Gary Johnson has the chance to expand the Libertarian Party’s reach in the Sunshine State.
After getting nominated by the Libertarians in Orlando over the Memorial Day weekend, the former New Mexico governor is trying again for the White House. Johnson pulled 1 percent at the national level and in Florida as the Libertarian nominee back in 2012.
But a new poll shows Johnson, who picked former Gov. William Weld of Massachusetts as his running mate, could improve on that showing in November. Mason Dixon released a poll at the end of last week showing Johnson pulling between 6-8 percent depending on who the Democratic nominee is. When Joe Biden or Hillary Clinton is the Democratic candidate, Johnson gets 6 percent. With Bernie Sanders as the Democratic nominee, Johnson moves up to 8 percent.
Still, Johnson remains largely unknown to most Florida voters with 63 percent of those surveyed not familiar with him while 9 percent see him favorably and 4 percent view him unfavorably. Almost a quarter of those surveyed--24 percent--have heard of Johnson but are neutral about him.
The poll shows Johnson does far better in the northern part of the state than South Florida. When Clinton is matched up against Trump, Johnson He pulls 10 percent of voters younger than 35 but only gets 2 percent of seniors. The former New Mexico governor takes 10 percent of independents, 8 percent of Republicans and 2 percent of Democrats. The poll shows a major racial divide on Johnson who gets the support of 8 percent of whites, 2 percent of Hispanics and less than one half of one percent of black voters.
The poll of 625 registered Florida voters was taken from May 31-June 2 and had a margin of error of +/- 4 percent.
Libertarians have made strides in Florida in recent years with Alex Snitker taking one half of one percent in his Senate bid back in 2010 and gubernatorial candidate Adrian Wyllie pulling 4 percent in 2014. Libertarian candidates in special congressional elections in Tampa Bay and Southwest Florida that year also helped build the party.
But outside of Johnson, Libertarians might be headed for a step back in Florida come November. Attorney Augustus Invictus is running for the Senate and has drawn national attention due to his paganism, including sacrificing a goat as part of a ritual. He’s also draw fire from Libertarian leaders due to his positions on issues including eugenics. Iraq War veteran Paul Stanton has less of a profile but he’s also running for the party’s Senate nomination.
While there are several competitive congressional races in Florida this year, the Libertarians do not have many candidates yet in these contests though there are three weeks to qualify. Rob Lapham, who led the party in Texas, is running for the seat held by retiring Congresswoman Gwen Graham. Matt Schnackenberg is running on the Libertarian line for the seat held by retiring Congressman Rich Nugent. There are a handful of Libertarians running for state House seats and none aiming for Florida Senate seats.
