Who is Chase Oliver, the Libertarian Party candidate for president?

After a raucous convention that included Robert F Kennedy Jr and former president Donald Trump, the Libertarian Party nominated Chase Oliver, a former Democrat and 38-year-old openly gay man, as its 2024 election candidate.

There is little chance that Mr Oliver will become president of the United States. The Libertarian Party, even when it has had high-profile nominees like former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson, has never gained political traction.

Indeed, Mr Trump mocked attendees at the convention in the Washington Hilton this weekend and said if libertarians did not nominate him, they would continue “getting three per cent every four years.”

But Mr Oliver, who hails from Georgia and has regularly sought elected office in the state, might nonetheless play a meaningful role in the 2024 election.

Last year, Mr Oliver toldThe Bay Area Reporter that he started out supporting Barack Obama in 2008 in response to his anger at George W Bush over the war in Iraq. But he quickly grew disenchanted with Mr Obama’s expansion of the war.

Mr Oliver’s conversion toward becoming a libertarian began in 2010 when he attended the Atlanta Pride Festival, he said.

“John Monds, one of the most principled Libertarians I know, was running for governor, and he was the only candidate in that race who appeared at Atlanta Pride,” he posted on X.

“He wasn't afraid to stand on principle and defend the rights of self-expression and equality under the law. He won my vote that day and put me on the path to liberty.”

Mr Oliver has regularly supported criminal justice reform as a libertarian in Georgia. He was part of the opposition to the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, which activists have dubbed “Cop City.”

In 2020, he ran as a libertarian