Gary Johnson, the Libertarian Party presidential candidate, was not on the ballot in Oklahoma, and Oklahoma does not permit write-ins. But Johnson was on the ballot in all the states that border Oklahoma. In the 46 counties that border Oklahoma (which includes counties in Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, and Arkansas), Johnson polled 1.52% of the total vote cast.

If one assumes that Oklahoma would have voted for Johnson at the same level at which voters in neighboring counties voted for him, then Johnson would have polled 20,290 votes in Oklahoma (the Oklahoma vote for President was 1,334,872, and 1.52% of that number equals 20,290).

Johnson is the only minor party presidential candidate in 2012 who was on the ballot in all states bordering Oklahoma, so a similar analysis cannot be made for any other candidate. Jill Stein was not on in Missouri or Kansas; Virgil Goode was not on in Texas, Arkansas, or Kansas.

Oklahoma is a state which has almost always given a higher share of its vote to the Libertarian presidential candidate than that candidate received in the nation as a whole, in the years when the Libertarian has been on the ballot in Oklahoma. In 1980 Ed Clark received 1.07% nationwide but 1.20% in Oklahoma. In 1984 David Bergland received .25% nationally but .72% in Oklahoma. In 1988 Ron Paul received .47% nationally but .53% in Oklahoma. In 1992 Andre Marrou received .28% nationally but .32% in Oklahoma. In 1996 Harry Browne received .50% nationally but .46% in Oklahoma. In 2000 Browne received .36% nationally but .53% in Oklahoma.

At last month’s election, the only two candidates on the ballot for U.S. House, Kansas 3rd district, were Republican incumbent Kevin Yoder and Libertarian nominee Joel Balam. The district includes Wyandotte County, Kansas, which contains Kansas City, Kansas. In Wyandotte County, Balam polled 18,589 votes, and Yoder received 19,853 votes.

In the district as a whole, Balam received 92,675 votes, whereas Yoder received 201,087. Balam’s share of the vote in the district, 31.5%, is the best showing by a Libertarian for U.S. House in the party’s history. Here is Balam’s web page. He appears to have active involvement with veterans groups, and a church group. His mother was Hispanic and some of the content on the web page is in Spanish.

The second half of this article in the Arizona Daily Sun contains some information about campaign spending for and against Arizona’s Proposition 121, the top-two initiative that lost last month. The story quotes Paul Johnson, chief proponent of the initiative, as saying that he should have built a broader coalition in favor of his idea. Johnson says that is why it passed in California. Actually, it passed in California because it was described so poorly on the California ballot, and because proponents outspent opponents 20:1.