Former Republican Rep. Bob Barr was nominated yesterday as the Libertarian Party's candidate for the U.S. presidency, defeating a crowded field in a raucous convention vote that went to six ballots. Mr. Barr, a conservative standard-bearer who switched to the Libertarian Party less than two years ago, defeated Mary Ruwart, a biophysicist and longtime party activist, by 54 percent to 46 percent in the final ballot. Delegates late last night agreed that Wayne Allyn Root, a celebrity sports handicapper, would be Mr. Barr's running mate.
The party's 600 voters delegates eliminated the other eight registered candidates in earlier balloting over the course of six hours at the Libertarian Party National Convention, held here at the Sheraton Hotel. |