More Interest In LP (Well Mostly LP) Races in 2020!

Let’s Start With Wyoming…

My readers can call this Part II of the previous blog.

Now I know nothing about the internals for the Green Party but I am aware of Libertarian “stuff”. Let’s start with Wyoming – Try this for click bait…

Libertarian Party Hopes for Victory in 2 Wyoming State House Races

That is a Reason magazine headline and the article is found here.

Here is the two seats in question:

Bethany Baldes in District 55 who nearly knocked off a leading Republican and is not seeking an open seat. And Marshall Burt is in a tight race against a fairly rare event in Wyoming: A Democrat elected official: Stan Blake who has been the incumbent since 2007 and usually did not have an opponent. Here is the Burt website. An interesting aspect of the race (from the Casper Star Tribune (Not to be confused with THIS StarTribune) is:

In Sweetwater County, railroader Marshall Burt will take on train conductor Stan Blake in a House District typically dominated by union Democrats.

All they need is a Jimmie Rodgers song…

Other races are also described in that article:

In House District 47, Lela Konecny will take on Republican Jerry Paxton after he survived a taxing, four-way primary where he split the vote with three different challengers.

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And in Casper, several Libertarian candidates will take on moderate candidates like Sen. Charlie Scott and Rep. Pat Sweeney in districts that have demonstrated some division among Republican voters in the primaries over the last several years.

The Baldes race was cited as one of five elections to watch in the Star Tribune pre-election article:

Libertarian Bethany Baldes could make history Tuesday night.

Losing to longtime lawmaker David Miller by fewer than 60 votes in 2018, Baldes is now running for an open seat against Republican Ember Oakley, a similarly conservative candidate with an extensive background in Wyoming politics.

While Oakley has secured the endorsements of some of Wyoming’s top political voices, Baldes has earned the favor of conservative activists around the state as well as a number of prominent local Republicans, including Riverton Mayor Rich Gard, Rep. Tim Salazar and Miller himself.

Election forecasters believe the race could be close as well: In a recent forecast, the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics-affiliated election analyst Chaz Nuttycombe changed HD-55’s rating from a “toss-up” to “lean Libertarian” in reaction to the latest campaign finance reports.

While Baldes is the most likely winner for Libertarians, the party has targeted a number of seats around the state held by Republican Reps. Jerry Paxton and Tom Walters in Carbon and Natrona counties, respectively, as well as a Green River seat currently held by Democratic Rep. Stan Blake. The national Libertarian Party has gotten involved in the latter district’s race.

It’s almost enough for me to move to Wyoming!

Another race with a realistic but uncertain chance of victory for the LP candidate is in South Dakota: Gideon Oakes (I endorsed Oakes in 2018 and just now offered to do so again) who is running for state senate in what is arguably the prettiest district in USA – District 30 that includes Mt. Rushmore.

Here’s a quote from Oakes I got tonight:

I’m very pleased with how the race is shaping up. Our poll numbers are looking very solid.

We also know that around here, polls are taken by folks who own landlines, and that demographic tends to swing away from third-party candidates. So to be doing as well as we are bodes well.

We’ve been very fortunate to be backed by an amazing consortium of Republicans, Democrats, Independents and Libertarians alike. It’s a strange mix of folks who may not have thought they’d ever vote Libertarian, but who gave at least come to appreciate this Libertarian’s message of fiscal responsibility and individual freedom.

I am definitely watching this race.

I also plan to cover the following races:

Could there be a LP US Senator? If Ricky Dale Harrington has his way, it would happen. He is running against popular incumbent Tom Cotton. Is a longshot to win.

Todd Hagopian for Oklahoma state corporation commission. I did two articles for Todd and he appreciated them. Nice to get some love…Todd may be a longshot to win.

A quote from Todd:

“The third party record in Oklahoma is 25%, and we think we have the momentum to set a new mark. Every time we move the ball further down the field is a win for Liberty in Oklahoma”

Nicholas Sarwark is running for Hillsborough County (NH not Florida) Attorney and here is an article on him. He got a favorable tweet from a unusual source: Chesa Boulin, the DA in San Francisco, CA!

I’ve enjoyed getting to know Nicholas and am excited to see his approach to more efficiently promoting public safety after he wins his race tomorrow. Another criminal justice race to watch closely.

Does Boulin know something I do not? If Sarwark were to win, he would be an important national voice for liberty as an elected official.

A former leader in the Virginia LP, Bill Redpath, is now in Illinois and is a candidate for Congress in the Sixth District of Illinois. If it were left up to me, Bill would win. He has two opponents.

The South Dakota at large seat in Congress only has a GOP incumbent and a LP challenger. That challenger is Randy Luallin. Here is his info.

Thomas Quiter is running in the 78th state assembly district in NY. He only has one opponent, the incumbent assemblyman Fred Akshar. Here is his website and his slogan is: There’s No Quit in Quiter!. Very clever. Quiter is campaigning for reforms for people with disabilities:

The candidate says a real disabilities system must help those who suffer from something they cannot control.

“There is an interestingly little known fact that New York State, on the books, has an office for advocacy for those with disabilities, and I have dealt with similar offices in other states for other people. However, in New York, when the justice center reorganized, it ceased to function. That’s actually in the handbook of most non-profits that serve those with disabilities,” says Quiter.

Larry Sharpe, LP candidate for governor who won ballot access for the LP, campaigned for Quiter during his travels throughout the Empire State:

This is the 3rd year in a row that the former Marine has toured the state, with the goal of making 66 stops in 11 weeks leading up to the election.

I am impressed with that effort.

There are lot of other LP candidates running and I am sorry not to cite them all.

There is one GOP candidate I am especially interested in and that is Kim Klacik in Maryland. She has been all over the Internet with ads. It is too bad that she has almost no chance to win. She desreves to win; maybe move to a state where she can win – The Commonwealth of Virginia perhaps?