Florida Libertarians seeking to run full slate of candidates for 2018

SARASOTA, Fla. (Heartland Newsfeed) — While a February special election resulted in some level of disappointment to Florida Libertarians, the record amount of money raised for Florida House candidate Alison Foxall — who barely cracked 3 percent of the vote in the special election in House District 72 — but leaders of the Libertarian Party of Florida and its local chapter see a silver lining in this race, building up the foundation for a broader party presence in the November 6 general election. “With Sarasota in mind, ideally we would have a candidate for every spot and every seat that’s going to come available,” said Libertarian Party of Sarasota County chairman Todd Dennison. Libertarians in Florida are seeking more than just become THE third party in the state. They want to provide an alternative option for disaffected, disgruntled Democrat and Republican voters at every level, from park boards and municipal governments to the executive branch of Florida’s government. Foxall had originally filed to run in the November contest for the House seat, but is now exploring other potential contests to enter instead. Libertarians acknowledge they did not anticipate the heavy resources the major parties threw into this rare special election in District 72, which resulted in a 36 percent voter turnout. Foxall notes her campaign experience on the trail that voters are beyond fed up with the two-party system of politics. “Republicans and Democrats have been very much the status quo across the board. The more we run candidates, the more we are relevant,” Foxall said. Dennison sees hope in the many upcoming nonpartisan local and municipal races, with three school board seats up for election and municipal elections taking place this fall for North Port, Venice and Longboat Key. While most partisan and nonpartisan local races appear on the ballot, they do not draw much media attention, which has him liking the odds at victory. “The lower the position, the higher the success rate is going to be,” stated Dennison. The long game for Libertarians will involve outreach to the rising group of young voters who are not deeply entrenched in two-party politics or misled loyalties and may seriously consider what the Libertarian message has to offer. Dennison hopes that the anti-regulation and anti-restriction mindsey will resonate with voters and bring forth a fair audience. While noting that more of the voters locally are elderly, Dennison adds, “We have this massive clock of voters who are voting for the old parties or [just] because they don’t want the other party to win. A lot of that is going away or changing with the younger generations.”