John Williams, Candidate for State Rep in the 147^th

By John Williams

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In being involved as a candidate, the usual worries and learning curve tend to make one aware that it really isn’t all that easy to run a campaign, no matter how small.

Here in the 147th District, things took a rather unusual swing when the Republican candidate was disqualified early on due to an ethics violation. They never came up with a replacement.

Having been, until recently, a Democratic stronghold, our area has seen some major changes in the political structure. Republicans made gains with the recent election of two County Commissioners, and have gained judicial and prosecutorial slots in this years’ primary elections with no opposition.

As my opponent is an incumbent local Democrat, my campaign has made every effort to keep on good terms with both Democrats and Republicans. We are hopeful that a good many Republicans will pick a Libertarian candidate in November over a Democrat.

We have undertaken a major attempt to build the local Libertarian structure in the county. We used newspaper inserts to mount a membership campaign, and we spent a week at the Texas County Fair, mingling with both the Democrats and Republicans at their respective booths. It was interesting to note that the Libertarian booth had the greatest amount of information available, by far. While at the fair, we also stood in opposition to new taxes with plainly visible signage that appeared to generate a fair amount of interest. We even ran ads in four local papers in opposition to new taxes.

Our major efforts so far have been to get a daily mention in the Rolla Daily News of my candidacy, a $50 effort that will run through early November. We are included with the Republicans and Democrats. The Libertarian symbol shows up nicely. My opponent is NOT there.

We have also gotten some good press in the West Plains Daily Quill. We’ve printed off more than 4000 pamphlets, which we will use as inserts in October, most likely in the Houston Herald.

Our major expense to date has been 25 large 8-foot campaign signs, and 100 smaller yard signs. We expect to erect these in early September.

Another effort was to get material onto www.dnet.org at the request of the League of Woman Voters. Currently, we have another batch of questionnaires on the desk to be answered.

Have we been busy? Yes, you bet. With the daily efforts of small farming, getting out and meeting people, going to meetings and general household duties, we are discovering that the day is no longer as long as we would like for it to be.

We feel fairly positive that the November results may be in our favor. Obviously, we must continue, always onward, marching toward the goal.

We WILL win one, be it here or somewhere else. This is going to be our year in Missouri. I can feel it!