An interesting bit of news came across my desk the other day. Seems there is an independent who has filed to be considered on the ballot in my race. Because he filed as an independent, though, he needs to gather 500 signatures to get on the November ballot (harder than it seems--those 500 cannot have voted in either of the primaries or in a third party convention, such as Libertarian).

He filed under the impression he was the only other candidate on the ballot. I called him and spoke with him. He has some pretty good ideas, and is willing to back my campaign if he does not get the required signatures. Because he is in another county, this will be of tremendous use to me.

If he gets on the ballot, I intend to email him my campaign itinerary so we can stage a few debated. Two candidates are ALWAYS a bigger news story than one, and there's always the possibility we can draw out the incumbent and get him on stage to debate.

Either way, I intend to give him information about the party. His principles are fairly consistent with LP philosophy, and perhaps if we can encourage him to run for a different office in '08, we can extend the party's influence. One of my goals in this campaign is also to organize the party in four of the 19 counties within my district, and he's a good candidate for expanding into that county.