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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