Springfield man announces Libertarian bid for Missouri U.S. Senate seat

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (Heartland Newsfeed) — A Springfield man is mounting a Libertarian bid for Democratic incumbent Claire McCaskill’s U.S. Senate seat in Missouri with the ideals of limited government and maximum freedom in mind.

Japheth Campbell, 42, filed paperwork on Monday, Mar. 5 to run as the Libertarian Party nominee for the seat.

Campbell noted in an interview with the Springfield News-Leader that he was previously a Republican prior to the “bickering and anger” that took place as the result of the 2016 elections, deciding to run as a Libertarian. Media pundit Austin Petersen, a former 2016 presidential candidate, was in early consideration for the Libertarian nod for U.S. Senate until deciding in early 2017 to run as a Republican.

Two underlying and omnipresent themes of Campbell’s campaign calls for less government and getting government out of our lives, but is also passionate about the Tenth Amendment, which delegates powers to the states.

Campbell strongly advocates for the Fair Representation Act, a proposal to establish a new voting system. Under this act, this would allow for a ranked-choice voting system in Missouri and occupies fewer, larger districts that elect multiple elected officials, thus creating political diversity and opens the way for independent and third party candidates to be elected to Congress.

Another proposal Campbell makes is an attempt to balance the Federal budget by locking in spending cuts at the rate of 10 percent per year for the next decade and then only account for spending increases in correspondence with the gross domestic product (GDP).

Campbell acknowledges the difficulty of taking down the big money campaigns of Democratic incumbent McCaskill and presumed Republican frontrunner and current Attorney General Josh Hawley is an uphill battle.

Campbell expressed optimism that his character is finer than that of McCaskill’s previous opponents — for example, 2014 Republican nominee Todd Akin — despite his lack of political experience, citing, “I feel like I don’t have any baggage or dirt.”

He also noted that Hawley doesn’t seem to have the appearance of being a “ladder climber”, as Petersen has assumed in his campaign ads throughout 2017, in reference to Hawley’s campaigning so soon after being elected as the state’s attorney general.

Campbell noted his campaign strategy involves campaigning with other Libertarians across the state, raising campaign funds while other candidates are duking it out and then pressing hard during the final two months of the campaign season. He also notes availing the campaign to a viral social media campaign, despite a relative lack of funding.

Campbell — originally a native of Fort Smith, Ark. — grew up in the Natural State as well as Texas before moving to Springfield in the 1990s, where he took up studying youth ministry at Central Bible College, with his evangelistic missions work has led him as far as Alaska.

Campbell currently works in the marketing department of the Assemblies of God, the largest Pentecostal organization in North America, headquartered in Springfield.

Jake Leonard

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Jake Leonard, a broadcast media and journalism veteran, is the editor-in-chief of Heartland Newsfeed. Leonard is also GM and program director of Heartland Newsfeed Radio Network, wrestling editor and contributing writer for Ambush Sports, a contributing writer for My Sports Vote and Midwest Sports Network, and a former contributor to Bleacher Report and Overtime Heroics. He resides at home in Nokomis, Ill. with his dog Buster.

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