User:Atomus23

Jacob G. Hornberger (born January 1, 1950) is an American attorney, author, and politician who is the founder and president of the Future of Freedom Foundation.^[1] He was a candidate for the Libertarian Party's presidential nomination in 2000, as well as a candidate for the 2002 United States Senate election in Virginia. ^[2]

Jacob grew up on a farm on the Rio Grandenear, Laredo, Texas, which at the time was the poorest city in the United States.^[3] His father was German-American and his mother was Mexican-American.^[4]

Hornberger received a bachelor's degree in economics from the Virginia Military Institute, and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Texas.^[5]

Hornberger was an attorney in the state of Texas for twelve years and was an adjunct professor at the University of Dallas, teaching economics and law. Hornberger stopped practicing law in 1987 to become the director of programs for the Foundation for Economic Education. Since then, he has been an advocate for free markets and founded the Future of Freedom Foundation.^[4]

2000 Presidential Campaign

In early 1999, Hornberger formed an exploratory committee to seek the Libertarian nomination for president in 2000.^[6] Two months later, Hornberger withdrew from the race. Harry Browne, who had been the 1996 Libertarian nominee for president, was running for the nomination in 2000 and was considered the frontrunner. Hornberger began publishing essays criticizing Browne for not being committed to libertarian principles, alleging that Browne was running a "Republican-lite" campaign.^[7]

A week before the 2000 Libertarian National Convention, Hornberger rejoined the race for the presidential nomination. At the convention, Hornberger focused most of his messaging on the criticisms of Browne he had been publishing in the previous year.^[6] Browne secured the nomination on the first ballot with 56.15% of the vote, while Hornberger finished in third place with 13.67% of the vote.^[8]

2002 U.S. Senate in Campaign

Shortly after the 2000 Libertarian National Convention, Hornberger announced his intent to run for senate in Virginia as a Libertarian. Member of the Libertarian Party of Virginia, expressed opposition to Hornberger's candidacy, but Hornberger requested that the Libertarian Party of Virginia assist his campaign in collecting ballot access signatures, but the party denied since Hornberger had not been formally nominated as the party's candidate yet. Hornberger then decided to instead run as an independent in the 2002 Virginia senate race.^[9]

In the general election, Hornberger was one of three candidates who qualified for the ballot, alongside Republican incumbent John Warner and independent Nancy Spannaus. There was no Democrat challenger.^{[10] [11]} Hornberger finished in third place with 106,055 votes and 7.1% of the popular vote. ^[12]

In April 2019, Hornberger was seen as a possible 2020 candidate for the Libertarian nomination.^[13] On October 29, 2019 Hornberger officially filed to run for president as a Libertarian.^[14] Shortly after, he released a YouTube video announcing his candidacy. ^[15]

Hornberger began his campaign by focusing on the North Carolina primary, declaring his intent to win the vote on March 3rd. Hornberger was considered an early front runner for the Libertarian Party nomination. Hornberger has conceded that him winning the presidency isn't "realistic" but hopes his campaign could "make the case for freedom" and "fight for a free society".^[16]

In the first round of the 2020 Libertarian National Convention, Hornberger came second place with 23.2%, and about 1% behind the front runner, Jo Jorgensen. He ended up loosing to Jorgensen in the fourth round, getting 27.8% to Jorgensen’s 51.07%.^[17]

In February 2023, Hornberger announced through his newsletter that he was running for president again as a Libertarian in 2024.^[18] At the Libertarian Convention, he came in sixth place with 4.1%, and was eliminated the second round.^[19]

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