Libertarians remain optimistic for next round of NC elections

The state’s Libertarian Party came away from the 2012 election without any huge gains on paper — but politicians from the two dominant parties say libertarians nonetheless won an opportunity to influence policy.

The U.S. electoral system poses significant barriers to third parties seeking representation on ballots.

Libertarian gubernatorial candidate Barbara Howe received slightly more than 2 percent of the vote, barely crossing the threshold of necessary votes to allow the party to remain on the ballot for the next four years.

Republican Pat McCrory won the race with 55 percent of the vote, compared to 43 percent for Democrat Walter Dalton, according to unofficial results.

Howe said she still has hope for the party’s future because of growing support among young voters.

The Libertarian Party, which tends to advocate for conservative economic policies and liberal social policies, is at a disadvantage because of a lack of recognition and money, along with straight-ticket voting, she said.

But the Nov. 6 election did bring some victories for the party. Two Libertarians in N.C. state legislative races received about 20 percent of the vote, which is promising, Howe said.

“It always shakes down to whichever two parties happen to be the strongest, though there is nothing written in stone as to which it has to be,” Howe said.

Jason Melehani, member-at-large of the executive committee for N.C.’s Libertarian Party, worked for Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson’s campaign.

He said the party’s ultimate goal is to win national races.

“We are getting the word ‘libertarian’ out into the public vernacular,” he said.

“We want to convince our natural allies, such as LGBT and anti-tax groups, that we are a better avenue for advocating their issues than their traditional (party) allies.”

But Democrats and Republicans have differing views on the future role of the Libertarian Party.

Austin Gilmore, president of UNC Young Democrats, said the Libertarian Party should focus on shaping Republican policies.

He said the Democratic Party would be reticent to incorporate some libertarian positions, such as the rollback of New Deal social programs.

But he said the Libertarian Party affords Republicans an opportunity to back away from their traditional stances on social issues, such as opposition to same-sex marriage.

Garrett Jacobs, chairman of UNC College Republicans, said incorporating libertarian ideals into the GOP would have to be decided on a policy-by-policy basis.

Everett Lozzi, state chairman of Young Americans for Liberty, said he thinks the party will continue to spread its message in the future — but is not likely to win races.

He said the Republican Party would adopt some libertarian views if the Libertarian Party begins to gain a significant percentage of the vote — like when Democrats included environmentalism in their platform to siphon away votes from the Green Party.

“The social platform of the Republican Party is most likely to change, because a fair amount of Romney’s supporters voted on libertarian ideals,” he said.

Contact the desk editor at state@dailytarheel.com.