DES MOINES, Iowa – On Saturday, Iowa Libertarians gathered across the state at county level caucuses and conventions to elect officers, build county committees and select delegates to the 2020 Libertarian Party of Iowa (LPIA) State Convention.
In keeping with the tradition of the Iowa Caucuses, the Libertarian Party of Iowa also held their first ever presidential preference straw poll so registered Libertarians in the state could signal their preference for their party’s presidential nomination.
Also, LPIA conducted a virtual caucus, unique to the Iowa Caucus, to foster greater participation from Libertarians statewide.
Jacob Hornberger, Future of Freedom Foundation founder, won the straw poll. Rounding out the top five are former Rhode Island Governor and U.S. Senator Lincoln Chafee, 1996 Libertarian Vice Presidential Nominee Jo Jorgensen, Veterans Against the Iraq War founder Adam Kokesh, and software engineer and entrepreneur Daniel Behrman.
Here are the results:
- Jacob Hornberger – 47.52 percent
- Lincoln Chafee – 12.77 percent
- Jo Jorgenson – 6.38 percent
- Adam Kokesh – 6.03 percent
- Daniel Berhman – 4.96 percent
- John McAfee – 3.55 percent
- Vermin Supreme – 3.19 percent
Hornberger is a long-time Libertarian activist and author who serves as president of The Future of Freedom Foundation, an educational foundation whose mission is to present the principled case for the libertarian philosophy. He declared his candidacy last November at the South Carolina Libertarian Party convention.
“I am honored and grateful to Iowa Libertarians for their big vote of confidence. I will do everything I can to merit it in the weeks ahead as we head toward the national nominating convention,“ said Hornberger. who resides in Virginia. “I am also grateful for my great campaign team, which deserves a lot of the credit for this win.”
Hornberger added, “Both Democrats and Republicans are leading our nation in a very bad direction—one that leads toward more socialism and regulation at home and more foreign interventionism abroad. We Libertarians want to take America in a different and better direction — one that leads toward liberty, peace, prosperity, and harmony with the people of the world. We are asking our fellow Americans to join us in this endeavor.”
The Libertarian Party does not bind its national convention delegates to the winners of primaries and caucuses. Delegates are free to vote for anyone they choose at the party’s presidential nominating convention in Austin, Texas in May.