In the leaked messages, McArdle encouraged people to support the Colorado LP placing Kennedy on the ballot, not Oliver.
Why was it so important for Chair McArdle and the Libertarians for Kennedy to put Kennedy on the Libertarian Party ballot line when he was on track to get ballot access on his own? Why did McArdle, who had the fiduciary duty to ensure the will of the delegates, attempt to sabotage the party by refusing to help put the nominee on the ballot?
Later in this series, I’ll examine the personal and financial incentives McArdle had to sabotage the campaign and ultimately help Donald Trump in his efforts to win the 2024 Presidential election.
Like the Libertarian Party, the Natural Law Party also ended up in a controversy over state ballot lines when an activist was to be paid $10,000 per month with donor money to hand over the state party to the Kennedy campaign allies.
At the heart of the dispute between Wendt and the Kennedy campaign is the consulting contract he signed. The contract is complicated: It was drafted by Kennedy’s team, but his campaign is not a party to it. Instead, it’s a written agreement between Wendt and the national Natural Law Party—which he controlled at the time of the signing. The contract only became effective if Wendt gave up control of the national and Florida branches of the party to Kennedy campaign allies. Wendt was then to be paid with donor money secured by the campaign, text messages show.
You can read the full investigation from Marc A. Caputo at the Bulwark in his article ‘Swindlers,’ ‘Hijacking,’ and ‘Blackmail’.
In Part 2, we’ll examine the Joint Fundraising Committee with Kennedy….
I do not think Chase Oliver pulled many votes from the left. If leftists did not want to vote for Kamala Harris they had Jill Stein, Cornel West, Claudia de Cruz and RFK Jr. to vote for.
Chase Oliver basically got baseline Libertarian Party votes.