Is Third Time the Charm for Sean Haugh?

by | Jan 6, 2015 | 2016 Elections, Carolina Strategic Analysis, Features, NC Politics | 2 comments

Forget Kay Hagan. The 2014 Senate candidate most likely to mount a repeat bid is Libertarian Sean Haugh. Haugh definitely seems interested in either Burr’s Senate seat or the gubernatorial race, and is apparently leaning towards the latter because, in his words: “I would much rather be governor.”

If Haugh throws his hat into the gubernatorial race, then Libertarians would once again have to go through a primary. Haugh’s competition would be from Ken Fortenberry, who ran in the GOP primary against U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry in 2012. In a primary, Haugh would be the heavy favorite due to his superior name recognition and a platform that more closely resembles the political beliefs of registered Libertarians.

Haugh finished in November 2014 with 3.74% of the vote, a respectable showing for a Libertarian in NC running statewide. He would be well-positioned to improve on the performance of Barbara Howe, who took 2.12% when she ran under the Libertarian banner for governor in 2012. The record for best Libertarian performance came in 1992, when Scott McLaughlin took 4.05%.

The pizza delivery driver says that with two electoral campaigns under his belt, he’s become a better candidate and would relish preventing “corporatist tools” McCrory and Cooper from being elected. The jury’s still out on whether or not Haugh will play as big a role two years from now as he did in the Hagan/Tillis contest, but one thing’s for sure: if the criterion for selecting a governor was “guy I’d like to have a beer with”, he’d win, hands down.

2 Comments

  1. Virginia

    His problem is that he brought in non-issues for North Carolina. A candidate must know who they wish to represent.

  2. Mick

    “Third time the charm”? Funny stuff there. If Haugh runs for governor or senator, it’ll be more a case of “third time the harm.” A Libertarian candidate cannot win; s/he can only hope to pull votes away from the Dem and GOP candidates. And if those votes are not diverted away in equal fashion, one of those major party candidate’s chances could be “harmed” by Haugh — if the race is close.

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