At the Libertarian Party of Florida's statewide convention in Tampa last spring, Vice Chairman Alex Snitker exhorted his fellow Libertarians when he shouted out to them that the placement of Amendment Two on the ballot this year was a huge boon to the party's fortunes. "They don't care about Charlie Crist, Rick Scott, Adrian Wyllie. ...They just wanna get high!" He went on to say that medical marijuana was a great way to introduce non-Libertarians into the party's tent, and inform them more about the party.
Despite the double-digit poll numbers that Adrian Wyllie occasionally enjoyed during his quixotic run to be the state's leader, his campaign crashed and burned on Election Night, garnering just 3.75 percent of the vote.
In one respect, Snitker was right — of that certain segment of the population drawn to the polls to vote for medical marijuana, they didn't care about Wyllie, at least when it came to ultimately casting their vote for governor.
While Wyllie's performance is undoubtedly a letdown to him, it also has to be a huge rebuke to the party, which was hoping to take a leap in terms of viability as a legitimate third-party player in Florida politics. The party's Attorney General candidate, Bill Wohlsifer, received 2.9 percent of the vote running against Pam Bondi and George Sheldon.
On Tuesday night, though, Wyllie did not express disappointment about his ultimate finish, as his totals were better than any third-party candidate since the late 1990s.
Still, 3.75 percent is a far cry from the double-digits he was amassing in some polls, including a high-water mark of 13 percent by the relatively new firm called 0ptimus. That was still below the 15 percent threshold established by the Florida Press Association and Leadership Florida Statewide Community Foundation, host of an October debate in Broward County that compelled Wyllie to sue to participate in it.
That suit was unsuccessful.