As Republican Brian Kemp and Democrat Stacey Abrams begin to take swipes at each other over a range of issues, the nothing-if-not-persistent Libertarians have now officially launched their campaign for governor behind their candidate, Ted Metz. Metz is currently the Chairman of the Libertarian Party of Georgia and has been a long-time advocate for freedom and reduced government.
Metz will be running on a traditional libertarian, small-government platform, focusing on criminal justice reform, the reform of marijuana laws and eliminating cronyism in state government.
“For years now candidates from the two establishment parties have given us nothing but empty promises and corruption,” said Metz. “We cannot keep handing over the reins of government to the same people and expecting different results. It is time for a new approach to policy craft and problem solving in the State of Georgia.”
Campaign manager Elizabeth Melton noted the “O” word – option – in the announcement. Libertarians often point out that parties are not obliged to your vote and there is a third option should neither meet a voter’s standards. “It is exciting to have Ted and his platform as an option in our gubernatorial election,” said Melton. “Voters who feel that government has gone too far with its interference in our daily lives should consider Ted Metz to be our next governor. “
In 2016, a year that many saw as a possibly good opening for the Libertarian Party, presidential candidate Gary Johnson broke the record for most votes of any libertarian in a presidential race in Georgia. He received more than 125,000 votes, approximately 80,000 more than the previous record in 2012. Percentage-wise, it amounted to only about 3% of the statewide vote total but this was enough to secure ballot access to libertarians running for statewide office this year.
Interestingly, the top vote-getters all-time for the Libertarian Party in Georgia are all Public Service Commission (PSC) candidates. John Monds received 1,076,726 votes in 2008 running for the PSC 1 seat, Eric Hoskins received 1,200,076 votes running for PSC 2 in 2016 and David Staples received 1,095,115 running in 2012 for PSC 5.
All of those races had a number of unique factors that may have contributed to the candidates success. For approximately a decade now, the PSC has been trying to oversee the construction of the expansion at Plant Vogtle. Cost overruns and the bankruptcy a contractor involved were pretty big issues that may have motivated normally Republican voters to pull a lever – or punch a certain part of the computer screen – for the libertarians.
Outside of the PSC, the record showing by a Libertarian in a statewide race was Sharon Harris, who was a candidate for the Commissioner of Agriculture in 1994. John Monds got more than 100,000 votes in the 2010 governor’s race. Metz will be looking to at least get to that number to help secure future ballot access for Libertarians.
In a year when money will pouring into Georgia for a nationally watched race, it could also mean extra attention for Metz’ candidacy. He’ll be stressing that third option.
“There was a time when leaders of men made important decisions based upon the future impact for seven generations. Seems as if today’s “leaders” base their decisions on what gets campaign funding, re-election and taxpayer dollars for their cronies. We can do better than yesterday’s politicians,” said Metz.
