By Kyle Markley <\/p>\n
The race for House District 30 was expected to be close, with first-term Republican incumbent Shawn Lindsay facing Democrat challenger Joe Gallegos in a district where Democrats enjoy a 7 percent advantage in voter registration. <\/p>\n
Both campaigns were vigorous. According to ORESTAR (the campaign finance database maintained by the secretary of state's office), the Gallegos campaign had total expenditures exceeding $600,000 and the Lindsay campaign over $500,000. <\/p>\n
According to the current unofficial election results, this was the only Oregon House district where the winner did not earn a majority of the votes. As the Libertarian candidate in this race, I was the wild card. I received more votes (5.73%) than the margin between Gallegos (49.27%) and Lindsay (44.83%). <\/p>\n
These results have people wondering whether I swung the race in favor of Gallegos. Did I? Probably not. To change the outcome, more than three-quarters of the people voting for me would need to have voted for Lindsay in my absence. Given the issues I campaigned on, this seems unlikely. <\/p>\n
Libertarians are well-known for wanting to reduce government spending, which makes them attractive to people who may otherwise vote Republican. Less appreciated, however, is the Libertarian commitment to basic civil rights and freedoms that is attractive to people who may otherwise vote Democrat. <\/p>\n
For example, one of my campaign issues was the repeal of Oregon's civil forfeiture power (ORS Chapter 131A). This power is primarily used to wage the \"War on Drugs\" and consequently enjoys much greater support from law-and-order anti-drug Republicans than from Democrats who see it as overreaching by law enforcement and a violation of important civil rights under the U.S. Constitution's Fourth and Fifth Amendments. <\/p>\n
Rep. Lindsay made his support for Oregon's Enterprise Zone program a campaign issue. This program provides property tax incentives for businesses that expand in certain areas designated by state and local governments. By contrast, I campaigned in favor of legal equality, the principle that government should not create special privileges for particular groups. If tax incentives are a good idea at all, they should be uniform across the state, not a bargaining chip to entice politically favored business development in politically favored regions. To the extent Republicans support things like the Enterprise Zone program, they will not be attracted by my campaign. <\/p>\n
My primary purpose in entering this race was to raise awareness of how far our government has moved away from its founding principles and original purpose. I wanted to push back against the growth of government influence and to fight for individual rights and freedoms. I ran a very modest campaign, funded entirely out of my own pocket. I gave only one speech and sent only one piece of direct mail advertising. Despite losing the race, I am pleased with the results. <\/p>\n
Almost 6 percent of the voters were willing to \"throw their votes away\" supporting a minor party candidate in a hotly contested race. That tells me that my issues resonate strongly with the people. And that gives me hope that the Legislature will address these issues even though I am not in office. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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Libertarian candidate: 'I wasn't the spoiler' in Hillsboro's House District 30<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Kyle Markley The race for House District 30 was expected to be close, with first-term Republican incumbent Shawn Lindsay facing Democrat challenger Joe Gallegos in a district where Democrats enjoy a 7 percent advantage in voter registration. Both campaigns were vigorous. According to ORESTAR (the campaign finance database maintained by the secretary of state's office), the Gallegos campaign had total expenditures exceeding $600,000 and the Lindsay campaign over $500,000 Continue reading