.

Support for the nation’s largest third party continues to grow in races for the most prominent statewide office – increasing every decade except for a drop in the 2000s:

  • 1970s (14 candidates): 0.50 percent
  • 1980s (42 candidates): 1.20 percent
  • 1990s (55 candidates): 1.80 percent
  • 2000s (67 candidates): 1.40 percent
  • 2010s (88 candidates): 2.00 percent
  • 2020-2024 (41 candidates): 2.17 percent

Kaplan, a lecturer from Marlboro Township, will have his work cut out for him to set a New Jersey gubernatorial Libertarian record. Ramapo College finance professor Murray Sabrin won 4.72 percent in a 10-candidate race won by GOP Governor Christine Todd Whitman in 1997.

Sabrin is the only Libertarian of the dozen to appear on the gubernatorial ballot in New Jersey to win at least one percent of the vote and holds the seventh best mark in party history nationwide.

The Top 10 all-time best showings for governor by Libertarian nominees are:

  • Alaska (1982): State Representative Dick Randolph (14.91 percent)
  • Indiana (2020): Donald Rainwater (11.44 percent)
  • Wisconsin (2002): Tomah Mayor Ed Thompson (10.45 percent)
  • Virginia (2013): Former lawyer and software engineer Robert Sarvis (6.52 percent)
  • Arizona (1982): Former five-term GOP U.S. Representative Sam Steiger (5.05 percent)
  • New Hampshire (1990): Windham marketing consultant Miriam Luce (4.86 percent)
  • New Jersey (1997): Murray Sabrin (4.72 percent)
  • Oregon (2002): Hillsboro information and management consultant Tom Cox (4.58 percent)
  • Indiana (2024): Donald Rainwater (4.51 percent)
  • New Hampshire (1994): Newbury airplane pilot Steven Winter (4.40 percent)

A total of 88 of the 308 Libertarian nominees for the office have won at least 2.0 percent of the vote, or 28.6 percent. Fifty-three of those have done so since the 2010 cycle.

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Posted in Governorships, New Jersey, Third Parties and tagged ,

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