Kentucky Libertarians Thrilled With Results: 'We Split the Vote and Caused Delicious Tears'

Kentucky’s Libertarian Party is extremely happy with the results (so far) in Kentucky. The reason? Its candidate for governor, John Hicks, received 28,426 votes, which boils down to approximately two percent. Although that’s not necessarily a reason to brag, this does mean that the party almost certainly prevented Republican Governor Matt Bevin from winning reelection. Assuming the announced results will indeed stand up to scrutiny, of course.

“In an ideal world, we elect Libertarian candidates and advance liberty. Failing that, we push mainstream candidates towards liberty to advance the cause,” the Libertarian Party writes on Facebook. “But if we can’t do those things, we are always happy to split the vote in a way that causes delicious tears. Tonight there are plenty of delicious tears from Bevin supporters.”

Now, before so-called conservatives get angry: the Libertarian Party had very good reasons for going after Bevin. As the party explains:

Had Matt Bevin not ditched his liberty Lt Governor for a Mitch McConnell picked anti liberty, corrupt running mate who has tried to eliminate Kentuckians jury trial rights, had Matt Bevin not presided over a huge sales tax increase, had Matt Bevin supported any of our key issues on criminal justice reform, marijuana legalization, expanded gaming, cutting taxes, or acted with the least bit of civility, we probably would not have run a candidate. Of course, he did the opposite. And here we are.

Of course, some conservatives are angry nonetheless. How dare the Libertarian Party celebrate this outcome? Aren’t Democrats even worse than Republicans?

Perhaps. But as The Blaze contributor and podcast host Steve Deace explains, the GOP is not entitled to any votes:

I'm a hard pass on "blame the libertarian candidate" for Team GOP losing. If you're losing that many people who should be voting for you, that's on you. Maybe do stuff that wins those people back, rather than just shaming them? You're not entitled to votes.

— Steve Deace (@SteveDeaceShow) November 6, 2019

If the GOP wants to keep libertarians inside the party, they will have to actually pursue libertarian policies. They can’t raise sales taxes, refuse to cut other taxes, and continue their war on drugs… and then cry “but the other guy is even worse!” when it’s election time.

Well, they can… they just can’t expect libertarian voters to support them if they do.

So, let me take the time right here to congratulate the LP for this result. If the GOP wanted to prevent this, they should’ve given libertarian voters what they promised them four years ago. It really is that simple.