Libertarian ticket heads to Miami for first time

The Libertarian Party presidential ticket is getting a piece of the political campaign action in South Florida.

Nominee Gary Johnson and his running mate, Bill Weld, will host an event for supporters Wednesday at Miami’s Florida International University. It will be their first local appearance since their nomination in Orlando in May.

The event, titled “An Evening with Govs. Johnson and Weld,” will take place at 7 p.m. at the Wertheim Performing Arts Center, 10910 SW 17th St. Johnson is a former New Mexico governor; Weld is a former Massachusetts governor. Both are former Republicans.

For now, Johnson’s top goal is to make it into a televised presidential debate against Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump, but that’s a long shot. He needs to reach 15 percent support in several key polls to qualify.

The latest Florida polls show Johnson with as much as 9 percent support (in an NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist College poll) and as little as 5 percent support (in a CBS/YouGov online poll). The other significant third-party candidate running is Jill Stein, the Green Party’s nominee.

This story was originally published August 15, 2016 at 2:14 PM with the headline "Libertarian ticket heads to Miami for first time."