LIBERTARIAN PARTY CANDIDATES FOR GOVERNOR, LT. GOVERNOR SEEK TO MAKE DENT
IN ELECTION RESULTS

Libertarian Redpath Hopes To Beat Third-party Curse

Photo Caption: Libertarian governor candidate William Redpath, middle, is
campaigning for less government involvement in Americans'lives. He has
proposed abolishing the sales tax, ending laws that prohibit drug use, and
lowering state spending.

When Virginians enter the voting booths in November to choose their next
governor, many may be surprised to see three names on the ballot.

Most will recognize Republican candidate Mark Earley and Democratic
candidate Mark Warner, but they may not know that William Redpath and Gary
Reams are running for governor and lieutenant governor on the Libertarian
Party ticket.

With the election fast approaching, the Libertarian Party, founded in 1972,
is using its limited resources to inform voters of its platforms and
candidates. As of Aug. 31, Redpath has only raised about $16,000 for his
bid for governor while Warner and Earley have raised millions.

Gubernatorial candidate William Redpath is a vice president of consulting
at the BIA Financial Network in Chantilly. His main campaign issues are
education and transportation.

One of Redpath's ideas is to end general fund subsidization for universities.

"I'm not against education, but some people who go to Virginia state
colleges tend to be more affluent,"Redpath said. "I don't think middle
class and less well-off people should have to pay for the wealthier people
to go to school."

Instead, Redpath supports giving parents a Universal Tuition Tax Credit
that they could use to send their children to any college in the world.

To alleviate Virginia's traffic problems, Redpath proposes abolishing the
retail sales tax that pay for public roads and exacting user fees directly
from drivers, through mechanisms such as tolls on high occupancy lanes.

He also supports ending laws that restrict the use of drugs, lowering
taxes, and changing the state voting system so that third party candidates
have better chances to get elected.

"I think the single-member legislative districts, where the person with the
most votes wins, is frustrating for third parties and for the voters,"
Redpath said. "People feel disenfranchised our voting system boxes out
everyone except the people from the two parties."

Redpath's platform reflects the main message of the Libertarian Party of
Virginia: "Government is best that governs least."

Other examples of Libertarian platforms are abolishing the income tax,
supporting a free market economy unregulated by the federal government and
dramatically lowering state spending.

In contrast to Redpath, Reams, the director of quality for NEC, an
international telecommunications supplier, is running a much more
unconventional campaign. His entire platform for lieutenant governor
against Republican candidate Jay Katzen and Democrat Tim Kaine is a
referendum on marijuana prohibition called the "Reams Reeferendum."

According to Reams spokesman Jim Turney, Reams wants people to reconsider
current marijuana prohibition laws in Virginia.

"The number of arrests for simple possession go up every year. It's the
wrong direction to deny medical help to people who are sick, and it's the
wrong direction to deny farmers the ability to grow a valuable cash crop,"
Turney said.

Libertarians hope that Reams' controversial platform will help establish
the party in Virginia, where historically, third parties have not fared well.

"The lieutenant governor position is a ceremonial position and so we feel
this race is an appropriate and effective place to have a proxy for a
referendum," Turney said.

Second-year College student Virginia Quist a member of the University
Libertarians, Students for Reams and Students for Individual Liberty said
many college students would be interested in Reams' message because of
current laws which restrict financial aid.

"If a student gets a marijuana conviction, he or she is automatically
denied loans. If someone gets a rape or murder conviction, it is not
automatic," Quist said.

But Libertarians say they have had trouble getting their message to
Virginians because of exclusions from gubernatorial debates and polls.

Quist said she thought many people would support reconsidering marijuana
laws, but the party's lower profile status makes it difficult to advertise
that cause.

"I think reforming marijuana laws has popular support, but it's hard for
the Libertarians to contact people," she said. "We don't have lots of money
available like the two big parties do."

Turney said media outlets largely have ignored Libertarian candidates. Both
candidates were excluded from debates with their major party opponents,
which puts voters at a disadvantage because they can't learn about all
three candidates, he said.

Redpath said he was excluded from the various gubernatorial debates by
groups such as the Virginia Capital Correspondents' Association, the
University's Center for Governmental Studies, the NAACP and Republican
candidate Mark Earley.

"They give reasons like you're not getting 15 percent in the polls,"
Redpath said. "Earley excluded me from the Wednesday [Oct. 3rd] debate."

However, Earley spokesperson Yooree Oh said the host of the debate Virginia
Commonwealth University neglected to invite Redpath to the debate, not Earley.

"Earley would have welcomed the participation of third-party candidates" if
he would have known Redpath wanted to particpate in time," Oh said.

Turney added that the Libertarian candidates have not been getting good
numbers in polls, often because polls do not include them as an option.

"People have called me and told me that when they were called for a poll,
the pollsters didn't even mention Redpath or Reams," he said.

The party had to fight to be named on the Virginia ballot. After the
candidates each collected more than 20,000 signatures from registered
Virginia voters this summer, they were allowed to be included.

They also filed a lawsuit against the Commonwealth to have an "L" printed
next to their names on the ballot, rather than being labeled simply as
independents.

If Reams receives at least 10 percent of the state vote for lieutenant
governor, the state officially will recognize the Libertarian Party, said
James W. Lark, National Libertarian Party chairman and a University systems
engineering professor.

"It's not likely, but it's possible," he said. "Reams has done hardly any
TV or radio ads but he has been showing up in polls lately."

Political experts agree that third parties generally have a hard time
making a noticeable impact on elections.

Political Science Prof. Robert Holsworth, director of the Center for Public
Policy at Virginia Commonwealth University, said the role of the
Libertarian Party in Virginia's gubernatorial election is limited.

"They have a relatively limited impact in terms of both poll numbers and
how they affect the candidates," Holsworth said.

Holsworth said the Libertarian Party does not have a real chance to grow
because third-party candidates must have an independent constituency or fan
base in order to be successful in elections.

"It's very difficult for a new party to compete, especially when the two
major parties are as established as they are here," Holsworth said. "If a
party attracts a standard bearer with a name, money or notoriety then the
public will consider them." H. Ross Perot, 1992 presidential candidate, and
successful 1998 Minnesota gubernatorial candidate Jesse Ventura, both of
the Reform party are two examples.

Richard Winger, editor of Ballot Access News, an online newsletter
dedicated to getting third parties on state ballots, said third parties are
a vital force in some parts of the country, including California, New
Hampshire and especially Vermont. In Burlington, Vt., both the current and
previous mayors are members of the state's Progressive Coalition, a
successful third party. Also, one of Vermont's congressmen, Bernie Sanders,
is an independent.

To promote awareness and visibility for the Libertarian cause, members of
the local Jefferson Area Libertarians sponsored a protest against the
current marijuana laws at the Downtown Mall on Sept. 28. They also hosted a
screening of the movie "Dazed and Confused" at the University Amphitheater
that night.

J. David Gillespie, author of "Politics at the Periphery: Third Parties in
Two-Party America," said that right now is the best time for third-party
growth since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

"Despite prosperity, there is general disaffection with politics as usual.
The Clinton scandals and the bad economy are some of the things that make
people consider other options," Gillespie said.