January 2007

Libertarian Candidates Make a Strong Showing

Vote Totals Assure Continuing "Established Party" Status

By Darla Maloney

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In the general election November 7, Libertarian candidates in Missouri put out a great effort and achieved solid results.

Our two statewide candidates - Charles Baum for State Auditor and Frank Gilmour for U.S. Senate - both surpassed the two percent base for maintaining the "established party" status of the Missouri Libertarian Party through the elections of 2010. Charles Baum earned 2.8 percent of the vote, the highest statewide percentage in over a decade. In the tightly contested race for U.S. Senate, where the two major party candidates spent over $30 million combined , Frank Gilmour brought in 2.2 percent running on a shoestring budget but with a lot of personal enthusiasm and support from all around the MoLP.

Our candidates for U.S. House also received solid support. Five of our nine candidates exceeded the two-percent threshold, and all of the others were close. With the help of vigorous campaigning and a solid support network, Randy Langkraehr earned 3.5% of the vote in the 5th district. Similarly, Kevin Craig received 3.1 percent in the 7th district.

In races for the Missouri State House, many of our candidates did exceptionally well. Several candidates in three-way races exceeded 4 percent of the vote. In some of the two-way races around the state, Libertarian candidates exceeded 10 percent (including two races in the City of St. Louis). In District 119, Ben Casebolt garnered more than 25 percent!

We thank all of our candidates for their efforts, and all of the voters out there who showed their support. These election results show that voters are becoming increasingly dissatisfied with the two major parties and are seeing Libertarians as an alternative. We can build on this support in future elections.