High Performance For Libertarians

[Nico]

http://www.lp.org/media/article_403.shtml

Across the Nation, Libertarian Candidates are Polling Six Percent Higher than Previous Election Cycles

Polling Data Suggests Voter Disconnect May Boost Election Day Performance for Libertarians

(Washington, D.C.) As a result of a higher-than-normal level of voter discontent, Libertarian candidates are benefiting from the dissatisfaction voters are feeling for both major parties. Two recent Zogby surveys show Libertarian Party gubernatorial candidates currently faring significantly better than they have in previous election returns for the same offices.

A Wall Street Journal/Zogby International survey of Georgia's gubernatorial race indicates that that Republican incumbent Sunny Perdue is currently polling at 47.4 percent, Democrat Mark Taylor at 36.4 percent while Libertarian Garrett Michael Hayes is polling at 8.1 percent. According to Richard Winger of Ballot Access News, the best showing in the past for a Georgia Libertarian gubernatorial candidate was in 1998, when the party polled 3.43 percent and the worst showing was 2002, at 2.36 percent.

A different Wall Street Journal/Zogby International survey shows Libertarian Party gubernatorial candidate Dawn Winkler polling at 7.8 percent in Colorado, with the Republican Bob Beauprez at 34.1 percent and the Democrat Bill Ritter at 44.4 percent. In 2002, the Libertarian candidate received one percent of the vote.

In Arizona, Libertarian congressional candidate Warren Severin polled at 6 percent in a Public Opinion Strategies survey for the 5th Congressional District. The previous LP candidate in Arizona CD-5 earned one percent of the vote.

Similar polling results are beginning to surface around the country. Last month, SurveyUSA showed Libertarian Greg Creswell polling at 6 percent in Michigan's gubernatorial race. Democratic Incumbent Jennifer Granholm polled at 42 percent and Republican challenger Dick DeVos polled at 50 percent. A different SurveyUSA poll showed Libertarian U.S. Senate candidate Leonard Schwartz polling at 8 or 9 percent, depending on who was opposing him on the survey.

"America is no longer willing to waste its vote on the lesser of two evils. Both major parties have reneged on their promises to the voters and neither party reflects the values of most voters," said Shane Cory, executive director of the Libertarian Party. "As a result, we are anticipating that a record amount of Americans will decide to vote on principle this year, as opposed to voting for the lesser of two evils."

There are over 600 Libertarian candidates running for public office throughout the country. The Libertarian Party has released its Candidate Tracker project online at http://www.lp.org/candidates. Candidate Tracker allows voters to view candidates by state or by their placement in the LP's candidate ranking system.