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Libertarian candidate gives House race a new twist
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Published: October 29, 2008
With just days until the Nov. 4 election, most candidates are pounding the pavement, knocking on doors, and generally making sure that residents across the county, the state, and their country know their name and what they stand for. But not Jeffrey Ober.
Ober -- a Mooresville resident and the Libertarian candidate for the 95th district N.C. House of Representatives seat -- isn't even in the country. Instead, he's in Kenya, on a two-week mission trip that both his cell phone and his Web site say won't bring him back until November 5.
Although Ober isn't available in person, he has still maintained a presence this election season. Ober campaign signs dot the landscape in Iredell County; the campaign's Web site offers news about Ober, including position statements, endorsements from organizations such as Bikers of Lesser Tolerance of North Carolina and recognitions such as the 4-star rating given to him by Grass Roots North Carolina, a gun rights organization.
According to the Web site, Ober, who joined the ballot in July, is a graduate of Mitchell Community College, UNCC, and Nova Southeastern University who currently works as a university instructor and a professional photographer. A member of Peninsula Baptist Church, Ober is married with two children and also served 5 years in the Marines.
Ober says on his Web site that he is a strong proponent of more educational freedom, protection for citizens against eminent domain, and for heading to Raleigh not to get more for Iredell, but to take back what he says are some of its residents' essential freedoms.
"I will always attempt to take the position that allows the most freedom and liberty for the most people," he says. "I assure you that if you vote for me to represent Mooresville in the North Carolina House, I will work hard to increase your freedom."
Although Ober is certainly not the most visible candidate this election season, he has joined the ranks of other Libertarians who are struggling to make this third party more recognizable to voters who have long been accustomed to a two-party system.
Brian Irving, communications director for the Libertarian Party of North Carolina, said Friday that Ober is one of about 30 Libertarian candidates vying for seats this year across the state, not including the candidates in national races, such as Bob Barr and Wayne Allyn Root, who are running for President and Vice President, respectively.
"We'd have more, but we got started late," said Irving.
All of the state's candidates, said Irving, have agreed to run on a platform of the same issues that gubernatorial candidate Mike Munger is also promoting. Issues such as opposition to forced annexation; curtailing the concept of eminent domain; more educational freedom (including less restrictions on charter schools and voucher programs); discontinuing the subsidizing the costs of private corporate business in North Carolina; lower taxes and opposition to the death penalty are all at the forefront.
"We're raising issues the other parties won't raise," he said. "Victory in politics means getting your views out there and getting people talking about the issues rather than trading jabs at one another."
One of the biggest issues, said Irving, is one the party has approached head-on: The difficulty in getting a third party added to the ballot in North Carolina.
"We want to restore free elections in North Carolina by essentially lowering any restrictions to get on the ballot," he said.
Across the country and the state, said Irving, "the Democrats and Republicans control the system." Getting on the ballot, he said, is "very difficult. It cost us more than a quarter million dollars. It basically exhausted all our resources and our energy."
The fight, however, said Irving is important, because it gets Libertarians on the ballot and their issues into the public discourse. It's especially important in races such as the one for the 95th district House seat, he said, because if no candidate had been added, Ober's opponent – local lawyer Grey Mills, a Republican – would have run unopposed.
Mills, who beat three-term incumbent Rep. Karen Ray in the May 2008 primary to win the Republican slot on the ballot, declined to comment Friday on his feelings on Ober's candidacy, but he did say that he is confident in how his own campaign has been going.
"I feel good about the campaign and excited about the support I've received," he said. Mills said he has been putting out his own yard signs and direct mailers, attending many events, working the polls, and being visible during early voting. "We try to be out there as much as we can," he said.
Mills did say, however, that he is glad to see people with different beliefs exercising their right to be involved in the election process. In addition to Mills and Ober, Republican Marc Fasano qualified as a write-in candidate for the 95th district seat by obtaining 100 signatures. His name will not be on the ballot, but will be counted if written in by voters.
"I'm fine with anybody running, with any party," said Mills. "That's part of being a democracy. That's part of living in America. We've got the best process in the world. Whoever wants to run, can run."
Irving said that what most Libertarian candidates are hoping for this Nov. 4 is not necessarily a win, but one magic number: a 2 percent showing in the polls.
"All we need is 2 percent, and if we get that, (the party will) stay on the ballot (for the next election)," he said. "If we get 2 percent in any of those races, then we will consider that a victory."
For more information on the Libertarian Party of North Carolina, visit www.lpnc.org. For information on Jeffrey Ober, visit www.ober.org. For more information on Grey Mills, visit www.mills2008.org.
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