Libertarians Encouraged By Tuesday's Results
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
It's been said that perseverance in the face of overwhelming odds is a mark of character.
If that is true, the Libertarian candidates in the county, in the state - in the nation - have a lot of character.
In Tuesday's elections, Libertarian candidates generally found themselves finishing a distant third to the candidates of the Democratic and Republican parties. With only a few notable exceptions, most Libertarian candidates garnered less than 5 percent of the vote.
Locally, some of those exceptions included Michael Houze, of Syracuse, who received 14 percent of the vote in the county council District 1 race. Daniel Stevens, of Warsaw received 12 percent in the county council District 3 race.
"I'm really happy with the number of votes we got in this election," Houze said. "We're continuing to grow as a party and our influence is having an effect on the major parties and the positions they espouse today."
Namely, the principle of the Libertarian Party is that government should be smaller and less intrusive than it is today, and that personal freedoms should not be abridged.
"It's just a matter of time before we will be on par with the two major political parties in this country," said state chairman Robert Shuford. "The old parties have a 150-year head start on us.
"People generally vote for the same party their parents and grandparents did," he said, "so, once we can get the younger voters to start voting for us, our numbers and support will take on a more permanent nature."
Indiana made national news for the Libertarians, when two party candidates for the Jefferson Township Advisory Board in Washington County won seats on that body. Mary Dufour received 60 percent of the votes cast, the highest percentage of any Libertarian candidate in the country, according to Shuford. Zenneth Caudill placed third for the seven open seats.
"Having the two people in Washington County winning partisan seats was a huge step forward for us," Shuford said.
Other key developments for the state party, he said, include hiring a full-time director. That development alone will help ensure a more obvious presence in state politics, he said. [[In-content Ad]]
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It's been said that perseverance in the face of overwhelming odds is a mark of character.
If that is true, the Libertarian candidates in the county, in the state - in the nation - have a lot of character.
In Tuesday's elections, Libertarian candidates generally found themselves finishing a distant third to the candidates of the Democratic and Republican parties. With only a few notable exceptions, most Libertarian candidates garnered less than 5 percent of the vote.
Locally, some of those exceptions included Michael Houze, of Syracuse, who received 14 percent of the vote in the county council District 1 race. Daniel Stevens, of Warsaw received 12 percent in the county council District 3 race.
"I'm really happy with the number of votes we got in this election," Houze said. "We're continuing to grow as a party and our influence is having an effect on the major parties and the positions they espouse today."
Namely, the principle of the Libertarian Party is that government should be smaller and less intrusive than it is today, and that personal freedoms should not be abridged.
"It's just a matter of time before we will be on par with the two major political parties in this country," said state chairman Robert Shuford. "The old parties have a 150-year head start on us.
"People generally vote for the same party their parents and grandparents did," he said, "so, once we can get the younger voters to start voting for us, our numbers and support will take on a more permanent nature."
Indiana made national news for the Libertarians, when two party candidates for the Jefferson Township Advisory Board in Washington County won seats on that body. Mary Dufour received 60 percent of the votes cast, the highest percentage of any Libertarian candidate in the country, according to Shuford. Zenneth Caudill placed third for the seven open seats.
"Having the two people in Washington County winning partisan seats was a huge step forward for us," Shuford said.
Other key developments for the state party, he said, include hiring a full-time director. That development alone will help ensure a more obvious presence in state politics, he said. [[In-content Ad]]