Libertarian Party Grows Amid GOP Convention 'Disaster'

As much as Donald Trump may surge in polls after winning the Republican presidential nomination, there is a growing GOP exodus to the Libertarian Party — retiring Utah Sen. Mark Madsen as the latest defector, The Salt Lake Tribune reports.

The direction of the Republican Party turned Madsen away and, as he said at a news conference, "makes me want to cry, because I have invested a lot in that party," the Tribune reports.

Nicholas Sarwark, Libertarian National Committee chairman, noted this is the latest in an "accelerating movement" to his party after the Republican National Convention.

"After the disaster that we saw in Cleveland, in which a party that was once storied has nominated a reality show star for president, where the convention chairman's cutting off the microphone of a sitting U.S. senator, it's broken," Sarwark said, according to the Tribune. "It's fundamentally broken and it's dying."

Madsen follows Nevada Rep. John Moore and Nebraska Sen. Laura Ebke to the Libertarian Party, who both made the switch this year.

UT State Sen. Mark Madsen Switching Parties from Republican to Libertarian, Endorsing @GovGaryJohnson for Pres https://t.co/s5qWDVQTYz

— reason (@reason) July 25, 2016

The following is a list of Libertarian backers of Gary Johnson for president, as compiled by the Independent Journal Review.

• Marvin Bush, the youngest son of President George H. Bush
• Gov. Jesse Ventura (I-Minn.)
• Rep. Tom Campbell (R-Calif.)
• State Rep. Max Abramson (L-N.H.)
• State Rep. Nicholas Schwaderer (R-Mont.)
• The Price Is Right host, Drew Carey
• The Montel Williams Show host, Montel Williams
• Penn and Teller, magicians act
• New England Patriots player, Chris Long
• Dallas Cowboys quarterback, Rudy Carpenter
• Bassist for Nirvana, Krist Novoselić

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