The Arkansas Libertarian Party is fielding several candidates in local and statewide races, including the U.S. Senate and Congress. Libertarians are also competing for two state Senate seats, nine state House seats and seven county positions across Arkansas.
The national Libertarian Party last week nominated two strong candidates for president and vice president: Gary Johnson, the nominee for president, served two terms as governor of New Mexico, and his running mate, Bill Weld, was a two-term governor in Massachusetts.
The party’s slogan is “Maximum Freedom,” which should appeal to frustrated voters who are neither Democrats nor Republicans. Libertarian candidates may win the most votes in a generation as more Republicans become disenchanted with Donald Trump and many Democrats who are unenthusiastic with Hillary Clinton as their presidential candidate.
Frank Gilbert, of Grant County, who is running on the Libertarian Party ticket against Sen. John Boozman (R-Ark.) and Democrat Conner Eldridge, feels good about the party’s chances in Arkansas and the nation in November.
“The Libertarian Party in Arkansas and nationwide is in a unique position to take advantage of the old parties’ divisions and the fact that both appear ready to nominate candidates with credibility problems and high negatives,” Gilbert said.
“By contrast, the national Libertarian Party has nominated candidates who are eminently qualified to serve as president and vice president, and the Arkansas Libertarian Party has nominated more candidates for federal office than the Democrats in 2016,” Gilbert told us.
“The presumptive nominees of both old parties are unlikely to be able to find running mates that will give their pairing as much executive experience as the Libertarian ticket,” Gilbert said.
Both men were Republican governors in deep blue states that had Democratic majorities in the state legislature, Gilbert points out.
“The presumptive nominees of both old parties are unlikely to be able to find running mates that will give their pairing as much executive experience as the Libertarian ticket,” Gilbert said.
Both men were Republican governors in deep blue states that had Democrat majorities in the state legislature.
Libertarians seem to perform very well under those circumstances. Their message of individual liberty and fiscal responsibility allows them to work with conservatives on financial issues like balanced budgets and with liberals when the issues involve government intervention in our private lives.
Gilbert says his Republican opponent has not served Arkansas well.
“John Boozman and the GOP leadership are every bit as much a part of the spending problem in Washington as our lame-duck president,” he said. “Boozman lacks the leadership and courage to say ‘no’ to the president and his party leadership. He may have come to congress as a conservative all those years ago, but he has now sold out taxpayers.”
Gilbert knows Libertarians have an uphill battle even under the best of circumstances. But if their presidential candidate wins 3 percent of the vote in Arkansas, the party will qualify to be on the ballot next time without a petition drive to qualify.
“It is certainly within the realm of possibility that one or more Libertarians may pull off a win,” Gilbert said. “It is certain that every vote cast for them is a strong message to the old parties that voters are demanding something very different this year.”
