A third party candidate for Texas governor is letting the state’s registered voters know that they have other options besides incumbent Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, and Beto O’Rourke, Abbott’s Democratic challenger, per a report from Houston CBS affiliate KHOU.
Mark Tippetts is running as a Libertarian for the state’s highest office – and according to KHOU – he sees a golden opportunity in the form of a University of Texas at Tyler survey that reveals over 50% of Texans aren’t happy with the direction under Abbott, who is seeking a third term.
According to Tippetts, the Libertarians offer an alternative to the two mainstream parties.
“You do have choices here in Texas,” he said, KHOU reported. “We do have choices.”
The website Ballotpedia shows that Tippetts, a consultant by profession who sat on the Lago Vista City Council in the Austin area, secured the Libertarian nod at the party’s convention in April.
KHOU reported that Tippetts’ platform focuses on school choice, opposition to government mandates, tax cuts and fiscal conservatism in addition to the legalization of marijuana.
He promises right-leaning Texans that they’ll have “their liberties and freedoms returned” while he attempts to appeal to liberals by decrying marijuana laws as “a war against the minorities.”
“Let Texans know that they have the right to hear from all the candidates, not just the Democrats and Republicans," Tippetts said, per the station.
Though the Libertarian platform mirrors more of the GOP’s, KHOU reported, individual Republican candidates whose names are on the November ballot have sued the party in an effort to disqualify them.
“We support following the law, and any candidate who fails to do so should deal with the consequences,” the Republican Party of Texas said in a statement, the station reported.
The Hill reported that Abbott has a steady 7-point lead over O’Rourke in the latest polls.