Jo Jorgensen

Jo Jorgensen<ref name="ProCon bio">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="FEC form 2">Template:Cite web</ref> (born May 1, 1957)<ref name="ProCon bio" /> is an American libertarian political activist and academic. Jorgensen was the Libertarian Party's nominee for president of the United States in the 2020 election, in which she finished third in the popular vote with about 1.9 million votes, 1.2% of the national total. She was previously the party's nominee for vice president in the 1996 election, as Harry Browne's running mate. She is a full-time lecturer of psychology at Clemson University.

Early life and career

Jorgensen was born on May 1, 1957, in Libertyville, Illinois,<ref name="ProCon bio" /> and raised in neighboring Grayslake. She is an alumna of Grayslake Central High School.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Her grandparents were Danish immigrants.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Jorgensen received a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology at Baylor University in 1979 and a master's degree in business administration at Southern Methodist University in 1980. She began her career at IBM working with computer systems, leaving to become part owner and President of Digitech, Inc.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She received a Ph.D. in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from Clemson University in 2002.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She has taught full-time at Clemson since 2006.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Political career

1992 U.S. House of Representatives campaign

Jorgensen first ran for office in the 1992 United States House of Representatives election. She ran as a Libertarian to represent SC-04, in northwest South Carolina, against incumbent Democrat Liz J. Patterson and Republican challenger Bob Inglis. Jorgensen placed third with 2.2% of the total vote.<ref name="1992 election results">Template:Cite web</ref>

1996 vice presidential campaign

Template:See also Before the 1996 United States presidential election, the Libertarian Party nominated Jorgensen for vice president, as Harry Browne's running mate. She was nominated on the first ballot with 92% of the vote.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She participated in a vice-presidential debate televised nationwide by C-SPAN on October 22, along with Herbert Titus of the Taxpayers Party and Mike Tompkins of the Natural Law Party.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Browne and Jorgensen, who were on the ballot in all 50 states and D.C., received 485,759 votes, finishing in fifth place with 0.5% of the popular vote. This was the Libertarian Party's best performance since 1980.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

2020 presidential campaign

Template:Main Template:Further On August 13, 2019, Jorgensen filed with the FEC to run for the Libertarian presidential nomination in the 2020 election.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She formally launched her campaign at the November 2, 2019, Libertarian Party of South Carolina convention before participating in the South Carolina Libertarian presidential debate the same day.<ref name="CarolinaDebate">Template:Cite web</ref>

In the non-binding Libertarian primaries, Jorgensen was second in the cumulative popular vote, winning two of the 12 primaries.

On May 23, 2020, Jorgensen became the Libertarian presidential nominee, making her the first woman to be the Libertarian nominee and the only female 2020 presidential candidate with ballot access to over 270 electoral votes. Spike Cohen, a mostly unknown figure in mainstream politics, was nominated for vice president.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The same day, Jorgensen's supporters repurposed Hillary Clinton's unofficial 2016 campaign slogan, "I'm With Her". The slogan trended on Twitter that night and made national headlines.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She registered minimal support in opinion polling.<ref>Jeremy W. Peters, 'Hidden' Trump Voters Exist. But How Much Impact Will They Have?, New York Times (August 16, 2020).</ref>

Jorgensen released a list of potential Supreme Court nominees in September 2020 in response to the vacancy on the Court created by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Jorgensen received more than 1.8 million votes in the general election, about 1.2% of the national total.

After the election, several media outlets speculated that Jorgensen's candidacy resulted in vote splitting significant enough to be decisive in Democrat Joe Biden's victory over Republican Donald Trump, pointing to Jorgensen's vote share being higher than Biden's margin of victory over Trump in multiple battleground states. While many pundits claimed that Trump would have won had she not run, others believed that many Jorgensen voters would have abstained from voting, as opposed to voting for Trump.<ref name="Vox vote splitting">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Spectator vote splitting">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Guardian vote splitting">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="WSJ vote splitting">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="The Hill vote splitting">Template:Cite news</ref>

Political positions

Jorgensen speaking at a rally in Scottsdale, Arizona, October 10, 2020

Healthcare and social security

Jorgensen supports a free-market healthcare system financed by individual spending accounts that could keep any savings, which she believes would increase healthcare providers' incentive to compete by meeting consumer demand for low-cost services.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">Template:Cite web</ref> She opposes single-payer healthcare, calling it "disastrous".<ref name=":1" />

Jorgensen supports replacing Social Security with individual retirement accounts.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In the final debate of the 2020 primaries, candidate Jacob Hornberger accused Jorgensen of "support[ing] the welfare state through Social Security and Medicare". In response, she called Social Security a "Ponzi scheme". She then expressed the desire to allow people to opt out of the program on her first day in office, while emphasizing the constitutional inability of a president to unilaterally end the program without Congress's support, as well as the need for the government to fulfill existing Social Security obligations.<ref name="Reason debates">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="final LP debate">Template:Cite web</ref> Under Jorgensen's plan, those who opt out would put 6.2% of their payroll taxes in individual retirement accounts and receive prorated Social Security benefits for existing contributions as zero-coupon bonds for retirement.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Criminal justice and drug policy

Jorgensen at a rally in Durham, North Carolina in 2020.

Jorgensen opposes federal civil asset forfeiture and qualified immunity.<ref name="JoIssues">Template:Cite web</ref> She opposes the war on drugs and supports abolishing drug laws, promising to pardon all nonviolent drug offenders.<ref name="WT-Race">Template:Cite web</ref> She has urged the demilitarization of police.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Additionally, Jorgensen supports the Second Amendment.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Foreign policy and defense

Jorgensen opposes embargoes, economic sanctions, and foreign aid; she supports non-interventionism, armed neutrality, and the withdrawal of U.S. troops from abroad.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="ReasonInt">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="JoIssues" />

Immigration, economics, and trade

Jorgensen calls for deregulation, arguing that it would reduce poverty.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> She supports cutting government spending to reduce taxes.<ref>Template:Citation</ref>

Jorgensen supports the freedom of American citizens to travel and trade, calls for the elimination of trade barriers and tariffs, and supports the repeal of quotas on the number of people who can legally enter the United States to work, visit, or reside.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In a Libertarian presidential primary debate, Jorgensen said she would immediately stop construction on President Donald Trump's border wall. During another primary debate she blamed anti-immigration sentiment on disproportionate media coverage of crimes by immigrants. She argued that immigration helps the economy and that the blending of cultures is beneficial.<ref name="reason_2020-05-22">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Cami Mondeaux, "The alternative presidential candidate: Jo Jorgensen runs for the Libertarian Party", KLS News radio 102.7 FM, July 5, 2020</ref>

COVID-19

Jorgensen has characterized the U.S. government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic as overly bureaucratic and authoritarian, calling restrictions on individual behavior (such as stay-at-home orders) and corporate bailouts "the biggest assault on our liberties in our lifetime".<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="reason_2020-05-22" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Jorgensen opposes government mask mandates, considering mask-wearing a matter of personal choice. She argues that mask-wearing would be widely adopted without government intervention because market competition would drive businesses to adopt either mask-required or mask-optional policies, allowing consumers the freedom to choose their preferred environment. Jorgensen has invoked the analogy of dollar voting to argue that consumer preferences would shape businesses' policies on face masks in the absence of a government mandate.<ref name="Reason interview 23-09-2020">Template:Cite podcast</ref>

Personal life

Jorgensen is married and has two adult daughters and a grandson.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She briefly paused her presidential campaign after her mother's death on September 3, 2020.<ref name="mother's funeral">Template:Cite newsTemplate:Dead link</ref>

Electoral history

Template:Election box begin Template:Election box candidate with party link Template:Election box candidate with party link Template:Election box candidate with party link Template:Election box majority Template:Election box turnout |- | Template:Party color cell | colspan=5 |Republican gain from Democratic |- Template:Election box end

2020 United States presidential election<ref name="FEC 2020 presidential results">Template:Cite web</ref>

Presidential candidate Vice presidential candidate		Party	Popular votes	%	Electoral votes
style=background:Template:Party color |	Joe Biden Template:Small	Democratic	81,268,924	51.3%	306
style=background-color:Template:Party color |	Donald Trump Template:Small Template:Small	Republican	74,216,154	46.9%	232
style=background:Template:Party color |	Jo Jorgensen Template:Small	Libertarian	1,865,724	1.2%	0
style=background:Template:Party color |	Howie Hawkins Template:Small	Green	405,035	0.3%	0
	Others		627,566	0.4%	0
colspan=3 Template:Left Total	Template:Right 158,383,403	Template:Right 100%	Template:Right 538

See also

• List of female United States presidential and vice presidential candidates
• Third party and independent candidates for the 2020 United States presidential election

External links

• Template:Wikinews-inline
• Issue Positions and quotes at On the Issues
• Profile at OpenSecrets
• Template:Ballotpedia
• Template:C-SPAN

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