Joe Miller Shatters Libertarian Records While 8 Others Set New State Party Marks

The nation’s third largest political party notched by far its most successful election cycle in races to the nation’s upper legislative chamber.

While Alaska’s Joe Miller came up short for a third time in his bid for a seat in the U.S. Senate in 2016, he nonetheless turned in a history-making performance.

As a Republican, Miller had previously lost by four points in the general election to Senator Lisa Murkowski during her 2010 write-in campaign and then fell 7.9 points short seeking the GOP nomination won by Daniel Sullivan in 2014.

The Tea Party favorite was an 11th hour recruit by the Libertarian Party in September 2016 and his brief, two-month campaign won him an impressive 29.4 percent of the vote in the general election. . .

Smart Politics examined the more than 330 Libertarian U.S. Senate candidates to appear on the general election ballot since 1976 and found that Joe Miller’s 29.4 percent showing in Alaska this cycle crushed the party’s previous best performance by nearly 11 points. . .

[F]our of the previous five best U.S. Senate electoral showings in Libertarian history were held in races in which only one major party nominee was on the ballot:. . Miller, however, faced a full slate of candidates. In addition to Murkowski, Miller was opposed by a Democratic nominee (Ray Metcalf, 11.1 percent) as well as an independent candidate who had the support of some prominent Alaska Democrats (Margaret Stock, 13.7 percent). Two other independents were also on the ballot (Breck Craig and Ted Gianoutsos). (Read more from “Joe Miller Shatters Libertarian Records While 8 Others Set New State Party Marks” HERE)

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