One question we get as Libertarians quite often when it comes to Statewide elections is why we push our Governor candidate so hard. People say it is over-reaching, that we need to try to build our base at the local and General Assembly levels first.
Here’s a dirty little secret: I agree, but my hands are tied by Georgia law.
You see, my own ideas on electoral progression are based on multiple smaller steps, rather than one big leap – much like my pragmatic views on most other issues we Libertarians and other liberty-leaning individuals like to discuss. I tend to say a candidate should first win election in the smallest district they are qualified to run in, and progressively build up from there.The idea there being that with each smaller post you win, you build a base of voters that will vote for you at the next level. I’ve been told this idea only works to three levels, meaning that a person who starts out at the City Council level would be expected to max out at the General Assembly level, vs a person who starts out as a State Rep who could then progress to a Statewide lower-ballot post before seeking one of the top spots.
But there is a problem with this, and that problem is found in OCGA 21-2-2(25), where “political party” is defined as a political body whose Governor or Presidential candidate has received 20% of the vote in the last election. In other sections of Title 21 Chapter 2 of OCGA – specifically Part 4 – it is codified into law that candidates nominated by anything other than a “political party” have to collect signatures on a nominating petition, and those signatures have to total 5% of the total registered voters in the district.
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Giant Leap for Transparency
I was looking through LEGIS this morning for Constitutional Amendments when I came across one that absolutely stunned me – in a very good way.
As I’ve said before, I tend to favor small, incremental steps toward a goal rather than going for everything in one fell swoop. The analogy I most often use is 3 yard plays, every play, vs going for the endzone on every play.
A lot of talk has been going on over the last couple of years about transparency in government. By and large, most in “both” parties want to leave it at that – a lot of hot air, with nothing ever actually getting done. I say this due to the lack of bills and resolutions introduced into the General Assembly regarding these topics – quite simply, there aren’t very many, and there doesn’t appear to be much interest in moving the ones that are there.
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