Libertarians tell House candidate to drop out

The Benton County Libertarian Party called on its District 87 state House of Representatives candidate to drop out of the race Tuesday morning after learning of anti-gay comments made to an out-of-state resident on Facebook, the party said in a statement.

“The likelihood of a fag catching HIV is 1000% more likely then [sic] any straight person,” Justin Jones of Elm Springs said during a discussion of blood donations, according to a screen shot of comments taken by Myah Baeza. Baeza is a resident of Hawaii, a gun rights advocate and Army veteran originally from the Dallas area, according to her Facebook page.

Baeza objected to the language used, according to the screen shot. Jones’ reply, according to the screen shot, was: “Fags are disgusting.”

Michael J. Kalagias, chairman of the Benton County Libertarian Party, released the statement on behalf of the party calling on Jones to “immediately abandon his campaign.”

“The Benton County Libertarian Party absolutely condemns the statement and sentiment of his offensive and derogatory comments,” the statement said. “His expressed opinion is entirely his own and is starkly in contradiction with the Libertarian belief in the rights of individuals to pursue life, liberty, and happiness however they see fit so long as they do not infringe on the rights of others.”

Jones emailed a statement to the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette late Tuesday afternoon. It said, “Effective immediately I will be suspending my campaign for State Representative of District 87.”

Jones’ campaign web page was taken down Tuesday afternoon. Earlier in the day, it carried a message dated Tuesday. That message said in part: “In response to the backlash caused by the media, it has been brought to my attention that I should suspend my campaign. After a phone call with the chair of the Benton County Libertarian Party, Michael J. Kalagias, I informed him, that I will continue my candidacy for State Representative. My candidacy is about the people of Elm Springs, Siloam Springs, Springdale, and Tontitown. My campaign will continue to fight on the behalf of District 87.”

The District 87 seat is held by Robin Lundstrum, R-Elm Springs. She faces Jones and Kelly Scott Unger, a Democrat, in the Nov. 6 general election.