Libertarian candidates visit Capitol
Joe Exotic, the animal handler who owns a zoo and dipped his toe briefly into politics to run for president last year, is one of two announced Libertarian candidates for Oklahoma governor.
Exotic, whose name is Joseph Maldonado, joined other Libertarian Party candidates at the Oklahoma Capitol on Thursday.
Also running for governor is Rex Lawhorn, a small business management consultant from Tulsa. If they both file for office, they’ll face each other in the 2018 primary election.
Maldonado, who owns Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park, said he went on food stamps before running for governor to show how broken the system is. At one point, he held up the card.
“To show you how desperately it needs overhauled, I ride around in a limousine and I choose not to get paid, while the state of Oklahoma gives me a SNAP card,” he said, referencing the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
The program is funded by the federal government but administered by the states.
He criticized other state politicians, saying that lawmakers at the state Capitol don’t have a clue.
“I have some of the most amazing plans to overhaul some of these programs,” he said. “If we’re going to keep up with the rest of America, we have to legalize marijuana. Even though I don’t smoke it.”
Maldonado also referenced the Oklahoma Highway Patrol’s practice of parking in construction zones to slow traffic, saying he could save the state millions by, among other things, hiring a private security firm to sit in their cars with emergency lights on.
Lawhorn said the state’s budget situation should have been fixed two years ago.
“The example is in this building right now of why you need us,” he said of the Libertarian Party.
He said when he walked into the Capitol, he looked up. On the inner ring of the Capitol dome are names of individuals, families and companies that helped pay for the dome’s construction.
“That disgusts me. That horrifies me that our government has corporate sponsorship,” he said. “That is the exact reason you cannot vote for a Republican. You cannot support the Democratic Party. They’re the reason we got into this situation.”