Libertarians and independents, whose politics generally lean right not left, likely factored into the defeat of at least four Republican candidates, contributing to the shift in the House from Republican to Democrat control. This is not to say the typical Republican is constitutionalist (far from it, unfortunately!), but a shift Democrat control, makes the overall situation in the House worse, not better. In West Virginia,
Democrat Joe Manchin barely defeated Republican Patrick Morrissey, 288,808 to 269,872 votes, a difference of 18,936 votes. But Morrissey likely would have won if Libertarian Rusty Hollen hadn’t taken 24,231 votes.
In Iowa District 3,
Democrat Cindy Axne defeated incumbent Republican David Young, 169,886 to 164,656, a difference of 5,230. The Libertarian candidate, Bryan Holder, received 7,005 votes. Two independents took 3,177 votes.
In Virginia, incumbent conservative Dave Brat, a tea party candidate
who knocked over Republican Majority Leader Eric Cantor four years ago,
lost a squeaker to a former CIA operative, Abigail Spanberger, 170,737 to 165,962. Just 4,775 votes separated the two. The Libertarian, Joseph Walton, received 4,135 votes. Had Walton not polluted the race, it would have been closer, and Brat might have been able to force a recount that could change the race.
In Kansas,
an independent knocked out GOP gubernatorial candidate Kris Kobach. Leftist Laura Kelly defeated Kobach 489,337 to 443,346, a difference of 45,991. But the Independent Greg Orman collected 66,163.
In Florida, four candidates with no chance of winning collected 99,848 votes, which nearly cost GOP gubernatorial candidate Ron DeSantis the race against hard-leftist Andrew Gillum.
DeSantis won by only 55,439 votes of 8,148,645 cast, or 0.68 percent.
One might say those candidates cost Gillum the race, which certainly might be true. But it still proves the point that down-ballot candidates with no chance of winning harm the chances of serious candidates.
And, again, most libertarians tend to fall on the right side of the political spectrum given their skepticism of anything to do with government.
In Georgia, Democrat Stacy Abrams
refuses to concede to Republican Brian Kemp in the race for governor. Why is that?
Kemp received 1,962,547 votes to Abrams’ 1,887,161, a difference of 75,386. It was 50.5 percent to 48.5 percent. The libertarian received 36,706 votes. Those votes might push the race
into a runoff if Kemp's total dips below 50 percent.
Admittedly, there are cases where independent candidates are viable. But how about other cases where independent candidates do not have a chance, yet result in a worse candidate being elected?
More at:
https://www.thenewamerican.com/usne...-candidates-help-defeat-viable-gop-candidates