Libertarian candidates Patrick Wilbur and Rob Hodgkinson visited Emporia Wednesday morning as part of a tour to raise the party’s profile.
“People aren’t happy with the Republicans and the Democrats,” said Hodgkinson, a candidate for Kansas Secretary of State and the chair of the Libertarian Party of Kansas. “They want an option and we’re interested in giving them an option.”
Libertarian ideals are based on having no more government regulation than necessary to protect the public. That could include support for free trade, opposition to a national ID card, proposals to cut government spending and taxes, or even the position that what two adults do in the bedroom is their own business.
“We may disagree on the details,” said Wilbur, a candidate for the Kansas Insurance Commissioner’s office and the party’s vice-chair. “But we don’t disagree that government is too big, we need to lower taxes and our civil liberties are being poached.”
Traditionally, the party has been considered a “protest vote” in Kansas, but one without much hope of winning. Since becoming chair 18 months ago, Hodgkinson has been trying to change that. The Kansas Libertarians have started other groups beyond the party’s Wichita core and now have 25 candidates running for office, including 10 for statewide office.
“A large majority of them, if elected, would do a good job,” Hodgkinson said. “Now, a large majority of them won’t get elected. But when we go recruiting in ’08, we can keep finding still better candidates.”
Wilbur, 40, of Lawrence, entered the insurance commissioner’s race partly to help small businesses facing high health insurance costs.
“We’re crushing small business right now,” he said. “These businesses can’t offer health coverage because they’re being crushed by regulations.”
Some of the regulations are necessary to protect consumers, Wilbur said, but the various state and federal rules need to be reviewed to see if they can be made more rational. He also said he favors encouraging health savings accounts — an idea promoted by incumbent Sandy Praeger — which allow employees to set aside money for health care and roll over unused funds to the next year.
It’s not a picture that’s going to improve immediately, Wilbur said.
“This is going to take a while,” he said. “It’s taken decades to get into this mess and it’ll take a while to get out of it.”
Hodgkinson, 47, of Stillwell, has worked in computer and network technology and said he was glad to see the secretary of state’s office becoming more digital under incumbent Ron Thornburgh. That, he said, allows greater productivity at less cost.
However, Hodgkinson parts ways with Thornburgh on the issue of business franchise fees.
“There was a bill in the House that would have eliminated franchise fees in Kansas,” Hodgkinson said. “Ron lobbied against it. I would have done the opposite. ...
“Small business is what drives the economy in Kansas. We have our Sprints and our Boeings, but small business is what makes it all work. Anything we can do to reduce fees can only help that.”
He added that after 12 years, it may be time to put a new face with fresh enthusiasm into the office.
Although not an officeholder, Hodgkinson did play a role in this year’s legislative session. He helped craft an amendment that would limit the state’s power to claim private land through eminent domain. The amendment was formally proposed by Rep. Frank Miller, R-Independence, but fell three votes short of House passage.
Hodgkinson said he hopes to see the amendment return in the 2007 session. Meanwhile, he’s continuing to try to build the party.
“There are a lot of people that want to run, but can’t run as a Republican and don’t want to run as a Democrat,” Hodgkinson said. “I want them to know where to find me.”