3rd party wins promise to shake up Thanksgiving dinner table talk – WHYY

This article originally appeared on PA Post.

This months off-year election in Pennsylvania was fascinating not so much because of the electoral shakeups in once reliably red or blue counties, but mainly because of all the new parties and political faces that showed up on the ballot and won!

In Berks County, for example, instead of a blue wave or red army, the Libertarians painted their color (gray, maybe?) on the map. ChannelingRon Swansons limited-government energy,close to a dozen different libertarians ran in uncontested races this past election. They won Birdsboro and Kenhorst borough council seats and five township auditor seats. One mission is to show people that our ideology and methodology works and that people can trust us to help run these governing units, said the partys county chairman, Jerry Geleff. Geleff conceded that it may seem out of place for the party ofnogovernment to be campaigning to run some government, but he was quick to note that most Libertarians believea littlegovernment is necessary.

And while the greater Philly area saw a shakeup in historically Republican areas, arguably the largest upset (at least what most news organizations focused on) was Kendra Brookss election to the city council carrying the banner of the Working Families Party. Putting aside whether or not you agree with Brookss progressive platform, it will be interesting to see how the 14 council Democrats work with her and the two elected Republicans.

Finally, there was Paige Cognetti an independent whowon the mayors racein Scranton. Cognetti, a Democrat, was spurned by the party machine in the city. So she switched her registration to independent and ran on boosting small business while also increasing funding for infrastructure (true middle of the road politics).

So if youre looking to steer the dinner table political conversation away from the red vs. blue cliche, steer the topic to third party candidates and what their rise means in an increasingly polarized state and nation.

See the original post here:
3rd party wins promise to shake up Thanksgiving dinner table talk - WHYY