Who is Chase Oliver, the Libertarian Party candidate for president? | EUROtoday

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After a raucous conference that included Robert F Kennedy Jr and former president Donald Trump, the Libertarian Party nominated Chase Oliver, a former Democrat and 38-year-old brazenly homosexual man, as its 2024 election candidate.

There is little probability that Mr Oliver will change into president of the United States. The Libertarian Party, even when it has had high-profile nominees like former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson, has by no means gained political traction.

Indeed, Mr Trump mocked attendees on the conference within the Washington Hilton this weekend and mentioned if libertarians didn’t nominate him, they’d proceed “getting three per cent every four years.”

But Mr Oliver, who hails from Georgia and has often sought elected workplace within the state, would possibly nonetheless play a significant position within the 2024 election.

A former Democrat recruited at Pride

Last yr, Mr Oliver instructedThe Bay Area Reporter that he began out supporting Barack Obama in 2008 in response to his anger at George W Bush over the battle in Iraq. But he rapidly grew disenchanted with Mr Obama’s enlargement of the battle.

Mr Oliver’s conversion towards changing into a libertarian started in 2010 when he attended the Atlanta Pride Festival, he mentioned.

“John Monds, one of the most principled Libertarians I know, was running for governor, and he was the only candidate in that race who appeared at Atlanta Pride,” he posted on X.

“He wasn’t afraid to stand on principle and defend the rights of self-expression and equality under the law. He won my vote that day and put me on the path to liberty.”

A fixture in Georgia politics

Mr Oliver has often supported prison justice reform as a libertarian in Georgia. He was a part of the opposition to the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, which activists have dubbed “Cop City.”

In 2020, he ran as a libertarian for Georgia’s fifth congressional district within the particular election triggered after the district’s longtime congressman, late civil rights activist John Lewis, died. Mr Oliver gained solely 712 votes in that race, little greater than 2 per cent of the vote.

In 2022, he ran once more as a libertarian towards incumbent Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock and Republican challenger and former University of Georgia soccer star Herschel Walker. In October 2022, he appeared alongside Mr Warnock after Mr Walker opted to not attend a debate.

In November of that yr, Mr Oliver gained 1.35 per cent of the vote within the state. That triggered a December runoff between Warnock and Walker as a result of Georgia legislation requires a candidate obtain an outright majority in an election.

What affect might he have?

While this can be very unlikely that Mr Oliver will win the presidency, he might play a task in denying President Joe Biden or Mr Trump votes.

As a pro-immigration, pro-criminal justice reform candidate, he might siphon votes away from Mr Biden. Indeed, throughout his acceptance speech on the libertarian convention this previous weekend, he criticised the battle between Israel and Hamas, saying “end the genocide, ceasefire now and support peace around the world,” Al Jazeera reported.

Similarly, as a limited-government candidate, he might simply entice those that are dissatisfied with Mr Trump. The former president ballooned the federal deficit with huge tax cuts for the rich and expanded the social security internet through the Covid-19 pandemic.