SWGA Politics

Why Governor?

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.

To give you an example of how draconian that is, and how bad it is for members of “third” parties at the lower levels, let’s look at my own race a couple of months ago. There were 90 total votes cast, and I lost 70 votes to 20 in a district that included 1600+ registered voters. This was a non-partisan race, so I didn’t have to do a petition drive, but 5% of the registered voters in the City of Leesburg would have been 1600 * 0.05 = 80 signatures. The winner of the election only got 70 votes – or roughly 4.4% of the registered voters in the district!

It is because of these ballot access laws that “third” parties – ANY “third” Party, be it Libertarian, Constitutional, Green, or any other – must shoot for Governor under current law. Only when our Governor candidate gets 20% of the vote can we then work to build the local base via local elected officials.

To those Republicans and Democrats who would rather see me work to build a more local base, I would sincerely love to. I would absolutely love to have Libertarians on County Commissions, in the various County level partisan offices, and in the General Assembly.

But I need to have a fair shot at it, and under current law, I don’t.The deck has been stacked against me, and then I am kicked when I’m down.

You can help me though. We can band together to work for equal ballot access for all parties and individuals, and once we achieve that you have my word I will concentrate my efforts where I agree they belong – at the local and General Assembly levels. Some have already publicly agreed to help me: State Rep Candidate Jim Nichols; State Reps Stephanie Benfield and Billy Mitchell; State Senate Candidate Garry Guan; US Congress Candidates Jeremy Jones, Tom Dooley, Michael Frisbee, Eugene Moone, and Steve Tarvin; US Senate Candidate Chuck Donovan; Insurance Commissioner Candidate Stephen Northington; Secretary of State Candidates Michael Mills, Angela Moore, and David Chastain; Governor Candidate John Monds; Democratic Party of Georgia Executive Committee member Andre Walker; and Republican Party of Georgia Executive Committee member Ben Brandon.

Will you join us?