AUBURN, Ala. — One Auburn University student is taking on the tremendous task of running for the Alabama House seat formerly occupied by convicted House Speaker Mike Hubbard. Not only is the college junior trying to win the 79th district, but he is attempting to do so under the banner of the Libertarian Party.
Gage Fenwick, an economic major, hails from Pell City and worked for libertarian-leaning U.S. Senator Rand Paul as his statewide student coordinator during his presidential campaign. But once Paul dropped out after a disappointing Iowa Caucus, Fenwick — like many libertarian-leaning Republicans — felt lost and abandoned by the GOP.
After determining the remainders in the Republican race were unacceptable, the Auburn student looked into the Libertarian Party. “I fell in limbo, I didn’t really know where to go as far as politically,” he told Auburn’s student paper. “I’ve always had libertarian ideals, but I never really looked at the party.”
After joining the LP, Fenwick became a delegate and supported the conservative libertarian candidate Austin Petersen. “He was the one who made me realize I should join the Libertarian Party,” he said to The Plainsman. “It’s really for one major reason. It’s because of the Liberty movement — this movement to push freedom for the people [and] to take away that authoritarian rule of government.”
Libertarians generally support limiting or eliminating government intervention across the board. On economic and social policy, libertarians assert that the government should have at best a minimal role, and leave such grand determinations to voluntary private interactions.
In the United States, the Libertarian Party is currently considered a minor or third party. Because of its classification, candidates representing it face a tremendous uphill battle to even get on ballots. According to Alabama law, for Fenwick to even participate, he needs 276 verified signatures by Sept. 13 to get on the ballot in November.
In 2016, both the Republican and Democratic presumptive nominees have the highest unfavorables in U.S. history, and many are contemplating voting for a third party for the first time ever. “I just realized that within the current two-party system, the people are limited with their choices,” Fenwick said. “I want to give the people another option. I don’t want it to be whoever wins the Republican primary that’s the de facto representative.”
In perfect libertarian fashion, Fenwick says he is not running to restore people’s faith in government, despite the flurry of recent scandals that have rocked the state.
“I do believe people have absolutely lost their faith in the Alabama state government, and the thing is: I don’t want to restore people’s faith in government,” he said. “I want people to question their government everyday. I want it to be a situation where people are always questioning their representative on how they voted — always calling them out on why they made certain decisions.”
After Hubbard’s conviction, Governor Robert Bentley set the date for the 79th District’s special election November 29. If there is a run-off in the hotly contested Republican Party Primary, the election will be moved to Feb. 7, 2017.
Don’t miss out! Subscribe today to have Alabama’s leading headlines delivered to your inbox.