Libertarian candidates seek Pompeo seat
Three Libertarian candidates will square off on Feb. 11 to be the “third choice” in the special election to replace former U.S. Rep. Mike Pompeo, who left his congressional seat to serve as CIA director in the Trump administration.
But there probably won’t be a fourth choice. Miranda Allen, an independent candidate in November, plans to sit out the special election because of what she calls an “almost impossible” requirement for petition signatures to get on the ballot.
The Libertarians announced Tuesday that they will meet to select their candidate for the 4th District seat in a nominating convention at the Alford Branch of the Wichita Public Library, 3447 S. Meridian.
The meeting will begin at 2:30 p.m. with credentialing of voters.
Unlike the Republican and Democratic parties, whose candidates will be selected by committees, any registered Libertarian who shows up will get to vote on the party’s candidate.
“We will have to be able to verify that, so that realistically means they should be registered by Feb. 3 or so at the latest,” said Rob Hodgkinson, Libertarian state party chairman.
The U.S. Constitution mandates that open seats in the House can be filled only by a special election, so Pompeo’s seat will stay open until a successor is voted in.
The special election, with Republican, Democratic and Libertarian candidates, will be held on April 11, with the winner going to Washington.
Originally, it looked as if the Libertarians would not be able to participate in the special election.
State law allowed parties to pick a candidate for the special election only if their most recent candidate for governor got at least 5 percent of the vote. The Libertarians’ last gubernatorial candidate, lawyer Keen Umbehr, received 4 percent.
But the state Legislature rushed through a law earlier this month that fixed problems with the scheduling of the special election process and allowed minor parties to nominate a candidate.
The Libertarians are the only officially recognized party in Kansas other than the Republicans and Democrats.
No independent candidates have announced a run for the seat.
In addition to changing the rules on third-party participation, the Legislature also reduced the number of signatures needed for an independent candidate to qualify for the ballot.
But it’s still too many for Allen to try another run at the 4th District seat.
“Even though the requirement went from 17,000 to 3,000 signatures, it’s still almost impossible due to the quick turnaround requirement,” Allen said.
The new legislation gives independents 25 days to collect the signatures.
In the November election, Allen said, “I needed 5,000 verified, we turned in over 9,000 … we worked for over four months, and it still was a daunting task.”
Dion Lefler: 316-268-6527, @DionKansas
Meet the Libertarians
These members of the Libertarian Party are seeking their party’s nomination for the 4th District congressional seat vacated by Mike Pompeo, who left to serve as CIA director in the Trump administration.
Gordon Bakken: Bakken, a retired engineer, carried the Libertarians’ flag in the November election. His main concerns are war in the Middle East and health care. He says the country went down both those roads without adequate thought.
Chris Rockhold: Rockhold is a flight simulator instructor at Flight Safety International. A Libertarian since age 18, he said he wants to go to Congress to oppose what he sees as an over-reaching federal government. He says over-regulation is stifling business and that the Affordable Care Act is anything but affordable. He said he thinks President Trump has some good ideas for cutting government, but he opposes Trump’s proposed border wall and ban on Muslim immigration from certain countries, which he doesn’t think will be effective in solving the immigration issue.
John Kostner: Kostner is a farmer and rancher from Murdock in Kingman County. He said he’s running because he thinks he has more charisma than Republican State Treasurer Ron Estes, and thus could beat him in the general election. Kostner said he’s a Trump supporter and if elected to Congress, he would hope to follow Pompeo into a job in the Trump administration.
This story was originally published February 1, 2017 at 8:11 AM with the headline "Libertarian candidates seek Pompeo seat."