Ken Krawchuk and John Thomas, the Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania’s gubernatorial ticket, have officially completed the signature petitioning process and qualified for the state’s general election ballot this November.
The Krawchuk campaign released a statement on August 4 announcing that it had finished the process after submitting 5,649 voter signatures. The ticket needed to submit at least 5,000 signatures to qualify this cycle. The campaign also said that the Pennsylvania Department of State had certified the ticket—with both candidates having since been added to the department’s general election candidate list.
Though certified, the ticket’s nomination papers still remain subject to a challenge through the state’s objection period, which runs until August 10. In the event that happens, Pennsylvania courts then have until August 18 to determine their outcome.
“This is a great day for all Pennsylvanians,” Krawchuk said in the announcement. “Now the fun begins.”
Krawchuk and Thomas were nominated by delegates of the Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania at its state convention in March. Krawchuk, an information technology entrepreneur and Philadelphia talk show host, has sought the office three times before, running in 1998, 2002, and 2018. He received 49,229 votes and placed third during his most recent run.
Thomas, meanwhile, is a cyber school educator who previously represented the Libertarian Party in Pennsylvania as its nominee in the 2024 U.S. Senate election. He received 89,653 votes that cycle, or roughly 1.3 percent of the statewide total, helping the party regain recognition as a political party under state law.
“By securing ballot access we give Pennsylvanians an option that is not the same old empty promises of the Democrats and Republicans,” Thomas added in the same announcement. “Our great campaign team earned ballot access. Now we will work just as hard to earn your votes.”
The campaign said it will now launch a statewide media tour featuring “radio, television, podcast, and community appearances,” during which it will present the ticket as a “fiscally responsible alternative to the nominees of the two old parties.” It said Krawchuk and Thomas will focus their messaging specifically on eliminating Pennsylvania’s property tax, changing the state’s approach to education, and opposing tax increases and government waste.
The planned tour follows a similar statewide push made by the campaign during the final week of the signature-gathering period, when Krawchuk hosted an eight-day pub crawl involving several dozen breweries and state parks throughout Pennsylvania. That tour served as an opportunity for Krawchuk to collect signatures and meet with voters. His campaign also said at the time that he planned to use the tour to assist other Libertarian candidates with their own ballot access efforts.
The Libertarian ticket joins incumbent Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro and Lieutenant Governor Austin Davis, Republican nominees Stacy Garrity and Jason Richey, and Green nominees Anthony Dastra and Craig Bolton, all of whom have also qualified.
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