In the hours after the polls closed in Indiana and it was announced that businessman Donald Trump had won the Republican presidential primary — thereby ending Texas Sen. Ted Cruz’s campaign — the Libertarian Party saw a doubling of its new membership applications.
Between 7 p.m. Tuesday evening and noon on Wednesday, the Libertarian Party received 99 new memberships. For the same time period a day earlier, the LP received only 46 new memberships.
In an email to the Washington Examiner, LP Executive Director Wes Benedict said he was unaware of any social media efforts by the party to recruit new members, and believed the increase was in response to Trump becoming the clear Republican nominee.
“Of course they are scared of Trump. Trump sounds like an authoritarian,” Benedict wrote. “We don’t need a secret deal-maker. We need more transparency, and a smaller, less intrusive government that provides a level playing field for all and has fewer deals for special interests.”
Benedict also provided the Examiner with the LP’s official membership report through the month of April, showing a drastic increase in new donors as the primaries started and it became increasingly clear that Trump would be the nominee. In April 2015 (an off year), the LP signed up only 106 new donors. From April 2015 through January 2016, the LP averaged 114 new donors per month.
But in February 2016, after Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina held their caucuses and primaries, the LP saw 323 new donors. In March they had 546 new donors, and in April, after everyone but Trump, Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich had dropped out, the LP signed up 706 new donors.
In the same period in 2012, the LP actually saw a slight decrease in the number of new donors per month, and the party didn’t see large increases until July of that year. The difference could have been due to the fact that the Republican primary was closer at this point in 2012, and it wasn’t entirely clear that Mitt Romney would be the nominee until later in the game.
(Courtesy the Libertarian Party)
The LP has also seen a 4.32 percent increase in active donors since April of last year, from 12,488 to 13,028.
The increase in new donors and members occurred along with a rise in Google searches for “Libertarian Party” and “Gary Johnson” following Trump’s win in Indiana. The former New Mexico governor is running to be the Libertarian Party candidate for president.
In 2012, Johnson won 1.2 million votes against Republican nominee Mitt Romney and incumbent President Obama. In a statement following the primary Tuesday night, Johnson made the case for support to former Cruz supporters.
“With millions of Americans now feeling politically ‘homeless’, a two-term governor who balanced budgets, cut taxes, cut regulations and truly reduced the size of government may offer the home they are seeking,” Johnson said.
Benedict also made the case for former Cruz supporters and those who refuse to support Trump (the “#NeverTrump” movement) to join the Libertarian ticket.
“Republicans who liked Cruz’s fight against Obamacare, opposition to ethanol subsidies, and opposition to spying on Americans, will find a home in the Libertarian Party,” he told the Examiner. “Some Cruz supporters will have to learn that legalizing marijuana also reduces the size of government, but we’ll teach them.”
Johnson is competing for the nomination against Austin Peterson (who released a Facebook video with his own plea to former Cruz supporters) and anti-virus software developer John McAfee. The Libertarian Party will announce its presidential nominee at its national convention in Orlando, Fla., at the end of the month.
Updated to include 2012 donor information.
Ashe Schow is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
