Libertarian(ish) Candidates
If you want to find a few liberty-loving politicos, look lower on the ballot
Facebook
Twitter
Tumblr
Blogger
StumbleUpon
Digg
Delicious
Reddit
Google(Page 3 of 5)
Love does not support marriage equality but opposes the Defense of Marriage Act on the grounds that the federal government has no business in dictating how states should handle marriage.
Love is challenging Rep. Jim Matheson, a very conservative Democrat and six-term incumbent who voted to repeal ObamaCare and opposes marriage equality. There are more Republicans in the district’s newly drawn boundaries than before, and only a small portion of it overlaps with Matheson’s previous constituency. National Democrats and Republicans are pouring money into this race as they see it as extremely close. (Cook rates it a “toss up.”) Matheson has withstood strong challenges before, but that was when his district was constructed in his favor.
Richard Tisei
U.S. House of Representatives, Massachusetts’s Sixth District
Richard Tisei is another GOP candidate looking to make history: He’d be the first openly gay Republican elected to Congress. Tisei, a longtime Massachusetts state senator and onetime lieutenant gubernatorial candidate, probably would have been better off running in the Tea Party wave election in 2010, but an ongoing family scandal involving his opponent, Rep. John Tierney, has made this campaign one of the most competitive congressional races in Massachusetts since the late 1990s.
Tisei supports gay marriage and gay rights, but like all of the candidates profiled here is focused overwhelmingly on economic issues. When talking with The Hill he described himself as a “live and let live Republican.”
“I consider myself a libertarian in a lot of ways,” he says. “I think the government should get out of your bedroom, off your back, and out of your wallet. That is, I think, the traditional northeast libertarian viewpoint.”
Even though he has not signed Grover Norquist’s anti-tax pledge, Tisei has a track record of opposing tax increases and fighting for tax cuts. He led the charge in the Massachusetts state senate for years to lower the state income tax back to 5 percent after its scheduled rollback was halted at 5.3 percent in 2002. In 2010, while running for lieutenant governor, he did sign the Massachusetts equivalent of Norquist’s pledge.
As senate minority leader in Massachusetts, Tisei opposed legislation that banned smoking in newly legal casinos, though the law eventually passed after he left office. Though not campaigning on the drug war, Tisei supports medical marijuana and backed a successful 2008 state ballot initiative that decriminalized possession of small amounts. When asked his thoughts on full legalization Tisei said he was open to it. He also opposes portions of the PATRIOT Act.
The big mark against Tisei is that he supported Mitt Romney’s health care reform bill when it was before the Massachusetts state senate. He opposes ObamaCare, and would vote to repeal it, but still defends his vote for the state version of the individual mandate. “The RomneyCare bill was 70 pages long. The ObamaCare bill was 2,700 pages long. It creates a whole new generation of government commissions and departments and bureaucracy that we’ll never get rid of,” he explains.
Tisei is challenging embattled Rep. John Tierney, an eight-term incumbent. Tierney’s wife Patrice and her family are caught up in a federal investigation involving her brother’s illegal offshore gambling operation. The arrest and conviction of his wife on multiple counts of “aiding and abetting the filing of false tax returns” for her brother’s offshore operation wounded Tierney’s reelection prospects in 2010, but he was still able to fend off inexperienced Tea Party Republican Bill Hudak, a Massachusetts attorney. The scandal died down before resurfacing as a major part of the 2012 campaign when one of Patrice’s brothers, Daniel Eremian, was convicted and sentenced to three years in prison for his involvement in the operation.
The Cook Political Report has slowly but surely moved the race to its “toss-up” rating. Tisei has had stronger fundraising than Tierney in recent quarters and is clearly benefiting from the very negative press surrounding his opponent. The major wild cards for Tisei are the historically incompetent Massachusetts Republican Party and whatever boost Tierney will receive from having President Barack Obama at the top of the ticket.
Jeff Flake
U.S. Senate, Arizona
With endorsements from FreedomWorks, the National Rifle Association, and Citizens Against Government Waste, Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) is considerably more Barry Goldwater than his fellow Arizonan Sen. John McCain (who has also endorsed him). Flake, a five-term congressman, has a 100 percent lifetime rating from Club for Growth and a rating of “Libertarian” (the highest possible ranking), from the Republican Liberty Caucus. Flake spent most of the 1990s heading up the Goldwater Institute, an Arizona free market think tank, before successfully running for Congress in 2000.
Editor's Note: We invite comments and request that they be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of Reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment for any reason at any time.
-
I do want Mia Love to win, solely for the lulz she will bring to the Congressional Black Caucus.
-
You actually think they'll invite her to join?
-
I think it's the hemming and hawing and throat clearing and renaming that he looks forward to.
-
They turned down the white guy from a black district because he was white.
As far as I know, they've never turned down black person. I just want to see them either (a) twist in the wind trying to justify keeping a bona fide black person out of the black caucus or (b) put up with her harassing their crony/welfare state asses at every meeting.
-
They invited Allen West and Tim Scott.
-
Why? She's not "really" Black.
-
I still think they should re-name it "the big, black caucus."
-
A pure libertarian would leave a seat vacant.
-
Bows to this.
-
Why? Isn't a -1 vote better than a 0?
-
I took it as a good joke. The roadmap to the joke being: A real libertarian eschews power and tries to reduce the size of government. Therefore, Congress has one less person seeking power and ordering other people around. If the government holds a legislative session to pass new laws and nobody shows up...
But on the serious side, of course a -1 vote is better than 0.
-
Does this make Obama a libertarian? - he's an empty chair.
-
"make the big jump from Congress to the U.S. Senate"
Is the Senate no longer part of the United States Congress?
-
They seceded in 1861, but were forcibly reintegrated in 1865.
-
Would to God it wasn't...
-
Is the Senate no longer part of the United States Congress?
THANK YOU
-
Congress is often used as a euphemism for The House of Representatives. Because we call guys in The House "congressmen/persons" and people in the Senate "senators".
Stephen Fry is watching.
-
We call people in the House 'Representative'. Congressman is inclusive of both the House and the Senate.
-
For the polling junkies:
The Houston Chronicle Blog ‘Texas on the Potomac’ took a look at the polls after the election four years ago and found out which ones were the most accurate. Topping the list was Rasmussen (hated by the left) and Pew (discredited by the left this year.) Ranked very low was the IBD/TIPP polling firm, right behind it was NBC/WSJ. Even further down was Gallup.
Taking all of that into consideration, the top two polls to consider then would be Rasmussen and GWU. Take out Gallup as an outlier on the Romney side and IBD/TIPP as an outlier favoring the president, and you come out with a Romney +2 margin at 49/47.
-
Whatever happened to Zogby?
-
He basically got out of political polling after '08. I'm still unclear as a former Zogby online poll participant if this was because he was bought out or what.
-
Pew (discredited by the left this year.)
What does this mean?
-
But Gallup had the last three Presidential races almost exactly right. They had Obama at 53% in 08, Bush ahead by 2 in 04, and Gore and Bush in a dead heat in 00.
-
(ish)
I'm making this my new party designation.
-
What are "abortion rights"? How can you have a right to kill someone else?
-
What are "abortion rights"?
Abortion rights = the right to kill you in self-defense if you try to physically restrain a woman and force her to do something she does not want to do.
Your jurisdiction ends when someone else's body begins. Comprehende?
-
If that's what people decide is right, it's a right. How else can you possibly determine what's right other than by people thinking about it?
-
You're confusing the moral question "What is right?" With the question "What are my rights?"
Abortion rights = the right to kill you in self-defense if you try to physically restrain a woman and force her to do something she does not want to do.
This is utterly and completely incoherent.
-
Raise your hand if you'd bang the chick in the picture.
*raises hand*
And some WONDER why there are no libertardian wimmins...
-
Oh hell yes I came here to say that
-
Overall, the GOP has an edge when it comes to good looking women.
-
Justin Amash - Best Congressman ever?
The explanation on each vote is the single best tool out there for following the daily activity in the House. I don't even live in his district.
Plus, his tweeter feed is really amusing. A few months ago he tweeted a pic from his office window, with view of a chair that was thrown onto the roof of the adajecent building. So random, yet so funny. Worth following.
-
That pic would be worth it -
*heads over to The Tweeting...*
-
My Congressman, Scott Garrett is definitely Libertarian(ish) and a member of the Liberty Caucus. He hates internet gambling for some reason, but is otherwise pretty good.
-
He hates internet gambling for some reason
So what? The question is whether he supports legislation to do anything abou it. I wasn't aware being libertarian meant approving of anything anyone else does.
-
Interesting how every single libertarianish candidate is a Republican. Just like Ron paul--and Rand Paul. Why, so is Gary Johnson, the Libertarian Party candidate for President.
Go figger.
And yet we can't seem to kick liberaltarians and the liberals that hold their leashes to the curb.
-
Interesting that the LP has candidates running in most of these races that are even better. Go figure.
-
Honestly, the same thing struck me.
-
I was glad to see Mr. Quinn didn't reach for some bogus balance by bending over backwards to include some Democratic nominee. I'd be very pleased if there were some, of course.
-
"Interesting how every single libertarianish candidate is a Republican."
But it's not surprising. Republicans tend to support the free market more and they also tend to support freedom of choice more. Democrats don't like school choice, food choice, private property. Even in areas of "social" freedom, like gay marriage....they end up finding some way to assert control - like with the ban on gay therapy in California.
That's not to say that Republicans are consistent in supporting freedom, but Democrats are pretty consistently against freedom.
-
Republicans tend to support the free market more
except when they put forth a farm bill that includes crop insurance and price support programs that artificially distort the market
and they also tend to support freedom of choice more
except if you're a pregnant woman making a choice concerning her own body or if you choose an Islam-based school or if you're anyone choosing what substances to inhale
Let's please put an end to this falsehood that Republicans are libertarian or even libertarianish.
-
Well - Many of us were raised on Republican small-government promises dating back to Reagan or even Goldwater.
Unfortunately, those promises rarely resulted in actual small-government. That's how I ended up here.
-
I challenge you to find an elected politician in history that has done everything a libertarian should do, according to everyone who calls themselves a libertarian. You can't. So I guess every elected politician is a freedom-hating statist. That puts the burden on you to prove why libertarians shouldn't be dismissed as crazy people with no clue how the real world works. Or you could admit that, in reality, things are only true in degrees.
-
To expand my point, there is a reason for this. As much as they argue vehemently about the specifics of policy, conservatives and libertarians largely share the same underlying philosophy of government. The general principle that defines libertarian thought - that the government should exist solely to protect people's rights - wouldn't be wildly out of place in a conservative's creed. The modern, progressive left, on the other hand actively believes the government exists as a means of creating a utopian society.
-
I agree with this. Although I think a lot of libertarians have a pretty utopian outlook. Maybe there's a split among libertarians between the tragic and utopian views.
-
A real libertarian eschews power and tries to reduce the size of government. Therefore, Congress has one less person seeking power and ordering other people around. If the government holds a legislative session to pass new laws and nobody shows up...
A very libertarian elected official would show up, vote no on just about everything, and lambast the other officials in floor speeches pointing out the illiberality of the laws and spending they were trying to pass.
-
I'll know we are close when they start holding sessions to repeal laws.
-
Minnesota is one of the most schizophrenic, mentally deficient states. These ass holes have produced nothing but soft, gooey non-leftists such as Tim Pawlenty and Rudy Boschwitz. Hell, go ahead and throw in that ignorant wrestler as governor. (Good God, that wrestler was such a nothing-gasbag.)
But in their hearts, Minnesota is pure Karl Marx. They won’t admit it, but they cream their jeans when they recall their favorite son, Gus Hall.
When you hear Minnesota, think Gus Hall.
Minnesota can go screw themselves.
Oh, and by the way, Minnesota, twice, voted to NOT allow Black Americans the right to vote.
-
I live in Minnesota, you simplistic judgmental dipshi..
It is a diverse state that produced both Keith Ellison and Michele Bachmann. And Gov. Ventura is pretty libertarian. He endorsed and campaigned for Gary Johnson here.
Kurt Bills is not quite libertarian. He voted to send the gay marriage amendment to the voters. A libertarian stance would have been no. He voted to send the voter ID amendment to the voters. Not quite libertarian again.
I want Klobuchar fired, but don't know what the hell Bills is going to do once in power at the federal level. The 3rd party alternative wants medicare for all. The LP has no US Senate candidate. I have no idea who to vote for.
-
Man, fuck Ted Cruz. John Jay Myers is the real libertarian running for senate in Texas.
-
He opposes [extending] marriage
equalityprivilegesforto gays and lesbiansFTFY. "Marriage equality" will be when nobody asks me which of my 24 spouses I want to file jointly with on my tax return, because they no longer dole out government benefits to people in monogamous relationships because they are so much more special than single people, and people in other types of relationships.
Also, since "gay" refers generically to homosexuals, "gays and lesbians" is kind of redundant. If you're going to go PC, go for the gold: "gay and lesbian same-gender-attracted homosexual persons".
-
Unless he is proposing a repeal of all the current spousal benefits, he's against equality.
-
Because inequality isn't really inequality as long as you extend the institution of inequality to include 1 more group than it presently does. Makes perfect sense.
-
So you're too angry about this to understand when someone agrees with you, huh?
-
libertarianish, Tea Party-approved Republicans
I find that anyone who is Tea-Party approved is much more -ish than libertarian.
-
This man speaks the truth.
-
"make history as the first African-American Republican woman.... Love was born in Brooklyn and raised in Connecticut by her Haitian parents...."
She's not African-American. If we must hyphenate her heritage, it would be Haitian-American.
I live in the Matheson/Love district, and it's a tight, feisty, race. Love says the right things, but then, that's easy. But I do think she actually believes most of what she says, and that's encouraging.
-
Too many social conservatives on this list. Stop pretending that Republicans are "libertarianish".
-
True Scotsmen or not, they do beat the alternative in most cases.
-
Nice purity test. Take the half-a-loaf before you starve to death.
-
If you are living in a state where your vote for either major party candidate will not be likely to make much difference you might prefer to make your vote count by voting for the Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson.
He already is showing 4% in national polls and if he can garner 5% will assure that in 2016 the LP will be eligible to get 90M dollars in matching funds which would enable their candidate to enlighten the electorate with libertarian perspective on issues.
That might be a turning point, if not the end, for the two party dominance in American politics
-
I did not care for him, is expected from this situation, I did not really say, fell from the capital. Even if there http://www.cheapuggsbootsforwomen.org/ was a gun in the hand must not mean Doude Guo Zhang Yan. Thought this, I saw the boss Zhang nodded. Heroes do not eat immediate loss anyway, now she brings those things that I did not need Senate combined.
-
One hour we do not speak. I thought a lot. Finally, still feel like saying it's the fox is not possible, we Cheap Football Cleats can not find evidence that the gray-haired woman does not show fox, but no evidence, just to prove that the fox can transform himself into a cheap ugg boots for women white-haired woman. And to compare with each other, or scientific concepts prevail.
-
As a potential congressman, Massie supports the elimination of the Federal Reserve and wants to repeal the Dodd-Frank financial regulation package. He http://www.drdrebeatsbydreau.com/ favors both lower taxes and balanced budgets, helping him earn the backing of the Club for Growth, FreedomWorks, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and the Republican Liberty Caucus.
-
Elections actually turn out to be difficult to buy, as the many candidates who outspent their opponents but lost anyway—Meg Whitman is a good recent example—can attest. But if anyone wants to try, better they do http://www.cheapfootballcleatspro.com/ it with their own money than with money taken in taxes using the force of law.
-
very nice
-
good thanks sohbet
cinsel sohbet
