Tennessee Libertarians’ uphill battle is made harder by extreme caucus
Lemichael Wilson, the Libertarian nominnee for Tennessee governor, poses with his campaign sign. (Courtesy Lemichael Wilson)
Incumbent Republican Bill Lee and Democratic challenger Jason Martin aren’t the only candidates for Tennessee governor on the November ballot, but they’re the only ones whose political party will be next to their names.
The Libertarian Party has a candidate, too. Lemichael Wilson of Memphis is running a write-in campaign and hoping to raise awareness of what Libertarians say are unfair ballot access rules controlled by the “duopoly” of Republicans and Democrats.
But ballot access isn’t the only obstacle to Wilson’s campaign.
The Libertarian Party, both nationally and in Tennessee, has been taken over by a group that critics call undemocratic, homophobic and friendly to white supremacists.
A party takeover
That criticism of the changes in the Libertarian Party come not just from people outside the party. It also comes from party members — and from Wilson himself, who nonetheless remains the party’s state vice chairman.
The Libertarian Party was overtaken earlier this year by an antidemocratic group known as the Mises Caucus, which includes members hostile to transgender rights and friendly to white supremacists.
Most, but not all, of the Tennessee Libertarian Party’s delegates to the national convention this year were members of the caucus.
“They weren’t actually a force in the state party until probably 2020,” said Joshua Eakle, who chaired the Libertarian Party of Tennessee from early 2019 to early 2021. “I’m a lot more outspoken against them, so they really didn’t like me.”
He said Mises Caucus won roughly 10%-15% of the state’s delegates in 2020, and by 2021, it was closer to 40%.
The rise of the caucus has caused some traditional Libertarians to quit the party, accusing the caucus of sabotaging the party in an attempt to get Donald Trump elected president in 2024.
These changes the Mises Caucus are bringing to the Libertarian Party are also driving away its own gubernatorial candidate. The caucus endorsed Wilson, but he is not a member and has refused to identify with any faction within the party. He said he supported some of its ideas but denounced racism and antisemitism.
“This Party has broken my spirit,” Wilson wrote on Twitter on Sept. 14. “I was once proud to express my connection to the Libertarian Party and its affiliations. I don’t feel that anymore. The Party should be a welcoming place for Liberty-minded individuals; instead, it is alienating and abusive.”
Mises Caucus: democracy ‘is mob rule’
The Mises Caucus, named for Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises, took control of the party at its national convention earlier this year.
Unlike more mainstream libertarians, many of whom describe themselves as classical liberals, the Mises Caucus is more radical. Traditionally, the Libertarian Party has supported LGBTQ rights, abortion rights and immigration, but the Mises Caucus has sought to appeal to more far-right Republicans. For instance, it removed a section of its platform that said bigotry was “irrational and repugnant.”
“We tend to push out people who are a little bit more socially conservative,” said the national party chair, Angela McArdle, according to the conservative Reason magazine. “And I think that there’s room in the party for people who are libertine and socially conservative. And I would like them to feel that way.”
The Southern Poverty Law Center, which monitors hate groups, has flagged the Mises Caucus. “High-profile (Mises Caucus) members espouse hateful rhetoric and collaborate with white nationalists and individuals linked to former President Donald Trump,” reported Hatewatch, a publication of the SPLC.
One of those members is a leader within the Libertarian Party of New Hampshire, who tweeted last year that taxation is more immoral than the mass murder of trans people.
“These are the kind of people that they have in their orbit,” Eakle said.
Critics are also concerned that the influence of the Mises Caucus has led the Libertarian Party to oppose democracy.
When President Joe Biden posted a one-word tweet Sept. 1 — “democracy” — the national Libertarian Party responded, “...is mob rule that endangers individual rights.”
“Politically speaking, I think they have a tendency of pandering to reactionary and conspiratorial elements,” Eakle said. “They’re also very clearly antidemocratic.”
Eakle said the caucus has led to the party hemorrhaging members, losing money and facing frequent PR crises.
“They continue this piss-in-the-pool strategy, and people are just stepping away,” he said. “We’re already seeing that happen.”
Ballot challenges
Even separate from the difficulties that have come with the Mises Caucus, Wilson — like all third-party candidates — faces a very uphill battle to win the race for governor.
In fact, even getting on the ballot is a major challenge for third-parties in Tennessee.
If you’re a Democrat, a Republican or an independent in Tennessee, and you want to run for governor, you simply have to collect at least 25 signatures to petition the state to get on the ballot.
But the hurdle is much higher if, for instance, you’re a Libertarian, a Green or a member of Andrew Yang’s new Forward Party and you want your party affiliation next to your name on the ballot.
Third parties have to get more than 56,000 signatures to be recognized — a bar more than 2,000 times higher than that for independents or members of the two major parties.
These other candidates have to collect a number of signatures equal to 2.5% of the votes in the last gubernatorial election. Since 2,243,294 Tennesseans voted for governor in 2018, other parties need to collect north of 56,000 signatures to be recognized — 56,083 to be exact.
For perspective, that’s just a bit less than the population of Bartlett.
“We have some of the worst ballot access laws in the entire country,” said Eakle, who lobbied unsuccessfully for a law that would have lowered the barrier to ballot access in 2021.
“It’s always Republicans and Democrats working together to keep it from passing,” he said.
The Libertarians, who consider the major parties a “duopoly,” didn’t even attempt to collect that many signatures this year. Party chair Dave Jones — who is not a member of the Mises Caucus — said because of the likelihood of some signatures being thrown out, they would have to collect up to 90,000 signatures.
That’s why the party is hoping to raise awareness of the issue of ballot access through a write-in campaign for Wilson.
“Most people are alarmed when I tell them about the number of signatures we’re required to get,” Wilson said.
“The duopoly should not be able to eliminate recognizable competition,” Wilson added. “And the voting options of the people should not be marginalized to the individuals the duopoly wants to represent (them).”
Jones said the two major parties have a “stranglehold” on the ballot and therefore on ideological choices. He said he wants everyone from the Green Party, to communists, to the “Birthday Party” to have ballot access.
“I think it’s very important that we have those different voices on the ballot to be able to give people more options and a better choice,” Jones said in an interview, saying he thinks most people aren’t members of one of the major parties. “But they’re kind of forced in those lanes.”
Jones added, “I want their voices heard, even if I don’t agree with them.”
Lemichael Wilson: No more cash bail, corporate welfare or public education
Of course, ballot access is not the only issue on which Wilson is running.
Lemichael Wilson
His platform includes a number of items under the umbrella of criminal justice reform, including the restoration of voting rights to ex-offenders, ending civil asset forfeiture, ending cash bail and legalizing cannabis.
He also wants to reduce or eliminate taxes, with the grocery tax at the top of his list. He said he is against abortion personally, but that it’s not the state’s business. He believes gun rights are “absolute.”
“I would consider myself to be more of a generalist or a moderate Libertarian,” he said.
His only campaign finance disclosure, filed July 20, states that he raised $10,439, spent $5,117 and ended up with $5,322 on hand.
Wilson, 47, was born in Memphis, but he grew up and spent most of his life in Chicago. He ran for mayor in 2019 after moving back in 2015.
He worked for Chicago Public Schools as a multimedia specialist and as assistant to the dean of instruction with the City Colleges of Chicago, according to his campaign site. He founded Salad Expressions 27 years ago; he’s a managing partner and said his sons now own the chain.
He said he opposed Medicaid expansion and the Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement Act (TISA).
“As a Libertarian,” he said, “I don’t believe in public-funded education.”
He said he hadn’t formed an opinion on “truth in sentencing,” and he opposed the state’s allocation of $500 million to help the Tennessee Titans build a new stadium in Nashville.
“I don’t do football, I don’t like football, and I won’t be attending any football games,'' he said. “So I don’t see why my tax dollars have to be invested in that.”
But the issues Wilson is running on don’t change the fact that he is disillusioned by the current direction of the Libertarian Party.
“The infighting is too much,” Wilson wrote in his Twitter post. “Let me be clear: I will always embrace Liberty values. It’s the core of my beliefs — beliefs I embraced before officially affiliating with the Party. I will continue to support the Liberty-movement working towards smaller government and increased individual freedom.
“As a candidate, I feel abandoned. Endorsements without any tangible support/resources is disheartening and unconscionable. I now see why few individuals run as Libertarians.”
Topics
Lemichael Wilson 2022 Governor's race Bill Lee Mises CaucusIan Round
Ian Round is The Daily Memphian’s state government reporter based in Nashville. He came to Tennessee from Maryland, where he reported on local politics for Baltimore Brew. He earned a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Maryland in December 2019.
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