Libertarians in several key races for the Missouri House say they’ve heard from Republican leaders suggesting they should drop out. That could indicate that the GOP is worried that November’s elections will be tight. It also has the libertarian candidates fuming.
Democrats have been targeting a few key races in St. Louis County as part of an effort to lose their superminority status in Jefferson City. Libertarians in three of those races have gotten calls or texts from Republicans, some with overt suggestions that they leave the field to the two major parties and one with text messages that were not quite so overt, but which the libertarian saw as an attempt to raise the issue. All three say they have no interest in quitting.
Get a fresh take on the day’s top news
Subscribe to the St. Louis Daily newsletter for a smart, succinct guide to local news from award-winning journalists Sarah Fenske and Ryan Krull.
Dustin Coffell, the chair of the Libertarian Party of Missouri, says he’s frustrated by the suggestion that libertarians are “spoilers” set to strip votes away from Republicans.
“A friend posted on his Facebook page that the only wasted vote is the one not cast,” he says. “What’s worse, to me, is a vote cast for someone you don’t believe in.” Coffell adds that he’s frustrated by the idea that libertarians are “just Republicans who like weed,” noting that libertarians hate tariffs and support immigration, which puts them far from today’s GOP. He adds, “The Libertarian Party was was for gay marriage 50 years ago at its inception, and it took, what 30–40 years for the two other parties to get on board?”
Ken Newhouse considered himself a Republican until fairly recently, albeit one of the Ron Paul wing. He voted for President Donald Trump three times.
Then came Gov. Mike Kehoe’s plan to replace the state income tax with sales tax increases, which Newhouse staunchly opposes for their regressive nature. That was the final straw, even before President Trump’s war in Iran, which he also loathes.
But after Newhouse first filed to run, back in March, he says a mutual friend gave his number to former Rep. Tony Lovasco (R–St. Charles), and that Lovasco attempted to talk him into running for Congress instead. Newhouse refused, and is now on the ballot in House District 100 as a libertarian, running against incumbent Rep. Phil Oehlerking, a Republican, and Democrat Mary Ann Perkins. Oehlerking won his last two races for the seat by fewer than 200 votes, making it ground zero for Democrats this November.
“I’m not running for another office when this is what I want to run for,” Newhouse says. “Most likely, it’s going to be a spoiler race, which I understand. It’s very tough for libertarians to win. I get it.” He adds, “Listen, whether or not people love the Republican Party, I’m done with them. So if you put anything in the paper, put that I’m sick of them.”
Another libertarian who got a call is Jeff Coleman, who’s running against Rep. Ben Keathley (R-Chesterfield). He says he heard from Jonathan Ratcliff, who was calling on behalf of the House Republican Campaign Committee. (Ratcliff did not respond to a message seeking comment.)
Shane Ferguson, who is running against state Rep. Brad Christ (R-St. Louis County) in the 96th district, says he got text messages directly from Christ, asking if they could meet. He wasn’t interested, presuming that Christ wanted him to drop out. (Christ, however, says that wasn’t his intent: “I have always met with my opponents in every race to build respect and a relationship with them, which was my intent here as well.”)
Ferguson notes he’s also heard from Democrats who’d prefer he drop out, including his own wife. “Both sides have told me, ‘Hey, you’re just going to take votes from us, and I keep saying, ‘That’s the plan. I want to take all your votes,’” he says.
He adds, “I have to disagree that I’m spoiling their chances because, to me, it really doesn’t matter which party wins. Any party that wins, they’re going to be taking and holding all the baggage of that party on a national level, whereas I’m kind of free because the libertarians don’t really have a whole lot of national baggage, right? I can actually do what the voters in my particular district want me to do instead of trying to do what the party wants me to do to the voters.”
As for Coffell, he sees Republican outreach to libertarian candidates as deeply offensive. “I would never presume to meddle with another party’s candidates,” he says. He himself is running for state auditor as a libertarian, in part because the party needs to earn at least 2 percent of the vote in a statewide race to maintain automatic access to the ballot in Missouri (something the Green Party lost in 2022).
He takes seriously the importance of offering voters a real choice.
“I tell people when I talk to them, ‘If you can’t stomach voting for the Republican or the Democrat, please, please, please don’t stay home,” he says. “Find a candidate that shares your ideals. I’d love it for it to be me.”
Of this year’s reachouts from Republicans, he adds, “This is not the first time that the House GOP committee or campaign committees have, I’ll say, meddled with our folks. It really boils down to, I think they’re very worried about what happens in 2028 when they can’t ride on the Donald Trump coattails and what’s next, because the Republican Party’s made him their entire identity.”
