Representative Justin Amash, the Republican-turned-independent from Michigan, announced Tuesday night that he would explore running for president as a Libertarian, injecting new volatility into a presidential campaign already unsettled by the coronavirus.
“We’re ready for a presidency that will restore respect for our Constitution and bring people together,” Mr. Amash wrote on Twitter. “I’m excited and honored to be taking these first steps toward serving Americans of every background as president.”
He posted a link to a new website, “Amash for America,” that included a quotation suggesting he was poised to run: “Let’s do this.”
A 40-year-old conservative, Mr. Amash left the G.O.P. last year because of his unease with how the party had rallied to President Trump. But it is unclear how his candidacy could affect the race, and specifically whether he would help or hinder Mr. Trump’s re-election.
Mr. Amash may aid the president by winning right-of-center voters who don’t like the president and would have reluctantly supported former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., the presumptive Democratic nominee. But he also could siphon critical votes away from the president by giving small-government conservatives a political home.
What is certain, though, is that Mr. Amash’s presence on the ballot in key states could potentially play a pivotal role in November: Mr. Trump won the presidency four years ago thanks in part to the votes captured by third-party candidates.
The Libertarian Party is on the ballot in 35 states to date, but the virus outbreak has made it all but impossible to continue the signature-gathering some states require for ballot access. Whether the party gets on the ballot in the remaining states may ultimately be determined in the courts. And those decisions could prove significant because for now Libertarians do not have a line in such competitive states as Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Minnesota.
Nicholas Sarwark, the national chairman of the Libertarian Party, said in a telephone interview on Tuesday evening that he had spoken with Mr. Amash earlier in the day and welcomed him to the race. Mr. Sarwark said he was neutral in the nomination contest, but added of Mr. Amash, “I’m happy that he decided to seek the nomination.”
Mr. Sarwark said Mr. Amash, a five-term congressman, would most likely be a formidable candidate to be the party’s standard-bearer. He noted that if Mr. Amash changed his affiliation in Congress — from independent to Libertarian — he would be the first member of the House formally aligned with the party. That could give Mr. Amash special credibility, Mr. Sarwark said.
At the same time, the chairman cautioned that some in the Libertarian Party felt singed by several other candidates joining its ranks in recent years seemingly for the purpose of appropriating its ballot line. They include former Representative Bob Barr of Georgia, a former Republican who was the Libertarian presidential nominee in 2008, and former Gov. Bill Weld of Massachusetts, a Republican who briefly became a Libertarian in 2016 to run as the party’s vice-presidential candidate.
“Those are the two big countervailing forces,” Mr. Sarwark said, referring to Mr. Amash’s political stature and the late hour of his party switch.
The Libertarian nomination is currently set to be decided at a convention next month in Austin, Texas, but the plans for that gathering are now uncertain because of the pandemic. Mr. Sarwark said there would be a conversation among Libertarian Party leaders on Saturday about whether to postpone the convention until the summer, shift to a virtual convention or pursue another option entirely.
Just as fluid is how Mr. Amash would shape the race between Mr. Trump and Mr. Biden. As the Libertarian Party nominee in 2016, former Gov. Gary Johnson of New Mexico won 3.3 percent nationwide, and thousands of critical votes in battleground states. But that was when many right-leaning voters were skeptical Mr. Trump could win and viewed Mr. Johnson as a place-holder for them to not vote for Mr. Trump or Hillary Clinton.
Still, while there may be less of a market for third-party candidates in 2020, Democrats eager to defeat Mr. Trump don’t want to take any chances — especially with a candidate like Mr. Amash who voted to impeach the president.
“I have admired the courage you have shown in standing up to Donald Trump,” Representative Brendan Boyle, a Pennsylvania Democrat, wrote on Twitter on Tuesday night to Mr. Amash. “But your presidential candidacy only increases the possibility that he wins re-election, an outcome that would be catastrophic. For the good of the country, I urge you to reconsider.”
Source: Elections - nytimes.com
