Libertarians hold convoy to protest exclusion of their candidate from presidential debates

More than a dozen vehicles participated in a Saturday morning, Aug. 8, protest convoy organized by Libertarians from Las Cruces and Doña Ana County.

With participants from the Las Cruces area and El Paso, the convoy was organized to protest the exclusion of Libertarian presidential candidate Jo Jorgensen from upcoming presidential debates, Marcy Shoberg said in an email to the Bulletin. The convoy was one of more than 100 similar protests scheduled to be held nationwide, according to local Libertarian activists.

Jorgensen was the Libertarian party candidate for vice president in 1996. She also ran for Congress as a Libertarian in South Carolina in 1992.

Also on the New Mexico ballot for president is Constitution Party candidate Sheila “Small” Tittle, 57, a native of El Paso who now lives in Virginia. The national Constitution Party nominated Don Blankenship of West Virginia for president, but the New Mexico party chose Tittle. The Constitution Party was founded in 1992 as the U.S. Taxpayers party. Its name was changed in 1999.

Howie Hawkins, 67, of New York, is the presidential nominee of the Green and Socialist parties but did not make the ballot in New Mexico. Hawkins is a co-founder of the Green Party, a trade unionist and environmental activist. He has run for governor and U.S. Senate in New York.

In the 2016 presidential election, Libertarian candidate (and former New Mexico governor) Gary Johnson earned almost 4.5 million votes, equal to 3.28 percent of the total. Green Party candidate Jill Stein received almost 1.46 million votes, or 1.07 percent, while Constitution Party candidate Darrell Castle received 203,000 votes, or 0.15 percent.

Contact Shoberg at marcy.shoberg@gmail.com.