"Liberty Minded" Candidates Getting Noticed

Kathie Obradovich had a front page write-up about Libertarian candidate for Iowa Governor, Dr. Eric Cooper, in Thursday's Des Moines Register. According to Obradovich:

"Libertarian candidate for governor Eric Cooper pulled off a rare feat at a recent forum: He upstaged the major-party contenders. And not just because he announced he's lost 144 pounds in eight months.

"Cooper, of Ames, owned the audience at the Iowans for Tax Relief gubernatorial forum last Saturday. He left me wanting to know more about him. That's another uncommon accomplishment for a third-party candidate."

The article goes on to quote Dr. Cooper and talks about his stance on several issues. You can read the entire article here.

IowaPolitics.com linked to the article on Thursday and Steve Hoodjer's new website Iowa Freedom Report scooped me and reported it the same day.

Speaking of Iowa Freedom Report, that site also has a good article about Will Johnson who is vying for the Republican nomination to go against Democrat Bruce Braley in Iowa's First District. Johnson, who the article describes as "a liberty minded Republican from Dubuque," is a Navy veteran and was active in campaigning for Ron Paul in the run up to the 2008 election. He has also been active in the Tea Party movement.

Other Republicans seeking the First District slot are Jim Budde, Mike La Coste, and Independence attorney Ben Lange. Lange appears to be leading the pack, having raised more funds than the other three GOP contenders combined. I'll be writing about Lange sometime soon.