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CEDAR RAPIDS The politics-as-usual approach to state government by Republicans and Democrats is unsustainable and hurting vulnerable Iowans, according to Jake Porter, a Libertarian who is joining the race for governor.

Were having this huge budget crisis, and I dont see other candidates proposing real changes, Porter said Tuesday.

Instead, Statehouse lawmakers and the governor are using the budget as a weapon, according to Porter, who will formally announce his candidacy on The Simon Conway Show on WHO Radio between 4 and 7 p.m. Thursday.

Theyve decided were having a budget crisis, so were going to cut the services people use most, whether its mental health services, sexual abuse hotlines, domestic abuse shelters (or) hearing aids for kids, Porter said.

Theyre not actually going after any of the waste that could easily be cut. Theyre going after the things that are going to hurt the most people, probably as an excuse to raise the sales tax next year.

Porter, 29, a Council Bluffs business consultant long active in the Libertarian Party, previously ran for secretary of state. He thinks his views and priorities are more closely aligned with voters than either the Democratic or Republican platform.

He wants to make medical cannabis available, restore voting rights for felons who have served their time, end corporate welfare, return Medicaid to its pre-privatization status and phase out the state sales tax.

He opposes corporate welfare on libertarian principles. Its wrong, Porter said, to ask Iowans to pay millions of dollars to financially sound corporations. He singled out the Research Activities Credit that refunds tax money to corporations even if they have no tax liability.

Theyve put the tax bill on the smallest Iowans and smallest companies, he said. I dont think the state should favor one business over another.

Porter called turning over Medicaid management to private companies an example of big government cronyism by former Gov. Terry Branstads administration. He would return management responsibility to the Department of Human Services and then make improvements.

The state has messed around for far too long while people who could benefit from medical cannabis have suffered, Porter said. While he would favor legalization of marijuana for recreational use, I dont think the Legislature is going to pass that.

Despite the changes the Legislature has made, current law makes it difficult, nearly impossible, for Iowans who need cannabidiol to get it, he said.

As a Libertarian, Porter said, he would have the advantage of being able to work with and around the major political parties by using the governors bully pulpit to open a dialogue with voters and pressure lawmakers to act on his priorities.

As governor, you can go around and talk about issues and you can pound the issues until (lawmakers) basically have to do something about it, he said.

Porter said his campaign website, jakeporter.org, will go live Thursday afternoon.

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Libertarian gubernatorial candidate calls for 'real changes ... - Quad City Times

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NorthJersey Published 4:42 p.m. ET July 18, 2017 | Updated 4:42 p.m. ET July 18, 2017

Peter Rohrman(Photo: Mitsu Yasukawa/ Staff Photographer)

Regarding Residents invite gubernatorial hopefuls (Page A4, July 14):

Is there any reason why this story did not mention the Libertarian Party candidate Peter Rohrman for governor, who is on the ballot, in your voting block article today? Is there a reason why the media continually give plenty of free press to the Democrat and Republican candidates and yet rarely mentions any other choices on the ballot? The Record should be informing readers about all the choices on the ballot for governor, not just those from the two parties that have created all of the problems our state currently faces?

Please provide information on the real choices for governor in New Jersey, not just the two disaster parties.

Mike Mazzeo

Waldwick, July 14

Read or Share this story: https://njersy.co/2vfSiXm

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Letter: Give Libertarian candidates more coverage - NorthJersey.com

Wall Street Journal (subscription)

Thoreau Best Fits With Libertarian Ideas Wall Street Journal (subscription) Thoreau Best Fits With Libertarian Ideas. Crispin Sartwell notes that the traditional, left/right paradigm has no place for political philosopher Henry David Thoreau. July 18, 2017 12:17 p.m. ET. Save Article. Sign In to Save Subscribe to WSJ. Text ...

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Thoreau Best Fits With Libertarian Ideas - Wall Street Journal (subscription)

Brian Early bearly@seacoastonline.com @briantemprano

DOVER Another Ward 1 resident has declared his candidacy to fill the state representative seat that was vacated last month with a resignation.

Brian Shields, an active member of the Libertarian Party, announced his intention to file for the special election as a Libertarian to fill the seat held by Isaac Epstein before he resigned last month.

Im looking forward to this election, Shields said in a statement. Ward 1 hasnt had a real choice for a representative in quite a few years. I am ready to get out there, shake some hands, meet new people and talk about what the people of Dover need from their representation in Concord.

Shields said he became inspired to run for the seat from the passion of the three elected members of House of Representatives who recently switched to the Libertarian Party. Shields was the communication director for the House Libertarian Caucus.

How can you not want to be a part of legislation that will change lives for the better? Shields said in a press release. The ability to vote on bills that will give people more choice in how to live their lives, save them from higher taxes, and protect their civil liberties? Who doesnt want to be a part of that?

Shields, 37, is currently a student at Southern New Hampshire University working to obtain a communications degree. He also works as an in-store representative for News America Marketing and is a member of the membership committee for the Libertarian Party of New Hampshire and is the vice chair Libertarian Party of Seacoast New Hampshire, a local LPNH affiliate covering Rockingham and Strafford counties. The state's Libertarian Party achieved ballot access in 2016 when gubernatorial candidate Max Abramson achieved more than 4 percent of the total vote.

Shields joins Casey Conley, who announced his intention to run for the seat as a Democrat.

Dover City Manager Michael Joyal said in an email on Monday that the City Council will vote a resolution next week to petition the governor and executive council to hold a special election in the fall to fill the vacancy. With the approval of the governor and council, Joyal said the filing dates for interested candidates would be between Aug. 7-11. If there is more a primary is needed, a primary will occur on Oct. 3, and the general election will then occur on Nov. 21. If not, the general election will be held on Oct. 3, he said.

Ward 1 is comprised part of downtown north of the Cocheco River and runs north to Glendale Avenue and east to the Rollinsford border. It includes neighborhoods off Broadway, Central Avenue and Sixth Street.

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Brian Shields announces run for state rep seat - Foster's Daily Democrat

The race for governor has more than two candidates, although the third man in the race is getting far less attention. Michael Pope spent some time with him on the campaign trail.

Michael Pope has this profile on Cliff Hyra, the Libertarian candidate for governor.

Outside the Clarendon Metro station in Arlington on a sweltering afternoon, a candidate for governor is struggling against the summertime heat to get the attention of voters.

Hi Im Cliff Hyra. Im the Libertarian candidate for governor of Virginia.

Oh yeah?

Yes sir. Im running for a more inclusive and innovative Virginia. I want to reform the tax and regulatory system. I want to reform the criminal justice system, and make things more fair for everybody here in Virginia."

"Thats cool, man.

Cliff Hyra will be on the ballot statewide as a candidate for governor. But you may not have heard of him. The patent attorney from Northern Virginia is running as a Libertarian, a party he describes as conservative on fiscal issues and liberal on social issues. If elected governor he says he would use the power of the office to ramp down the War on Drugs.

Thats something I could do immediately as soon as I came into office I could order law enforcement to deprioritize marijuana use. I dont want to see anybody whos arrested only for marijuna use. Its certainly a very poor use of scare resources.

He would also take aim at the criminal justice system.

The sentences that are handed down are very often disproportionate. If you look at surveys showing the levels of use between African American and other communities and then the levels of arrests are very disproportionate.

The last Libertarian candidate to run for governor was Robert Sarvis, who ran against Terry McAuliffe and Ken Cuccinelli. He did better than any other third party candidate in the last 40 years. But that still wasnt enough to crack 10%.

Sarvis was out campaigning with Hyra. The problem is that we dont actually have a level playing field. We have to spend a lot of effort just to get on the ballot. Once were on the ballot, theres an effort to keep us out of the debates.

Sarvissays he should have been included in the debates. I was polling at 10%. I got 145,000 votes and I still wasnt allowed in the debates, and I think thats a tragedy.

"If this race is as close as I think it could be, then the Libertarian candidate could play the spoiler and in that case he would hurt Ed Gillespie."

So far, Hyra has yet to receive an invitation to any of the debates this year. The Virginia Bar Association will be conducting the first debate this weekend, and they wont be including Hyra because he doesnt have the necessary polling numbers and he hasnt raised enough money.

But Christopher Newport Universitys Quentin Kidd says that doesnt mean he wont have an influence over the outcome of the election.

"Remember the last time Ed Gillespie came within 17,000 votes of beating Mark Warner. If this is a 17,000 vote race then you could be in a situation where the Libertarian candidate does in fact play the spoiler.

If this race is as close as I think it could be, then the Libertarian candidate could play the spoiler and in that case he would hurt Ed Gillespie.

On some issues, Hyra and Gillespie arent all that far apart. Take the issue of expanding Medicaid.

Expansion is forever. Its almost a poison pill because once you get that expansion its really hard to roll it back."

And then there's abortion.

In general, on abortion issues I would defer to the legislature. So the exception to that would be if theres something that I feel is unconstitutional.

But then theres the controversial issues of the pipelines.

Well Im opposed to the pipelines, and Im opposed to them mainly for property rights reasons. You have the federal government, and theyre taking private property and its for the benefit of a private company, Dominion Power.

Back on the campaign trail in Clarendon, Hyra is making an elevator pitch at the top of an escalator.

I think its very unfortunate some of the rhetoric that weve seen recently thats been very discouraging to people who want to visit here from overseas. But I think they are a wonderful asset, and I hope that we can reverse the trend in that respect."

Thats cool, man.

OK, very nice meeting you.

I really hope you make it.

More here:
Meet Your Libertarian Candidate for Governor, Cliff Hyra - WVTF