According to this story, well-known Texan Matthew Dowd is mulling over whether to run as an independent candidate for U.S. Senate from Texas in 2018. He would need 47,086 valid signatures due June 28, 2018. He could not start petitioning until March 6, 2018. Thanks to Political Wire for the link.
Ballot Access News
Edited By Richard Winger
I’ll read this story to see if he’s Maureen Dowd’s son.
With his distaste for the two party system and his anti-war convictions he might find it easier to run under the Libertarian banner since they have ballot access in Texas.
Brandon: He would not run as a Libertarian.
I agree with you, Brandon. It seems to me that he would be a good fit for the party, and have an easier time with ballot access. I’ve watched him on several Sunday news shows during the election season, and his comments indicated general support for Gary Johnson. I hope the Texas LP reaches out to him to recruit him as a candidate. I think he could be formidable.
If Dowd wants to have any realistic chance of winning, he should run as an independent and not as a Libertarian. Any financial advantage of not having to gather signatures is far overshadowed by the advantage of running as an independent. I have personal experience to back up my claim.
And for some perspective, readers need to understand that the $100,000+ he might have to pay for professional petitioners is only a small percentage of the money he’ll need to run a real campaign that has any chance of winning.
Don, $100,000 gets you a couple of national TV ads. Spending that $100,000 on petitioning is the stupidest thing you can do.
Matthew Dowd is a well-known Texan?