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Indianapolis city councilman Ed Coleman will not be returning for another term. The Republican-turned-Libertarian was soundly defeated today by Republican Jack Sandlin.
The striking this about this result is not so much that Coleman lost, but that he failed to garner even 25% of the vote in a one-on-one race, despite getting more than $50,000 in help from the Libertarian National Committee.
Those who questioned Coleman’s use of television advertising in an extremely small neighborhood race will likely raise their voices in the wake of this disaster.
The rest of the party’s slate in Indianapolis fell flat as well. Mayoral candidate Chris Bowen polled only 1.5% and the rest of their candidates for council were in 3-way contests involving a Republican and a Democrat, in which most polled in the low single-digits.
I warned about this. Good libertarian candidates are doing well or winning on low-budget and non-attack campaigns, so that the National Committee ignored its practices for one campaign for a weak libertarian at a time when it’s strapped for cash is an alarm bell.
This fellow didn’t even have any Libertarian positions or ads. He left a strong seat for this nonsense. It really looks like the extreme-right amen corner of the LP dedicated IMHO to wrecking it got another victory in their unending quest to drain money for at best semi-Libertarian candidates with ridiculous campaigns that do nothing to build the movement.
How about you shut up that is my father you are talking about and i will be dead before you say one more thing about him so shut up you dont know anything on why he switched.
Solution for Libertarians who want to win in partisan races; run on the GOP line, but keep your Libertarian Party membership, and let voters know you are are both Libertarian/Republican. No harm in that. Just like Conservative Party/Republican Party in NY.
Libertarian Party candidates can and do win in non-partisan races.
How much could $50,000 poured out over a slate of candidates in say, Leadville, Colorado, produced? The LP would be running a few towns by now with just half that.