He’s a Georgia resident, but in the race for president of the United States, even a hometown advantage has its limits.
DeKalb County resident Chase Oliver is the Libertarian Party’s nominee for president. He voted for himself on the first day of early voting in Georgia, but he may be one of the few.
Oliver was never going to win the election or even his home state. Typically, the Libertarian candidate receives 1% to 2% of the vote in Georgia. Nationwide, it’s usually not more than 3%.
But in the most recent survey from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Oliver polled at less than 1% — the same as Green Party candidate Jill Stein.
According to members of the Libertarian Party in Georgia, Oliver’s underperformance may be due to issues with party splintering, lack of name recognition, increased polarization and fundraising challenges. But his party is at risk of losing access to the ballot in Georgia if it falls too low.
“We recognize that with limited resources, our targets for a lot of these states are maintaining or securing ballot access and growing our party’s message organically,” Oliver said.
Disunity in the party
When the presidential race was between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, so-called “double haters” were intrigued by Oliver’s campaign and other third-party candidates, he said. But when Vice President Kamala Harris took over as the Democratic Party’s nominee and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ended his third-party bid, voters coalesced behind the two major-party candidates.
Oliver said he hoped to appeal to disaffected voters who don’t identify with either major party as a candidate who will protect civil liberties and offer “an alternative, anti-war voice.”
He pledged to respect individual choices and reduce the federal government’s influence. For example, Oliver said people in every state should have the right to seek an abortion, but he also supports the Hyde Amendment restricting federal funding of abortion clinics, according to his campaign website.
Oliver also wants to eliminate all aid to Israel and Ukraine and simplify immigration “for those who wish to come here to work and build a better life.”
But for some Libertarians, those have been sticking points, stopping even his own party from fully uniting around him.
“People accuse him of being open borders and for immigration,” said Ryan Graham, the immediate past chair of the Libertarian Party of Georgia. “But we can get background checks and make sure that anybody who’s a violent criminal isn’t getting in.”
Angela Pence, who worked on Oliver’s previous campaigns for public office, said she, too, does not want to see the U.S. involved in any wars but differs with him on abortion rights.
“He is very pro-choice. I am pro-life,” she said. “We find common ground in government involvement.”
Oliver, 39, is also an openly gay man, which troubles some members of his party.
“I think some people are not as forgiving about his choice to be a gay person, like it’s any of their business,” said Doug Craig, a former chair of the state’s Libertarian Party.
What’s next
For future elections, the Libertarian Party needs to be on the ballot in at least 20 other states to be on the ballot in Georgia as a presidential candidate without having to gather thousands of signatures on a petition. For statewide elections, such as governor or lieutenant governor, the party has to get enough votes to equal 1% of registered voters.
Members want to run more Libertarians for legislative seats, city council positions and county commissioner spots.
“We don’t have a lot of name recognition. Everybody knows who Kamala Harris is; everybody knows who Donald Trump is,” said David Barker, who works with the Libertarian Party in Gwinnett County. “You throw out a Libertarian name, most people do not know who they are.”
Matthew Bates, 38, of Monroe said he considered himself a Libertarian but didn’t know much about Oliver.
“I never heard of him until a few months ago,” he said. When asked whether he was interested in learning more about Oliver, Bates said “not at this point.”
Oliver said the party needs to begin building for its long-term survival.
“In the new year,” he said, “we’re going to look at what we can do to spread the Libertarian message outside of electoral politics and improve the Libertarian Party so we’re in better shape in 2028.”
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