Jun
22
Written by:
Andy Hogue
6/22/2010 1:35 PM
If polls are any indicator, voters in the Lone Star State are fairly split between Republican incumbent Rick Perry and Democratic nominee Bill White in the race for governor.
But Texas' largest rival to the two major parties suggests there is a viable alternative. Her name is Kathie Glass.
During the Libertarian Party of Texas' convention (held during the Republican Party of Texas' convention June 11-12), the delegates nominated Glass as their candidate for Texas Governor. Glass beat out two other candidates for the nomination, inlcuding former gubernatorial candidate Jeff Daiell.
"This is our time," Glass said to the floor of the Libertarian convention, held in Austin. "We will leave this convention as a united party. Texans want smaller government and more freedom. This is the message that we bring. Regrettably, our current governor seems intent on running our state Washington D.C.-style instead of Texas-style. Runaway taxes, exploding spending, escalating debt, ever-growing government, and confiscation of property so he [Perry] can give it to foreign interests -- where will it end?"
Though Libertarians often finish between less than 1 and 3 percent in a typical election -- and in close elections voters will choose between the "lesser of two evils" rather than "throw away their vote" to a third-party candidate -- there are some shards of hope for the minarchist party.
For one, though Libertarian candidate James Werner pulled in less than 1 percent in the 2006 election, independent candidates Kinky Friedman and Carole Keeton Strayhorn took 12 and 18 percent, respectively. All together, that's about 31 percent of the Texas electorate dissatisfied with Perry and then-Democratic rival Chris Bell. Glass may not have the star-power of Kinky or the familiarity factor of Strayhorn, but could certainly pull in a large number of their voters given the popularity of Tea Party-esque sentiment to scale-back government and oust the incumbents (that is, if voters recognize her name at the polls). She could also pull in a fair number of Libertarian-friendly Debra Medina supporters upset by the results of the March Republican Primary.
Secondly, according to a Libertarian Party of Texas press release, Libertarian ranks grew by 8 percent since 2008 compared to declines in the numbers of identified Republicans and Democrats nationwide. The Republican Party lost 1.1 million voters since 2008 and the Democratic Party lost 1.2 million registered [though their losses probably account for more than the total number of Libertarian voters]. The press release noted there has been a long-term trend of party dissatisfaction among a growing number of voters going independent. The number of those registered with both parties has risen from 1.6 percent in 1960 to 21.7 percent, the Libertarians contended (though it must be noted that Texas does not have party registration, and the figures cited by the press release are debatable).
In such scenarios, and with enough funding and/or publicity (and an apperance in televised debates), Glass could pull a Ross Perot and siphon away votes from either candidate -- most likely Perry given the incumbent's anti-D.C. rhetoric of late. That could make her a spoiler, at the very least, as even a few percentage points on election night can tip the balance in a dead-heat.
Based on previous years' performances by third parties, Glass playing a more major role in this election isn't incredibly likely. With her fairly unpolished and somewhat unrealistic messages -- "Through aggressive use of nullification and interposition, we must reclaim our Ninth and Tenth Amendment sovereignty," she said via her Web site -- her chances of winning over politically savvy voters is diminished.
LSR will of course keep an eye on how well her message gets out to those who will determine her electoral fate.