Paul Jost is a serious Republican. He sought the Republican nomination for a House seat from Virginia twice (but didn’t win his primaries). He works in real estate and considers himself a “small-business person” whose main interest is “really keeping taxes low, cutting back on government.” Jost and his wife, Laura, are the types who used to travel to New Hampshire for fun to check out candidate town halls and figure out who they might support.
Now, Jost is on his way to his first Libertarian Party convention, which will be held in Orlando this weekend. The most likely nominees for president and vice president are two other formerly die-hard Republicans, Gary Johnson of New Mexico and Bill Weld of Massachusetts, both of them popular ex-state governors. Other prominent Republicans such as GOP strategist Mary Matalin are also switching to the Libertarian Party.
Does this constitute a growing trend in this time of Trump—a time when many traditional Republicans can’t stand the thought of voting for a brash real-estate magnate who has shattered the GOP agenda, possibly beyond repair? Often ignored—not even a significant factor enough to play the spoiler in past elections—many Libertarians say yes. “We are seeing record interest in the party,” says the national Libertarian Party’s political director, Carla Howell. “Membership has spiked; it has gone up about 30 percent in the last few months. We’re also seeing record media interest.”