The Nonpartisan Election: How Nicholas Sarwark Recognized the Libertarian Advantage

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Being Libertarian
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How great would it be to watch an electoral debate that was about policy rather than one that’s about who’s more obnoxious than the other? Something that may not be widely known is that many local political positions are nonpartisan. This means you don’t need to list your political party when you run and focus on issues that affect your own community. The truth is that cities have real problems that need addressing that aren’t as easily fixed on a Federal level. Things like public safety, homelessness, transportation, pensions, and city taxes are all issues that can have a major impact on your day to day life, arguably even more so than most Federal policies. People also seem to think, listen, and vote more rationally when they are hearing ideas on how a policy can affect their day to day life when they don’t have any initial bias by someone’s political party affiliation. National Chairman of the Libertarian Party, Nicholas Sarwark, is taking advantage of this during his race for Mayor of Phoenix.

According to NBC 12 News’ latest poll, viewers agreed that Nicholas Sarwark won the debate. Traditionally, Libertarians and other 3rd party candidates have a hard time winning partisan based elections. What Phoenix saw was someone that did not go in with a script, wasn’t paid off by big donors, had plans to resolve issues facing Phoenix, and had a clear understanding on how existing policies have affected the city. After seeing the results of the debate, which was strictly based on policy alone, it really makes you think what would happen if all elections had no requirement for political affiliation.

On September 6, 2018 Sarwark was endorsed by Barry Goldwater Jr. Goldwater stated “I am supporting Nicholas Sarwark for Mayor of Phoenix because I believe in his approach to fiscal responsibility, economic freedom, and individual liberty. Some of you may remember that my father got his start in politics on the Phoenix City Council. I am proud to endorse Nicholas Sarwark for Mayor. He is our best hope for the future of Phoenix.” Goldwater seems to understand that Libertarian influence is beneficial at all levels of government. Phoenix is also a major city and sustaining Libertarian policy there could show the rest of the country how much better a city can be without strict regulations. Major change can happen when they see successful policy done at a local level and people are more willing to listen when there are no parties attached to the candidate themselves.

All too often people get wrapped up about party lines and lose sight of what’s happening in their own front yard. Some ideas seem great until your water bill increases by 12% from ineffective policy making and your commute to work becomes 20 minutes longer because of the expensive new transportation system that did more harm than good. A renovated stadium is exciting until you realize that you and the rest of the city will be fronting the bill for a company that would not have any financial problem renovating their stadium themselves. Sarwark was honest about how the current policies have been affecting the community, including his own business, and it was a wakeup call for people that have been blindly following party lines without looking at how the policies were actually working.

Phoenix has issues that need resolving. Their water could be gone in 8 years. They’ve had a record number of police involved shootings and have actually surpassed the number of police involved shootings in Los Angeles. Pensions have been causing a deficit in the budget for several years. Homelessness has been dramatically increasing. Big companies are asking for tax payer funded subsidies. For all these problems Sarwark offered real solutions, based on Libertarian ideas, that can be accomplished by looking at the issue, reaching the root of the problem, and has a plan to get Phoenix back on a pathway to success.

Sarwark’s campaign is accepting donations, and the donate page can be found here.

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Being Libertarian

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