Former Libertarian Beitler Could Make Run-Off for North Carolina Secretary of State

In 2010, Michael Beitler was the Libertarian Party’s candidate for U.S. Senate in North Carolina.  In that race he won 55,687 votes, or about 2%.

Beitler is a business professor at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, a business consultant, and the host of the “Free Markets” radio show.

Since his last campaign, Beitler has rejoined the Republican Party and is now polling in fourth place in his current bid for North Carolina Secretary of State, according to the latest poll out from Public Policy Polling.

The survey of 469 likely Republican primary voters showed the race breaking down as follows…

Michael Beitler …………….. 8%
A.J. Daoud…………………. 11%
Kenn Gardner ………………. 23%
Ed Goodwin ………………… 14%
Undecided …………………. 45%

Voters head to the polls tomorrow, but with nearly half of the electorate still undecided in this relatively low-profile statewide contest, it’s impossible to predict how the final results will look. A run-off election seems all but certain between the top two finishers and Beitler’s 8% puts him only six-points behind second place candidate Ed Goodwin, a Chowan County Commissioner.

One other note of encouragement for Beitler is that his support jumped to 17%, for second place, among those who identified as having already cast their ballot.