According to the most recent polling, Nevada’s Senate race between the favorite, Democratic incumbent Jacky Rosen and her challenger Republican Sam Brown, is tightening up, with the role of spoiler candidates increasingly coming into play.
One of those is Senate candidate Chris Cunningham, a libertarian in a state known for libertarian tendencies, such as legalizing gambling, weed and sex work.
However Cunningham himself, and Reno-based libertarians, some of whom didn’t even know of him, understand they can’t yet win elections, even if they might attract some support.
“Every year, we are the party that does have the most ballot access… to take down the duopoly, but we consistently don’t,” Cunningham said in an exclusive interview with the Reynolds Sandbox Nevada Vote initiative.
“It’s a little bit of a two-way street,” he said. “…A lot of people could say ‘Oh it’s strictly the candidates and bad messaging’… I think it’s a combination of both. I mean, clearly in a variety of different cases, I wish that the messaging for the party and the candidates could always be better.”
Cunningham then continued to describe how he personally experienced a lack of media exposure.
“There is no real spotlight shown on third party candidates,” he said.
Issues he feels he’s different from both mainstream Senate candidates include wanting to divest from both Israel and Ukraine.
“I think when it comes to the major party system,” he said, “they are key catalysts in shoeing the military-industrial complex, and a lot of them are in bed from a stock investment perspective… So there’s some clear literal invested interest on their end.”
Cunningham said that his reason for running is to challenge the two-party system, and give more options for voters. He described himself as a professional gamer, who runs a project called “US MK Racing” with participants travelling across the country to play Mario Kart.
Members of the Washoe County Libertarian Party (such as those pictured above) meet every other Friday at the Abby’s Highway 40 bar to discuss anything from politics to whatever is on their minds.
The music blared inside the dive bar, while people played pool in the background. Three Libertarians, all wearing checkered patterns, sat at a table in the corner.
In an interview with these individuals, they described why it is so hard for Libertarians to win votes.
“You cannot pin down a Libertarian,” the chairman of the Washoe County Libertarian Party Daryl Skubinna said. “This election is going to be fascinating because you’ll find Libertarians who vote for Chase Oliver, you’ll find Libertarians who vote for {Democratic Party candidate] Kamala [Harris], you’ll find Libertarians who vote for [Republican Party candidate Donald] Trump, you’ll find Libertarians who just won’t vote.”
Chase Oliver is the Libertarian presidential candidate. He is running with Mike Ter Maat. An Iowa newspaper recently described Oliver as “pro-gun, pro-police reform, pro-choice Libertarian” who is “armed and gay.”
Despite being Libertarians, the Washoe County members did not know much about Senate candidate Chris Cunningham who is based in Las Vegas, and didn’t seem to care much for the Libertarian presidential ticket.
Skubinna spent twenty years in the military and now works in IT with medical facilities. He put together this biweekly local event as a means of creating an atmosphere where “less-nerdy” Libertarians can have a voice at the table.
“I am not a fan of Chase Oliver,” James Polous said, showing dissension with his own party’s Libertarian candidate. Poulos works as a forklift mechanic and says that he does not vote Libertarian on everything. He looks at policies one by one.
The secretary of the Washoe County Libertarian Party, Katie Banuelos, a new stay-at-home mother, elaborated further on these concerns with Oliver.
“I am not a fan,” she said. “He himself is not an impressive person… He is very culturally left-wing… he did not stand up for Libertarian principles, and he’s kinda squishy. And the guy himself is kinda shitty. I am not a fan and I am not going to vote for him.”
She described what makes the Libertarian party so different from the other parties by saying that it is the only political party founded on principles.
After being interviewed, the three moved outside and huddled around a fire, looking cozy but not like a unified force about to win elections.