Few voted for him, but he has plunged American politics into uncertainty: Libertarian Party candidate Chase Oliver won just enough votes in his Senate election race to force a runoff that could shape the rest of Joe Biden’s presidency.
Oliver grabbed some two percent or 81,000 votes in Georgia’s Senate poll at Tuesday’s midterm elections — enough to prevent his more powerful rivals, Democrat Raphael Warnock and Republican Herschel Walker, from taking the seat outright.
Now that sliver of support for Oliver, a 37-year-old Star Trek fan who ran his campaign from his basement, could determine the winner of Warnock and Walker’s December 6 runoff — and therefore, potentially, control of the upper house of the US legislature.
Despite the frustration levelled at Oliver for the costly runoff and keeping US politics on a knife edge for weeks, he’s not upset.
“You can’t blame a candidate for just being an option on the ballot,” he told Vice News this week.
He told the New York Times: “I don’t think you can spoil something that’s already rotten … And I think that’s what the two-party system in Washington, DC, currently is — it’s rotten.”
‘Armed and gay’
Oliver, who describes himself on Twitter as “armed and gay”, is not your typical political candidate.
He is categorically pro-gun, fiscally conservative, but also pro-reproductive rights, pro-legalization of cannabis and against the death penalty.
In Fayetteville, a small town of 19,000 inhabitants in the suburbs of Atlanta, most of the people who spoke to AFP knew little about him — save that he had caused the runoff.
“If it hadn’t been for him, one of the two other candidates would have won,” said Joe, a retiree who would not give his last name. “It’s a waste of money.”
Others have reproached him similarily on Twitter. “Why do you hate democracy?” he replied to one.
Oliver has insisted his candidacy is about giving voters more choice than simply the bipartisan divide of Republicans or Democrats.
As for the money — he told Vice he spent “like $10,000” on his campaign while working two jobs.
“So right now my ‘cost per vote’ is about 14 cents. That’s compared to a billion dollars spent by my opponents, much if it on negative attack ads,” he tweeted on Wednesday.
Democrats and Republicans have spent a combined total of more than $241 million on the race so far, according to the Wall Street Journal — around $30 for each of Georgia’s 7.8 million voters.
– Kingmaker? No, thanks –
The midterm elections count is ongoing, but Republicans appear on track to win the lower House of Representatives — and if they take the Senate too, it will leave Biden a lame duck.
One Senate seat could make all the difference. Barring a Democratic victory in both Nevada and Arizona — which is still possible — it is in Georgia that Senate control will be decided.
and Walker are separated by just 35,000 votes, but he says he has no interest in endorsing either of them.
“They ignored the people who voted for me and they ignored the issues I support,” he told Vice.
His message seems to have resonated with some voters in Fayetteville.
“I’m fine with him running in the election. The more options the better,” said Susan Cromie, a 67-year-old retiree who nevertheless is not thrilled with the idea of a runoff.
“I don’t want to vote again. I’m tired of the ads,” she said while mimicking putting a gun to her head. “But that said, it’s a necessary evil.”
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