By Elliott Brack
Editor and publisher
OCT. 12, 2018 | Competitive election races may stir interest in politics, but you can also bet that it can also turn off people — with the continued barrage of political advertising, some of it hard-hitting. They may end up voting while pinching their nose.
Well, if you see a breather after the November 6 election from electioneering, you could be wrong.
You see, we could have runoffs in five different statewide races if there are close races. The reason: the Libertarian Party of Georgia is fielding candidates in five races. If this party scores heavier than it has before, and if there is a tight race between the Democratic and Republican contender, yessiree, we’re into more politicking. There would have to be a runoff for the General Election, which would be on December 4, 2018. So, another month of candidates breathlessly attacking one another.
(In addition there could be a runoff in the three Congressional Districts where there are Libertarian candidates. But that federal runoff isn’t until January 8, 2019. Whew!)
The five statewide races where three parties have candidates are:
Governor: while Democrat Stacey Abrams of Atlanta and Republican Brian Kemp of Athens are the two major candidates, leading the Libertarians in this race is Ted Metz of Atlanta.
Secretary of State: the two major contenders are Brad Raffensperger of Johns Creek, the GOP nominee, against former Democratic Congressman John Barrow of Athens. But there is also Smythe Duval of Cobb County, whom we’ve talked to, the Libertarian, in this race.
Commissioner of Insurance: with this being an open seat and no incumbent, there should be a lot of interest in this race. Jim Beck of Carrollton is the Republican Party’s nominee, while Janice Laws is the Democrat. Then there is Donnie Foster, of Atlanta, the Libertarian.
There are two seats on the Public Service Commission for voters to decide this election. Both have Libertarian candidates:
PSC Post 2: Chuck Eaton is the Republican candidate, while Lindy Miller of Decatur is the Democratic challenger. The third member of the race is libertarian Ryan Graham of Atlanta.
PSC Post 4: Tricia Pridemore of Marietta carries the Republican banner in this race, challenged by Dawn A. Randolph of Stockbridge for the Democrats. John Turpish of Cobb County is the Libertarian candidate.
The Libertarian Party also has three candidates running for the U.S. Congress (Districts 5, 9, 13), and three persons seeking seats in the Georgia House of Representatives.
Libertarians have been slowly gaining more recognition in Georgia, though few anticipate that they will win any race. However, they have made enough of a splash in previous voting that their statewide candidates can get on the ballot much easier than before.
Libertarians generally believe in a limited government, and advocate civil liberties under the rule of law with an emphasis on economic freedom. They are fiscal conservatives, and adopt a laissez-faire approach to government.
Classical liberalism is a political ideology and a branch of liberalism which advocates “civil liberties under the rule of law with an emphasis on economic freedom.”
So, though we all look for the November 6 General Election to tone down the Georgia political rhetoric, there’s a slim possibly, with closely-divided races, that we could see the political season extended into December.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
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