Libertarian Gubernatorial Nominee Kathie Glass Chasing Tea Party Voters

by: Karl-Thomas Musselman

Thu Jul 15, 2010 at 11:07 PM CDT

Kathie Glass, the Libertarian nominee for Texas governor, will speak at the Southeast Texas Tea Party event at 6:30 pm on Thursday, July 15 at Cowboy Reds, 1920 Nederland Ave, Nederland, TX.  "I am looking forward to reaching out to the people of southeast Texas, just as I connected with the folks from the hill country when I debated Bill White last week in Kerrville," said Ms. Glass.  "Texans see what is being done by Washington, D.C. to take away our freedoms.  They are looking for a governor who understands this and will act to resist those attacks".

Texas Libertarians have a decent amount of overlap with the Tea Party. The concept of limited taxes, small government, and states rights blend into both "party" platforms. And politically it makes sense for Glass to try to tap these voters. If Tea Party folks really want to throw all the bums out but won't vote for a Democrat (because only about 5% of Tea Party members claim to be former Democrats), then they should vote Libertarian. Sure, Tea Party folks can be unpredictable, like calling the NAACP a racist organization or being supportive of the overturning of the Defense of Marriage Act.  But if Glass manages to get some of these voters as well as Debra Medina Republicans, she very well may be able to increase the statewide Libertarian share by a couple points at the expense of Rick Perry.