Libertarian Party candidates launch drives for signatures
Angela Pence traveled to Catoosa County recently for a town hall hosted by her political opponent, U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Rome.
The Walker County small business owner and mother of eight — yes, eight children who aren’t yet teens — was chosen at the Libertarian Party of Georgia’s convention this month to run for the 14th Congressional District seat.
Pence said she wasn’t impressed with Greene’s answer to her question about ballot access for third party candidates. But the controversial congresswoman was pleasant even after Pence introduced herself, and willingly posed for a photo.
“I said ‘well, let’s get this picture because I’m still on Twitter,’” Pence said, a joking reference to Greene’s ban from the social media platform for spreading misinformation about COVID-19.
“She smiled ... and as I was leaving, she said she wished me luck,” Pence said. “I told her I’m going to need it with the thousands of signatures I need to get.”
Georgia law requires thirdparty and independent candidates for the U.S. House to get signatures from at least 5% of the registered voters in their district to be put on the ballot for the Nov. 8 general election. A lawsuit filed by the Libertarian Party brought that down to 1%, but on Jan. 5 the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals restored the higher threshold.
Statewide candidates only have to get signatures from 1%, and the party has a full slate running this year.
Libertarian Party of Georgia nominees are Chase Oliver for U.S. Senate; Shane Hazel for governor; Ryan Graham for lieutenant governor; Ted Metz for secretary of state; Martin Cowen for attorney general; John Counts for agriculture commissioner; Danny Dolan for insurance commissioner; Ken Pullin for state school superintendent; Christine Austin for labor commissioner; and Colin McKinney for Public Service Commission.
The party hasn’t had a problem getting enough signatures for its statewide candidates, but — with the higher threshold and smaller pool — has never collected enough to field a House candidate.
For Pence, that’s roughly 23,000 hand-written and verified signatures from the 14th District, with a deadline of July 12. It’s a mission she’s determined to complete.
“I have a team that is dedicated to going out and helping me . ... Thankfully, the Libertarian Party has a phenomenal group of volunteers, and people there have been especially supportive of me,” she said.
That’s partly because she’s spent years helping other LP candidates. She chaired the Northwest Georgia branch from 2016 until her nomination, when she stepped down into the vice chair slot. It’s also because, even though she and her military husband have moved around a lot, they’re back where she was born and raised — and she’s active in her community.
“They know me,” Pence said. “I don’t want to say I’m wellliked, but generally I am,” she added with a laugh. “I have a lot of friends in the area.”
In addition to volunteers going door-to-door and petitions being hosted at several businesses owned by friends, Pence said she’ll be holding signing events around the district.
She’ll be in downtown Rome next Saturday, Feb. 5, from 4-7 p.m. at Dark Side of the Moon, 236 Broad St. And she expects to net more through her website, AngelaPence.com.
“People can contact me. I’ll travel for signatures,” she said.
Ballot access was a driving force behind her decision to run this year, Pence said, along with her distaste for Greene. She said she believes she’s a strong challenger because Libertarian principles resonate more with voters in the region than do Democratic issues.
“I really don’t feel Marjorie represents my district well. Unfortunately, because of her rhetoric, we’ve been painted out to be a district of racist homophobic folks ... To have the rest of the United States look at us like that is deeply disturbing. It made me very sad,” she said.