Vivek Ramaswamy says why he might not be the candidate for you
Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy addresses his lack of experience to be the next U.S. president during a USA TODAY town hall.
Republican candidate Vivek Ramaswamy’s campaign has reached out to the Libertarian Party in Iowa to inquire about running for president on the party’s ticket.
Campaign operatives for Ramaswamy attended a local party event this week, and Ramaswamy has had conversations with two Iowa Libertarian officials, including one instance where he expressed interest in joining the ticket, one of those officials confirmed.
Ramaswamy, an entrepreneur and author who in 2004 voted for a Libertarian presidential candidate, has openly criticized Republican leadership and policy as he seeks the party’s presidential nomination in the first-in-the-nation caucus state.
But he has struggled to gain traction in Iowa and other early states, Ramaswamy’s potential defection to a third-party ticket could shake up an election that already contains several independent hopefuls.
Asked Thursday if he would run under the Libertarian ticket should he be defeated in the Republican race, Ramaswamy told the Register, “No.” But he held out the possibility the Libertarian Party might nominate him.
“I expect to get the GOP nomination,” Ramaswamy said. “I have strong libertarian instincts. I can’t stop them from nominating me, and I would be proud if they did.”
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Ramaswamy spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told the Register on Friday morning that the candidate was running as a Republican, not a Libertarian, and that the campaign was focused on bringing libertarians to support Ramaswamy in the Republican caucuses.
At a campaign event focused on eminent domain last week, Ramaswamy spoke briefly with Ryan Kurt, chair of the Polk County Libertarian Party. Kurt said that when he told Ramaswamy his role, the Republican candidate “mentioned that he might be interested in pursuing the Libertarian ticket.”
“I told him if you’re going to do that, you might want to start talking to some libertarians,” Kurt said.
Days later, Kurt said he received a call from Ramaswamy’s campaign asking if it could send representatives to the Polk County chapter’s monthly meeting Wednesday. During that meeting, Ramaswamy’s representatives discussed “logistics of a possible LP run and some of the nuances of Iowa politics,” including the ability to be nominated for multiple party caucuses, Kurt said.
However, the staffers “expressed that they’re not currently planning any sort of pursuit of the LP ticket,” Kurt said.
Ramaswamy told the Register he hadn’t known his staff had attended the event, but he approved of their doing so.
“I wasn’t aware of that, but sounds good,” he said. “We go everywhere.”
Weeks earlier, at a Thanksgiving party, Ramaswamy met with Jules Cutler, the chair of the Iowa Libertarian Party. A fellow attendee snapped a photo of the encounter, which Cutler said happened purely by chance and lasted “less than a minute.”
“I introduced myself as the chair … and I jokingly asked why he’s not running on the Libertarian ticket,” Cutler said.
She said she’d met multiple Republican candidates this cycle, including former Vice President Mike Pence and radio host Larry Elder. She said her conversation with Ramaswamy was being “blown out of proportion.”
A number of candidates have filed for Libertarian Party’s 2024 presidential nomination; in Iowa, the Libertarian Party earned enough support last cycle to qualify as an official party for this coming election. The state party plans to hold caucuses on Jan. 15, the same night as Republicans and Democrats.
In addition to the Republican and Democratic fields, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Cornel West and Jill Stein have all launched campaigns as independent candidates for 2024.
Galen Bacharier covers politics for the Register. Reach him at [email protected] or (573) 219-7440, and follow him on Twitter @galenbacharier.
Philip Joens covers retail, real estate and RAGBRAI for the Des Moines Register. He can be reached at 515-284-8184, [email protected] or on Twitter @Philip_Joens.