ORLANDO — Former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld won the Libertarian Party Vice President nomination on Sunday afternoon and will be on the party’s ticket with former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson.
The two-term governor won the nomination with just over 50 percent of the delegate vote, or 441 votes, on the second ballot.
Weld endured cynicism and questions regarding his past with the Republican Party throughout the Libertarian National Convention over Memorial Day Weekend. At issue was Weld’s ability to present Libertarian ideas and values on a national stage.
Like Johnson, Weld narrowly missed a majority of delegates on the first ballot.
The vote process took more than an hour and in that time, most of the other candidates dropped out and added their support to either Weld or his competitor Larry Sharpe, a business consultant from New York.
Ahead of the first vote, Johnson lobbied the crowd to elect his choice for vice president.
“You’ve trusted me with the nomination here,” Johnson said of the nomination he secured hours before.
For most of the convention Johnson told delegates that Weld was of huge importance to Johnson’s campaign for president. Again, he asked the delegates to support his pick of Weld.
“I’m asking you to give me the tools needed to actually win,” Johnson said.
After his win, Weld addressed the remaining delegates and said he was excited to receive the nomination.
“I am truly humbled by this,” Weld said.
Weld added that, “We’re going to have a lot to talk about in the fall.”
Johnson and Weld each served two terms as governor, though did so as Republicans. Johnson even ran for president as a Republican, but after not being involved in most polls and not being allowed on the stage for debates, he left the party and sought the Libertarian nomination.
Johnson’s second time in a row as Libertarian candidate is a first for the party.
Sharpe took the stage after Weld and offered his support for the Johnson campaign. He told the crowd of how he was “lost” before he came to the Libertarian Party.
“You know who woke me up?” Sharpe asked. “Governor Gary Johnson.”
Sharpe emphatically backed Johnson.
“No matter what happened today, as of right now, I am 100 percent back in the game for Gary Johnson,” Sharpe said.
