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Jo Jorgensen

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Jo Jorgensen
Personal details
Born
Joanne Marie Jorgensen

(1957-05-01) May 1, 1957 (age 67)
Libertyville, Illinois, U.S.
Political partyLibertarian
EducationBaylor University (BS)
Southern Methodist University (MBA)
Clemson University (PhD)
WebsiteCampaign website

Joanne Marie Jorgensen (born May 1, 1957) is an American academic and libertarian political activist. Jorgensen is the Libertarian Party's nominee for president of the United States in the 2020 election,[1] She was previously the party's nominee for vice president in the 1996 U.S. presidential election as the running mate of Harry Browne.[2] She was also the Libertarian nominee for South Carolina's 4th congressional district in 1992, receiving 4,286 votes, or 2.2%.

Early life and career

Jorgensen was born in Libertyville, Illinois and raised in Grayslake. She is an alumna of Grayslake Central High School.[3] Her grandparents were Danish immigrants.

Jorgensen received a B.S. in Psychology at Baylor University in 1979 followed by a Master's in Administration from Southern Methodist University in 1980. She began her career at IBM working with computer systems, leaving there to become part owner and President of Digitech, Inc.[4] She received a Ph.D. in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from Clemson University in 2002.[5]

Jorgensen is a Psychology Senior Lecturer at Clemson University, a public, land-grant university in Clemson, South Carolina[6]

Electoral history

1992 U.S. House of Representatives campaign

The first office for which Jorgensen ran was the 1992 United States House of Representatives election. She ran as a Libertarian to represent SC-4, in northwest South Carolina, against incumbent Democrat Liz J. Patterson and Republican Bob Inglis. Jorgensen placed third with 2.2% of the total vote.

#E81B23
South Carolina's 4th Congressional District Election Results, 1992
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Bob Inglis 99,879 50.3 +11.9
Democratic Liz J. Patterson (incumbent) 94,182 47.5 -13.9
Libertarian Jo Jorgensen 4,286 2.2 +2.2
No party Write-Ins 63 0.0 -0.2
Majority 5,697 2.8 -20.2
Turnout 198,410
Republican gain from Democratic

1996 vice-presidential campaign

See also: 1996 Libertarian National Convention

Prior to the 1996 United States presidential election, the Libertarian Party nominated Jorgensen to be the vice-presidential running mate of author Harry Browne. Jorgensen was nominated on the first ballot with 92 percent of the vote.[7][8] 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.[9]

Browne and Jorgensen, who were on the ballot in all 50 states and D.C., received 485,759 total votes, which placed them in fifth place with 0.5% of the popular vote. At the time, this was the Libertarian Party's best performance since 1980.

2020 presidential campaign

Main article: Jo Jorgensen 2020 presidential campaign
Further information: 2020 United States presidential election § Nominee, 2020 Libertarian Party presidential primaries, and 2020 Libertarian National Convention

On August 13, 2019, Jorgensen filed with the FEC to run for the Libertarian presidential nomination in the 2020 election.[10] She formally launched her campaign at the November 2, 2019 Libertarian Party of South Carolina convention, before participating in the official South Carolina Libertarian presidential debate the same day.[11]

In the non-binding Libertarian primaries, Jorgensen was second in the cumulative popular vote, winning one of the 11 primaries.

On May 23, 2020, Jorgensen became the official Libertarian presidential nominee, making her the first woman to become the Libertarian nominee and the only female 2020 presidential candidate with ballot access to over 270 electoral votes. Spike Cohen was nominated to be Jo's VP. Spike is a mostly unknown figure in mainstream politics.

[12][13] That same day, Jorgensen's supporters repurposed Hillary Clinton's unofficial 2016 campaign slogan, "I'm With Her," to bring attention to alleged sexual assault victims of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and President Donald Trump. The slogan trended on Twitter that night and made national headlines.[14]

Platform

Further information: Jo Jorgensen 2020 presidential campaign § Platform

Political positions

Social Security

Social Security "would be drastically changed... the most critical -- and controversial -- component of [Jorgensen's] plan is that any American would be able to opt out of Social Security. Anyone who took this route would be allowed to invest 6.2% of their payroll taxes in individual retirement accounts but would receive no [additional] Social Security benefits at retirement."[15] Jorgensen is committed to making the system financially stable for current beneficiaries and those who do not opt out. [16]

Criminal justice reform

Jorgensen opposes the taking of property through federal civil asset forfeiture and the use of qualified immunity to protect bad cops. She is also critical of the United States' unusually high incarceration rate.[17]

War on drugs

Jorgensen opposes the war on drugs, calling both of her opponents "tainted on race"[18] and the drug war a "failed"[17] policy. She supports abolishing drug laws, and promises to pardon all nonviolent drug offenders.[18]

Gun rights

Jorgensen supports the rights to bear arms. She has stated she would abolish the ATF whose purpose, she believes to be to enforce "unconstitutional laws". [19] [20]

Police demilitarization

She promotes the demilitarization of police, saying that the police's duty "is to go after specific perpetrators of violent crimes, not to act as a force against the people."[21]

Environment

Jorgensen favors Generation IV nuclear power to reduce CO2 emissions.[17][22] She supports removing "subsidies of all forms of energy production, allowing emissions-free nuclear power a chance to compete on a level playing field" and supports the use of hydraulic fracking while holding "fracking companies responsible for damages."[23]

Foreign policy

Jorgensen opposes embargoes, economic sanctions, and foreign aid. She favors the withdrawal of American troops from foreign wars.[24][22] She favors non-interventionism, free and open trade with other nations.[17]

Government spending and debt

Jorgensen supports the Constitutional authority to block any new borrowing. She has pledged to veto any spending that leads to a deficit, veto any debt ceiling increases, and has promised not to burden “our children and grandchildren with bills for these bipartisan bloated budgets.”[25]

Healthcare

Jorgensen supports a free-market healthcare system financed by providing individuals with a spending account with actual money and then "giving them the choice giving them the authority to spend it how they like" with the incentive that allows individuals to keep any savings creating an increased incentive for heathcare providers to compete by meeting consumer demand for low cost services [26] over the current system or single-payer, in order to reduce costs and make health care accessible.[27][28]

Immigration

In a Libertarian presidential primary debate, Jorgensen said she would immediately stop construction on President Donald Trump's border wall and eliminate quotas limiting who can immigrate to the U.S. 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.[29][30][31]

COVID-19

She has said the government's bureaucratic response to COVID-19 prevented the rapid deployment of market solutions to the crisis, and its militaristic approach is "the biggest assault on our liberties in our lifetime," both in terms of restrictions on individual behavior such as stay-at-home orders and misdirected corporate bailouts, which she sees as antithetical to free-market principles and biased towards the well-connected.[27][29][32]

Personal life

Jorgensen is married and has two grown daughters and a grandson.[33]

See also

References

  1. ^ Winger, Richard (May 23, 2020). "Jo Jorgensen Wins Libertarian Presidential Nomination on Fourth Vote". Ballot Access Date. Archived from the original on May 24, 2020. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
  2. ^ "Greenville Woman To Run For Vice President". Herald-Journal. Associated Press. July 11, 1996. pp. A3?. Archived from the original on June 11, 2020. Retrieved June 1, 2012.
  3. ^ Susnjara, Bob (May 25, 2020). "Woman who grew up in Grayslake is Libertarian Party's presidential pick". Daily Herald. Archived from the original on May 26, 2020. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  4. ^ "Jo Jorgenson | Meet Our Faculty | Who We Are | Center for Corporate and Professional Development". Furman University. Archived from the original on December 6, 2017. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
  5. ^ "College of Behavioral, Social and Health Sciences | Faculty and Staff Profile". Clemson University. Archived from the original on June 10, 2020. Retrieved February 8, 2020.
  6. ^ "Faculty – Department of Psychology". Clemson University. Archived from the original on June 10, 2020. Retrieved September 14, 2019.
  7. ^ Broder, David S. (July 7, 1996). "SEEKING POLITICAL BREAKTHROUGH, LIBERTARIANS PICK HARRY BROWNE". Washington Post. Archived from the original on June 12, 2020. Retrieved April 13, 2020.
  8. ^ "Libertarian Convention Acceptance Speeches". C-SPAN Video Library. July 6, 1996. Retrieved May 27, 2012.
  9. ^ "Third Party Vice Presidential Debate". www.c-span.org. Archived from the original on June 12, 2020. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
  10. ^ "Jorgensen, Jo CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT ID: P00013524". FEC.gov. August 13, 2019. Archived from the original on October 19, 2019. Retrieved September 14, 2019.
  11. ^ Welch, Matt (November 7, 2019). "Candidates Vie to Represent the Libertarian Wing of the Libertarian Party". Reason. Archived from the original on December 14, 2019. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
  12. ^ Brian Doherty (May 23, 2020). "Jo Jorgensen Wins Libertarian Party Presidential Nomination". Reason.com. Archived from the original on May 24, 2020. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
  13. ^ Steinhauser, Paul (May 25, 2020). "Libertarians pick first female presidential nominee". Fox News. Archived from the original on May 25, 2020. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
  14. ^ Obeidallah, Dean. "The truth about 'I'm with her'". www.cnn.com. Archived from the original on June 3, 2020. Retrieved June 3, 2020.
  15. ^ "Social Security Would Be Drastically Changed Under This Presidential Candidate's Plan". Archived from the original on June 29, 2020. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
  16. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on November 27, 2019. Retrieved June 29, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  17. ^ a b c d "Jo Jorgensen's Bold, Practical, Libertarian Vision for America's Future". Jo Jorgensen for President 2020. Archived from the original on May 25, 2020. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
  18. ^ a b Dinan, Stephen (June 12, 2020). "Libertarian nominee says Trump, Biden both tainted on race". Washington Times. Archived from the original on June 20, 2020. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
  19. ^ https://twitter.com/jorgensen4potus/status/1265036427869532161?lang=en
  20. ^ https://twitter.com/jorgensen4potus/status/1273352630786576387
  21. ^ DiStaso, John (June 4, 2020). "NH Primary Source: Libertarian presidential candidate Jorgensen urges end of police 'militarization'". WMUR. Archived from the original on June 18, 2020. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
  22. ^ a b Doherty, Brian (May 21, 2020). "Libertarian Presidential Contender Jo Jorgensen Wants To Combine Principle With Palatable Persuasion". Reason. Archived from the original on May 24, 2020. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
  23. ^ Jorgensen, Jo. "Jo Jorgensen's vision for America's future. Questions and Answers". Jo Jorgensen for President 2020. Jo Jorgensen for President. Archived from the original on July 2, 2020. Retrieved July 4, 2020.
  24. ^ ""Turn America into One Giant Switzerland: Armed and Neutral,"". Jo Jorgensen for President 2020. Archived from the original on June 9, 2020. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
  25. ^ Christ Phillips, ““Will Jo Jorgensen and the Libertarian Party hand the 2020 election to Trump?” Archived July 9, 2020, at the Wayback Machine, The Millennial Source, May 25, 2020
  26. ^ https://www.wsaw.com/2020/07/26/libertarian-party-presidential-candidate-jo-jorgensen-campaigns-in-wisconsin/
  27. ^ a b "Jorgensen Brings Pragmatic Approach to Libertarian Presidential Campaign". The Amarillo Pioneer. Archived from the original on June 11, 2020. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
  28. ^ "Libertarian Presidential Contender Jo Jorgensen Wants To Combine Principle With Palatable Persuasion". Reason.com. May 21, 2020. Archived from the original on May 24, 2020. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
  29. ^ a b "Libertarian Party Presidential Debate Offers Choice Between All Liberty Now or Moving the Ball of Liberty Down the Field". Reason. May 22, 2020. Archived from the original on May 22, 2020. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
  30. ^ "Final Libertarian Presidential Debate with John Stossel". Youtube.com. Archived from the original on July 12, 2020. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
  31. ^ "Libertarian Party of Kentucky Presidential Debates: the Finale". Youtube. Archived from the original on July 11, 2020. Retrieved May 9, 2020.
  32. ^ "NH Primary Source: Libertarian presidential candidate Jorgensen urges end of police 'militarization'". www.wmur.com. Archived from the original on June 18, 2020. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
  33. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on June 4, 2020. Retrieved July 9, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jo Jorgensen.
Party political offices
Preceded by Libertarian nominee for Vice President of the United States
1996 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Libertarian nominee for President of the United States
2020 		Most recent
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