Articles by Steve Goodale

America's two major political parties may dominate nearly every elected office in the country, but they remain eager to further restrict any competition in several states. What's taking place in Arkansas right now is a prime example. State Senator Trent Garner has introduced a bill to give his state what would arguably be the toughest ballot access laws in the country. In the last two cycles only the Libertarian Party has managed the current petitioning requirements for statewide ballot access:...

In December, I wrote an article on a particularly egregious case of the famous legislative "revolving door." After sixteen years in the South Dakota Legislature, Senator Deb Peters announced her resignation to take a job with the state's healthcare association. Two things about that story were particularly galling: Peters did not make her decision public until after starting her new role, and just a few weeks previously she stood for and won a seat in the South Dakota House. It turns out, as I ...

I recently experienced what was undoubtedly the most depressing experience of my journalistic career. I'm used to being stonewalled with half-answers by politicians, but I never expected to get the same treatment from fellow journalists. That's just what happened when I wrote a report on why Libertarian candidate for Iowa governor Jake Porter is being excluded from a debate hosted by KCCI television and the Des Moines Register. Bring on the Fudge Porter appears to be polling about 6%, and is ...

One of the biggest obstacles for any independent or third party candidate is being ignored by the polls. The media, debating commissions, and voters all look at polls to assess any race, and candidates who don’t appear in them struggle to seem relevant. When a candidate does not appear in the polls, they can expect to be excluded from almost everything. Two unusually strong third party candidates are currently running for governor of New York: Larry Sharpe (Libertarian) and Howie Hawkins (Gree...