Petersen for Senate 2018: Only Principles Matter
Elias J. Atienza
January 12, 2017
There is heavy speculation that Austin Petersen might run for Senate in 2018 against incumbent Claire McCaskill (D-MO) in his home state of Missouri. While he has refused to put anything on the table, saying that he will decide on a run in June, it is interesting to see which party he will choose, if he decides to run at all. It will also be interesting to see how the Libertarian and Republican Parties will react to his decision.
For those who argue that he should run under the Libertarian Party, it is because of a belief that the party is the best tool for spreading liberty. Despite a less than stellar performance in the 2016 election, where expectations went from possibly winning the election to not reaching the goal of five percent, the LP is still doing better than ever.
They got ballot access in almost 40 states, and received more votes than anytime in their history. Registration has increased dramatically and as National Party Chairman Nicholas Sarwark explained in an interview with The Libertarian Republic, the party has over half a million registered voters for the first time in their history.
In addition, it would continue the fight against the two main parties that have control over the Congress if Petersen managed to win a Senate race under the LP. It would break duopoly’s stranglehold of American politics. The Republican Party has not managed to lower spending, deregulate, or reform government; they have contributed to these problems and a new voice such as Petersen as a member of the Libertarian Party would be welcomed.
Petersen has received support from libertarian figures such as Larry Sharpe, the second place vice presidential candidate in the LP Convention, to stay within the party. He also received pushback from other figures like Adam Kokesh, who ironically ran as a Republican in New Mexico and lost by over 40 percent, and is gearing up for his own presidential run in 2020.
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