Ohio Libertarian Party regains ballot access

Splitting the vote? Here’s part of a report by Tyler Arnold from Ohio Watchdog on the upcoming elections and the consequences of Libertarian candidates qualifying to run in this cycle:

The Libertarian Party of Ohio regained ballot access this year, which means its candidates’ names will appear alongside of Republican, Democrat and Green Party candidates. This could affect the hotly contested race for Ohio governor.

“We feel fantastic that our party has support from all 88 Ohio counties and over 102,000 of our fellow citizens were willing to put their name to support the efforts of liberty and choice for all Ohioans,” Libertarian Party of Ohio Communications Director David Jackson told Watchdog.org.

The Libertarian Party of Ohio passed the signature threshold needed to regain “minor party” status, which allows its candidates to be on the ballot for the first time in four years. The party has more than 20 candidates running for state or national office in Ohio this November.

“It would not take many Libertarian votes to affect the election outcome in a close race,” Ohio State University political science professor Vladimir Kogan told Watchdog.org. One of Kogan’s areas of expertise is state politics.

Republicans are likely to hold onto most U.S. House seats in Ohio while the Senate seat will likely go to the Democrat, analysts predict. However, the governor’s race is closely contested with polls showing Democrat Richard Cordray ahead of Republican Mike DeWine by just 1.6 percent on average. The Green Party candidate is Constance Gadell-Newton and the Libertarian Party candidate is Travis Irvine.

Read the rest here.

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