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It’s a big year for politics in Georgia, with a governor up for re-election and an open U.S. Senate seat. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is following it every step of the way.
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Amanda Swafford squinted as she raised the .38-caliber revolver.
Swafford was at a Lawrenceville gun range in July, politicking and blasting away at targets with about 20 enthusiastic supporters. It had to rank as one of the more distinctive campaign fundraisers in the high-profile race to replace retiring Republican U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss, a must-hold race for the GOP and a potential long-shot prize for Democrats.
Days before, the Libertarian Swafford became the only candidate with prior governing experience to jump into the Senate race. Still, the 38-year-old paralegal is a clear underdog against David Perdue, a Republican businessman, and Democrat Michelle Nunn, the daughter of former conservative Democratic U.S. Sen. Sam Nunn.
While a win is unlikely for Swafford and fellow Libertarian and gubernatorial hopeful Andrew Hunt, the two can tout one thing past third-party candidates lacked: relevance.
Libertarians consistently rake in only single-digit percentages — usually about 3 percent — of the votes in Georgia elections. But in a hotly contested election season, both have an unexpected opportunity to force runoffs among the leading party candidates.
Swafford will need to be a quick learner to compete with Perdue, who survived a bruising July 22 Republican runoff, and Nunn, a nonprofit CEO. Both opponents have millions of dollars at hand, to Swafford’s thousands, as well as established party support.
A chance to make an impact
Georgia’s U.S. Senate race is drawing widespread attention as the GOP tries to take control of the U.S. Senate and Democrats try to score an upset in what has been a reliably red state. National attention also is focused on the governor’s race, where one of former President Jimmy Carter’s grandsons, Jason Carter, is trying to derail Republican Gov. Nathan Deal’s run for a second term.
That provides a national stage for Swafford and Hunt to bring their fiscally conservative, socially liberal platforms. Libertarians generally believe in a free-market system with as little government taxation, regulation and spending as possible. They often support school choice, marriage equality and efforts to decriminalize marijuana.
If either of the state’s top two races come down to a few percentage points, the Libertarians could push the election season into overtime.
In a Survey USA poll in June, Hunt took 7 percent of the vote in the governor’s race, a result that – if repeated or bested in November – would likely cause the first gubernatorial runoff in state history.
Swafford polled at 6 percent in the same poll, prompting one national analyst to list both Libertarian candidates as possible runoff instigators.
“If I had to pick one, I would expect the governor’s race,” said Geoff Skelley, a writer for Larry J. Sabato’s Crystal Ball Blog at the University of Virginia Center for Politics.
The notion of a November runoff made Deal laugh during a recent interview in his office at the state Capitol.
“Ah, it’s not going to be that close,” the incumbent said. “We’re going to win.”
As a state that requires a runoff when no candidate gains a majority of the votes in a general election, Georgia offers Libertarians an opportunity to affect the final outcome. In 1992, Democratic U.S. Sen. Wyche Fowler received the most votes in his bid for re-election. But Libertarian Jim Hudson took 3 percent of the vote, enough to force Fowler into a runoff with Republican Paul Coverdell that Coverdell won.
Doug Craig, the chairman of the Libertarian Party of Georgia, said a close race or a forced runoff would have an undeniable effect in a predominantly single-party state.
“It can send a message to the country,” he said. “If Georgia is in play, everything is in play.”
Challenges remain
Libertarians have faced plenty of obstacles in the Peach State.
Georgia is one of the nation’s most restrictive states when it comes to ballot access. Independent or third-party candidates running in a nonstatewide race are required to gather verified signatures from 5 percent of voters to get their name on the ballot.
That means, for example, that an independent or third-party candidate running in Georgia’s 1st Congressional District — where 373,855 votes were cast in the previous election — would need almost 19,000 signatures.
In order to be recognized as an official party in Georgia, a party’s candidate must gain 20 percent of the gubernatorial or presidential vote. That recognition is important: A party can nominate candidates for the ballot and avoid the signature requirement.
That requirement stems from a law passed by a Democratic Legislature in 1943. The intent was to keep Republicans off the ballot. The GOP broke through in 1966, but no minor-party candidate has managed to get on a U.S. House of Representatives ballot in Georgia since.
As a result, it’s been difficult for Libertarian candidates to have prior governing experience.
“(Lawmakers) have made it impossible because you can’t run in those lower races,” Craig said.
Swafford is a rarity in that she has held local office. Hunt, who has a doctorate from Georgia Tech, is running on his background as founder and former CEO of nanotechnology company nGimat.
The lack of campaign know-how has hurt some outside candidates.
Libertarian Jeff Amason was left off the ballot to challenge state Rep. Scot Turner, R-Holly Springs, after he was disqualified for a notary error. Amason’s campaign is challenging the Georgia secretary of state’s decision in court after saying a conflicting notary statute makes the signatures valid.
From a dearth of campaign cash to a lagging outreach strategy, alternative candidates have lacked the infrastructure to launch successful challenges.
Swafford said her party can do more.
“It’s been difficult for candidates in the past to do (fundraisers),” said Swafford, who still works full time.
Libertarian ideals have taken hold nationally, especially among younger groups. A Public Religion Research Institute poll released in October said 22 percent of Americans either lean libertarian or consider themselves libertarians.
A recent push by the Libertarian Party in Georgia to legalize marijuana has overwhelming support from millennials. That demographic was polled at 69 percent in favor of legalization, according to a Pew Research Center survey released in March.
“Now whether or not the party is going to grow is going to depend,” Craig said. “It’s always hard to grow when there is no ballot access.”
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